KEYSIGHT & MCGILL UNIVERSITY ACHIEVE 1.6 TBPS O-BAND TRANSMISSION OVER 10 KM

Keysight Technologies, Inc. and McGill University have successfully demonstrated a world record 1.2 Tbps and 1.6 Tbps O-band coherent transmissions operating over 10 km using distributed feedback lasers (DFBs) for both the carrier and local oscillator.

To address growing short-reach intra-data center traffic demands -- from 2 to 10 km – coherent transmission systems are being considered as an alternative to intensity modulation direct detection (IMDD) systems that are currently operating at 200 Gbps per wavelength over 2 km in the O-band. Low chromatic dispersion makes power-efficient coherent links an attractive replacement for IMDD technologies at 1.6 Tbps and beyond.

To demonstrate improvements in short-reach intra-data center transmission rates using a coherent O-band solution, Keysight, McGill University, and other research partners collaborated to achieve the record-breaking transmission. The demonstration system consisted of Keysight's new M8199B 256 GSa/s Arbitrary Waveform Generator that delivers 75 GHz bandwidth in combination with a thin-film lithium niobate I/Q modulator with 100 GHz bandwidth and a 110 GHz 256 GSa/s Keysight Infiniium UXR-Series Oscilloscope.

The accomplishment showcased how data centers can use coherent optical fiber transmission systems operating at 167 Gbaud, using dual-polarization, 64-quadrature amplitude modulation scheme to transmit signals at 1.6 Tbps in the O-band using DFBs for the carrier and local oscillators.