Peta-bit-per-second optical communications system using a standard cladding diameter 15-mode fiber

TLDR

Optical fiber networks have seen exponential data‑rate growth, and core networks are projected to reach peta‑bit‑per‑second capacities by 2030, prompting exploration of space‑division multiplexing, especially multi‑mode fibers, which offer the highest spatial channel density. The study aims to demonstrate peta‑bit‑per‑second transmission by combining a high‑mode‑count multi‑mode fiber with wideband wavelength‑division multiplexing. The demonstration uses a wideband optical comb transmitter generating 64‑QAM signals from 1528 to 1610 nm, a broadband multi‑plane light‑conversion mode‑multiplexer, and a 15‑mode fiber engineered for wideband operation. The experiment achieved a peta‑bit‑per‑second class transmission in a multi‑mode fiber.

Abstract

Abstract Data rates in optical fiber networks have increased exponentially over the past decades and core-networks are expected to operate in the peta-bit-per-second regime by 2030. As current single-mode fiber-based transmission systems are reaching their capacity limits, space-division multiplexing has been investigated as a means to increase the per-fiber capacity. Of all space-division multiplexing fibers proposed to date, multi-mode fibers have the highest spatial channel density, as signals traveling in orthogonal fiber modes share the same fiber-core. By combining a high mode-count multi-mode fiber with wideband wavelength-division multiplexing, we report a peta-bit-per-second class transmission demonstration in multi-mode fibers. This was enabled by combining three key technologies: a wideband optical comb-based transmitter to generate highly spectral efficient 64-quadrature-amplitude modulated signals between 1528 nm and 1610 nm wavelength, a broadband mode-multiplexer, based on multi-plane light conversion, and a 15-mode multi-mode fiber with optimized transmission characteristics for wideband operation.