Georgia Tech Forms 100G Consortium

Ten companies have joined forces with the Georgia Institute of Technology to establish the Georgia Tech 100G Optical Networking Consortium, which will perform multidisciplinary research in all aspects of 100-gigabit-per-second transmission, supported by the diverse and complementary strengths of the industrial partners and faculty members. Research topics range from fundamental studies of 100G optical transmission to assessment of optical and electronic technologies that will be used in such high-speed optical networks.


To date, more than $2.2 million in support has been designated for this facility by the consortium's founding research members -- ADVA Optical Networking, Ciena, OFS, and Verizon --and by supporting members Avanex, IBM, Narda Microwave, Nistica Picometrix and RSoft Design Group.


A variety of network architectures will be studied, including realistic impairments found in regional and ultra long haul links. These efforts also actively support the upcoming IEEE 100G standard for short reach, client-side transport in the local area network and future IEEE standards for short reach transmission over laser-optimized multi-mode fiber in data centers.


"Our industry-led effort creates a unique opportunity for students and industry to define and validate the enabling technologies necessary for 100G networks," noted Stephen E. Ralph, the consortium's director and a professor in Georgia Tech's School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE).


Co-director of the effort is Gee-Kung Chang, Byers Eminent Scholar Chair in Optical Networking. Joining Ralph and Chang in the quest for 100Gb/s transport is Byers Professor John D. Cressler, whose research addresses high-speed electronics challenges, and Professor John Barry, whose work focuses on critical signal processing issues. All three faculty members are also based in ECE.
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