Infinera to Present OFC Post-Deadline Paper on Terabit PIC

Terabit Transmit PIC Follows Monday’s Receiver PIC Paper

SUNNYVALE, CA–(Marketwire – March 10, 2011) – Infinera (NASDAQ: INFN) has been awarded a slot to present a post-deadline paper today at the OFC/NFOEC conference on results of a demonstration of a Terabit photonic integrated circuit (PIC) transmitter. The Terabit PIC transmitter integrates ten wavelengths, each operating at 112 Gigabits/second (Gb/s) for an aggregate data rate of 1.12 Terabits/second (Tb/s).

This paper follows a paper delivered on Monday to a standing-room-only OFC audience on results of a demonstration of an Infinera Terabit receiver PIC.

The post-deadline paper, to be delivered by Infinera principal engineer Peter Evans, describes the use of narrow linewidth lasers, and dual states of polarization to achieve a data rate of 112 Gb/s per channel. Error-free transmission was achieved for all ten channels. According to the paper, “This 112 Gb/s operation demonstrates the viability of 10-wavelength InP PICs to scale to a Terabit /chip capacity and beyond.”

The Dawn of the Terabit Age
Terabit PICs will enable the industry to move from 100Gb/s channels to Terabit channels. The implementation of Terabit FlexChannels, which are designed to leverage the fiber spectrum to achieve greater spectral density, should enable the network to scale to capacities up to 25Tb/s. Large-scale photonic integration enables the implementation of Terabit channels utilizing Infinera’s unique FlexChannels. FlexChannels are designed to implement Terabit channels more cost-effectively than conventional discrete-based optical networks because the integration of large numbers of lasers and other optical components into PICs reduces the cost-per-bit of reaching high levels of fiber and system capacity. In an Infinera analyst briefing session on Wednesday, Infinera co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer Dr. David Welch cited an analyst estimate that Infinera has a four-year lead on the rest of the industry in its capabilities for the development and volume production of large-scale active monolithic PICs. Dr. Welch described photonic integration as the key enabler for the next phase of network evolution. “As we collapse layers in the network, PICs are the technology that enables us to deliver a Digital Optical Network with unconstrained bandwidth throughout the network, pervasive, integrated switching, and the capability to deliver additional packet features cost-effectively,” Dr. Welch said.

Infinera’s 500Gb/s PIC is planned to be commercially available in Infinera systems next year. Infinera plans to deliver systems based on PICs with 1 Tb/s capacity or greater in future systems. In a new 3D video, The Dawn of the Terabit Age, Infinera explains some of the key technologies implemented in the 500Gb/s PIC and the Terabit PIC. The video can be viewed in 3D using YouTube’s 3D web video technology at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rachDVk6-A or in high definition 2D at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIeFWQK8TG0.

About Infinera
Infinera provides Digital Optical Networking systems to telecommunications carriers worldwide. Infinera’s systems are unique in their use of a breakthrough semiconductor technology: the photonic integrated circuit (PIC). Infinera’s systems and PIC technology are designed to provide customers with simpler and more flexible engineering and operations, faster time-to-service, and the ability to rapidly deliver differentiated services without reengineering their optical infrastructure. For more information, please visit http://www.infinera.com/.