Alcatel-Lucent's Bell Labs Shows 256 Gbps Line Rate

Alcatel-Lucent announced a number of innovations that make it possible to transmit data at significantly higher bit rates and over significantly longer distances by leveraging a number of innovations, including applying higher-order signal modulation to achieve greater spectral efficiencies; heightening the sensitivity of optical receivers to a point approaching their fundamental limit; exploiting new multimode transmission to increase the capacity of optical networks by orders of magnitude.



Highlights of the announcement:



Doubled spectral efficiencies -- enabling a per line transmission rate of 256 Gbps over a distance of 400 kilometers by using 64-QAM modulation.



Record modulation/receiver sensitivity -- reduces by half the number of photons needed to transmit information and achieves a record degree of sensitivity by applying an advanced 16-ary-pulse-position-modulation scheme.



New multimode fiberr -- promising the potential to increase the capacity of a single fiber strand by an order of magnitude.



Fully-integrated optical Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) generator -- based on photonic integrated circuits using Indium Phosphide(InP).
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