Paris, October 1st, 2010 – Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE:ALU) today announced that scientists from its research arm, Bell Labs, have demonstrated a range of critical optical technology advances at the optical industry’s annual European Conference and Exhibition on Optical Communication(ECOC) in Turin, Italy, last week.
The next-generation optical innovations showcased by Bell Labs at ECOC involve the application of higher-order modulation and coherent detection techniques, use of electronic division multiplexing, and increased spectral efficiencies that enable the transmission of significantly higher bit rates over increasingly longer distances. These innovations represent critical steps forward in the evolution of optical transmission over the mid- to longer term by generating the high transmission speeds required to meet rapidly increasing demand for bandwidth.
The optical transmission technologies demonstrated by Bell Labs were presented in a series of juried research papers and reviewed in a rigorous evaluation process by the ECOC program committee. A highlight of these demonstrations was a record of transmission of 606-Gb/s line rate at high spectral efficiency with an optical orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) transponder running over a distance of 1,600 km of fiber. The system uses OFDM with PDM 32-QAM subcarriers and detects the entire 606-Gb/s multiplex in a single coherent detection step.
This new optical transmission record is very impressive and state-of-the-art,” said Gee Rittenhouse, Head of Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs Research “But more meaningful is that these technologies represent the leading edge of a transformation in communications networks that will enable us to keep up with future demand.
These advances in optical transmission technology are the latest in a long series of Bell Labs optical networking breakthroughs: 100 Petabit per second.kilometer transmission world record demonstrated in 2009, the invention of Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM), introduction of non-zero dispersion fiber, 100 Gigabit Ethernet field trials and advanced modulation formats at 40 Gigabits per second.
About Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) is the trusted transformation partner of service providers, enterprises, strategic industries such as defense, energy, healthcare, transportation, and governments worldwide, providing solutions to deliver voice, data and video communication services to end-users. A leader in fixed, mobile and converged broadband networking, IP and optics technologies, applications and services, Alcatel-Lucent leverages the unrivalled technical and scientific expertise of Bell Labs, one of the largest innovation powerhouses in the communications industry. With operations in more than 130 countries and the most experienced global services organization in the industry, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with a global reach. Alcatel-Lucent achieved revenues of Euro 15.2 billion in 2009 and is incorporated in France, with executive offices located in Paris. For more information, visit Alcatel-Lucent on the Internet: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com, read the latest posts on the Alcatel-Lucent blog http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/blog and follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Alcatel_Lucent
