Amplifiers and a Digital Communications Analyzer to Enable Ultra-High Capacity Optical Fiber Transmission Systems

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Global Internet traffic continues to grow at a rate of ~40% per year. Applications driving this growth include (i) video streaming services, (ii) cloud-based storage and services, and (iii) machine-to-machine applications. These and other applications are creating significant demands to increase the capacity and reach of the optical fiber transmission systems that are the backbone of the Internet. In order to meet these demands, we are proposing research at the forefront of optical fiber transmission systems, for which we urgently need to purchase RF amplifiers (quantity 2) and a digital communications analyzer. The requested amplifiers and digital communications analyzer will establish Plant's lab as one of the only academic or industry labs in the world with an optical fiber transmission system testbed operating using multiple channels at 256 Gigasamples/second with 100 GHz of bandwidth. Key objectives of the proposed research include maximizing the bit rate, capacity, and reach of coherent detection base optical fiber transmission systems through the development of new channel configurations and attendant Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) for such systems. Enabled by the amplifiers and the digital communications analyzer, the planned research fuses the concepts of digital signal processing and optical fiber transmission system engineering, thereby advancing the fundamental science of optical communications. In parallel, our work will drive the development of innovative techniques with the potential to impact advanced product development due to Plant's close collaboration with industry. Enabled by the proposed researched program, Canadians will experience increases in Internet performance (e.g., faster download speeds) at reduced costs (e.g., more data/month at lower cost) in the next 3-5 years. This is because network equipment manufacturers (e.g., Ciena, Ericsson) will deploy innovations and inventions produced by the planned research on high capacity and spectrally efficient optical fiber transmission equipment in their next generation of products and services. Canadian service providers (e.g., Bell, TELUS) will then integrate this equipment into their fiber optic networks. This, in turn, will enable service providers to offer lower cost data and video centric products and services for the benefit of Canadian residential and business users.