Technology

Bell Labs, the research arm of Alcatel-Lucent, has set a new broadband speed record of 10 gigabits-per-second using traditional copper telephone lines and a prototype technology that demonstrates how existing copper access networks can be used to deliver 1Gbps symmetrical ultra-broadband access services.

Coriant and Allied Fiber have completed a one terabit-per-second (Tbps) super-channel transmission trial over a 1,700 km fibre optic ring connecting West Palm Beach to Jacksonville, Florida.

NPL, Toshiba Research Europe, BT and ADVA Optical Networking, have successfully trialled quantum key distribution (QKD) technology over a live 'lit' fibre network.

The organisations say the trial paves the way for more advanced research into QKD, which they describe as 'the next frontier of data encryption technology, which will deliver even greater levels of network security'.

Lumerical Solutions, a provider of photonic design software, has announced the filing of a provisional patent application titled, ‘Method to improve the accuracy of mode matching methods such as eigenmode expansion or rigorous coupled wave analysis.’ 

This patent targets applications in the field of silicon photonics and integrated optics including tapers, spot size converters, y-branch splitters, directional couplers and waveguide Bragg gratings incorporating smoothly varying refractive index profiles.

Researchers at Caltech have developed a new semiconductor laser that could transmit data at higher speeds along an optical fibre. The work could pave the way for faster broadband internet and other optical fibre communications.

The new laser design has a much higher spectral purity than the semiconductor distributed-feedback (DFB) laser that is at the heart of today’s fibre optic communications. The new laser has more than 10 times the linewidth improvement compared to commercial semiconductor lasers, the researchers state, with the possibility of further increase in coherence.

Data transmitted between the data centres of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Nasdaq will soon be made by a laser network, which is due to be switched on in March.

Chicago-based Anova, a low-latency network and optical engineering firm, has set up the laser network that covers the 35 miles between the data centres of the NYSE in Mahwah, New Jersey and those of Nasdaq in Carteret, NJ.

Coriant, a supplier of metro-to-core transport solutions, has announced the latest progress in its collaboration with Juniper Networks to create an integrated packet transport network (IPTN).

Recent joint R&D between the two networking innovators resulted in the first multi-vendor line side interworking between router and DWDM system suitable for long haul (LH) transmission.

Natural and human-caused disasters can damage or destroy data and communications networks – and several presentations at the 2014 OFC Conference and Exposition next week in San Francisco will present information on strategies that can mitigate the impacts.
 
Disasters such as earthquakes, tornadoes, or even terrorist attacks, can damage data centres and the communication links between them, causing massive losses in data and costly disruptions.
 

Alcatel-Lucent and BT have announced trial speeds of up to 1.4Tb/s with a record spectral efficiency of 5.7 bits per second per Hertz (b/s/Hz) on an existing core fibre connection. The companies say this is believed to be the fastest speed ever achieved in commercial grade hardware in a real-world environment, and is equivalent to transmitting 44 uncompressed HD films in a single second.

Zyxel Communications has won an award for its its indoor Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) broadband gateway with voice and wireless IPTV.

The product has been named a CES Innovations 2014 Design and Engineering Honoree in the Home Networking Product category at the prestigious 2014 International CES show in Las Vegas, Nevada.