Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. has expanded the product line-up with the development of a new ultra-small, narrow line width tunable light source that supports the super C-band and L-band in addition to the current C-band.
A tunable light source is a laser light source product that is used in digital coherent communications (Nano-ITLA).
Background
Due in part to increased smartphone use, cloud computing and video streaming in recent years, data traffic on the mainline communications networks and between data centers is growing around the world, and with the advent of 5G, this traffic is expected to dramatically increase even further.
Ultra-high speed transmission systems using optical digital coherent technology are being installed
In order to support this increased data traffic, ultra-high speed transmission systems using optical digital coherent technology are being installed. Going forward, it is expected that Post-5G service will be introduced, and since Post-5G requires greatly larger volumes of data than 5G, it will be necessary to increase the capacity of the medium to long-range optical communications networks.
However, as transmission speed increases, the required bandwidth per channel exceeds the current 50GHz span. Since this trend will reduce the number of available channels, consideration is underway toward expanding the overall bandwidth.
Furukawa’s laser manufacturing technology
Utilizing Furukawa’s laser manufacturing technology accumulated over the past 20 years, including crystal growth and precision optical semiconductor processing, they optimized the waveguide design, and it was possible to extend the bandwidth of the Nano-ITLA.
In addition to the current C-band: 191.300-196.100THz (4.8THz width), the newly developed Nano-ITLA supports the super C-band: 190.675-196.675THz (6THz width) and also the L-band: 186.350-190.700THz (4.35THz width).
This development will contribute to the realization of ultra-high speed transmission systems for medium to long-range optical communications networks. Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. will exhibit this new product at Optical Networking And Communication Conference (OFC) 2023, which is scheduled to be held in San Diego, California, USA.
Furukawa Electric Group’s efforts towards the SDGs
Based on the “Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” adopted by the United Nations, Furukawa Electric Group has formulated the “Furukawa Electric Group Vision 2030”, which sets the year 2030 as its target and is advancing efforts with the aim to “Build a sustainable world and make people’s life safe, peaceful and rewarding, Furukawa Electric Group will create solutions for the new generation of global infrastructure combining information, energy and mobility.”
Toward the achievement of their Vision 2030, they will take open, agile, and innovative approaches to promote ESG management that aims to increase corporate value over the medium to long term and will contribute to the achievement of the SDGs.
