Infinera has carried out a successful submarine network field test of its Infinite Capacity Engine (ICE) with Canalink, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the ITER group. Canalink owns a system of undersea fibre-optic cables linking the Canary Islands with the Iberian Peninsula and the western coast of Africa.
The test, which was conducted on Canalink’s 1,393km cable linking the Conil landing point on the Spanish mainland with Tenerife in the Canary Islands, showed that it would be possible to upgrade the subsea cable well beyond its original design capacity.
“The successful field test with Infinera demonstrated that we can achieve approximately 13 times more capacity than we initially estimated on our subsea link,” said Carlos Suárez, general director of Canalink. “Infinera's Infinite Capacity Engine and its innovative technology designed for subsea operators prove that its deployment can enable us to protect our investment and maximise the use of our infrastructure.”
The test was designed to show the capabilities of the ICE4, which is based on Infinera's fourth-generation photonic integrated circuit (PIC) technology and its Advanced Coherent Toolkit, which delivers a number of innovations including Nyquist subcarriers, SD-FEC gain sharing, and matrix-enhanced phase-shift keying (ME-PSK) (see Infinera claims industry breakthrough with Nyquist WDM).
Infinera introduced subsea and terrestrial platforms based on the Infinite Capacity Engine earlier this year, including the XTS 3300 and XTS 3600 meshponders and the upgraded DTN-X XTC Series.
Commenting on the announcement Scott Jackson, vice president of Infinera’s subsea business group, said: “This test validates the benefits of ICE4 Nyquist subcarriers and SD-FEC gain sharing, enabling subsea cables to move to higher modulation formats for increased fibre capacity and greater return on the asset.”
