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Organizers:
Pierre Sillard, Prysmian Group, France
Benyuan Zhu, OFS Laboratories, USA
Inna Kouzmina, Corning, USA
Tetsuya Hayashi, Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd, Japan
Description:
Rising network traffic, driven by consumer bandwidth demand, is creating a capacity challenge for networks of all types. The search for scalable capacity has become a driving force in network systems. Space Division Multiplexing (SDM) is a viable approach as it increases the relative core density in a given system. In datacenter applications, it could solve practical installation problems of very large fiber counts in data center interconnect (DCI) links. In submarine, it offers a path towards 1-5 Pb/s subsea cable capacity. The latter presents the ultimate challenge due to high reliability requirements and power-limited cable designs on the top of high capacity transmission. The debate will therefore focus on which technology will emerge to meet challenging 5 Pbps cable capacity targets in submarine. Scalability, ecosystem readiness, compatibility with incumbent systems and mechanical robustness are amongst factors to be addressed for two leading solutions: multicore (MCF) and reduced geometry (Cladding or Coating) fibers.