Siemens Pushes Rate Limits for Optical Transmission

BOCA RATON, Fla., Sept. 30 -- Siemens says that it has set a first in its laboratories by transmitting 3.2 Tbit/s over a single optical fiber using WDM technology. The company used its electronic time-division multiplexing technology to transmit 80 channels -- each at 40 Gb/s -- error-free over 40 km.
Customer demand for bandwidth seems to be endless, said Michael McLaughlin, vice president and general manager of Siemens Information and Communication Networks' Optical Networks Division. As carriers place more WDM systems in operation, the bandwidth requirements keep going up. Consequently, our R&D efforts are focused on two areas: to maximize the performance of current systems, and to develop the next generation of all-optical systems that send more data at faster speeds down these superhighways of light.