Recent Advances in Ultrahigh Bit Rate ETDM Transmission Systems

Increase of Internet traffic and introduction of triple-play services force operators to increase network capacity at moderate costs. Introduction of higher electronic time-division multiplexing (ETDM) channel bit rate targets reduce the cost per bit for the transmission due to lower power consumption, smaller footprint, less management effort, and complexity of the systems. Improved performance of electronic and optoelectronic components allows for research on ETDM bit rates beyond 40 Gb/s, which is currently the highest standardized channel bit rate for optical telecommunication networks. In this paper, an overview of recent progress in high-speed ETDM technology for 80 Gb/s and beyond and results of high-speed ETDM transmission experiments are given. Currently, the speed of electronics enables ETDM systems with line rates of 80/85 Gb/s and even 100 Gb/s, which is expected to be the next generation of Ethernet in data communication