Oclaro announced that it has expanded its lithium niobate (LiNbO3) portfolio with a dual wavelength PM-QMZ external modulator for data rates up to 1 Tbit/s and that at OFC it is hosting an interoperability demonstration showcasing a 100 Gbit/s ER4-Lite QSFP28 and CFP2 over 40 km single-mode optical fibre (SMF).
New PM-QMZ modulator
The new dual wavelength PM-QMZ modulator joins Oclaro's established high-bandwidth single carrier PM-QMZ (polarisation multiplexed quad parallel Mach-Zehnder) modulator line that was launched in 2015 and has been tested in labs and R&D centres operating at symbol rates up to 64 Gbaud and with different modulation formats up to 128QAM.
Oclaro's dual wavelength PM-QMZ LiNbO3 external modulator is designed to support data rates up to 1 Tbit/s utilising two wavelengths 'packed' into a single gold box. The modulator is a high electro-optic bandwidth PM-QMZ device that integrates into a hermetic package two PM-QMZ sets, each featuring an input beam splitter, four parallel Mach-Zehnder modulators configured for I-Q modulation, a polarisation combiner and monitor photodiodes for power and bias control.
Key features of the new product include: 3 dB electro-optic bandwidth exceeding 28 GHz; smooth optical response up to 45 GHz, enabling symbol rates up to 45 Gbaud; extinction ratio above 25 dB for complex modulation formats; insertion loss below 12 dB; and support for L-Band operation.
Interoperability demonstration
The demonstration of 100 Gbit/s ER4-Lite QSFP28 and CFP2 over 40 km single-mode fibre (SMF) is designed to show how ER4-Lite solutions can deliver the low power and low cost required to enable 100 Gbit/s in the access and core networks where longer reach is required.
Oclaro noted that as 100 Gbit/s technology is deployed in metro and access networks, operators require 100 Gbit/s client interfaces able to provide 40 km reach without the use of amplifiers. The new ER4-Lite specification is designed to enable cost-effective 100 Gbit/s 40 km pluggable solutions in compact QSFP28 transceivers with FEC and APD-based receivers.
The new Oclaro QSFP28 ER4-Lite device, which complements the existing CFP2 product, leverages the company's proven 28 Gbit/s EML as used in its CFPx and QSFP28 LR4 product families. The ER4-Lite QSFP28, which is currently sampling, can support 100 Gigabit Ethernet and OTU4 applications with up to 40 km reach with FEC, or 30 km without FEC, and is interoperable with existing ER4 solutions up to 30 km.
Oclaro noted that QSFP28 has been standardised by ITU-T as G.959.1 4L1-9D1F and is being standardised by the newly established 4-Wavelength WDM MSA group.
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