[WB1] SDM Networks

[WB1-1] Scaling Optical Networks through SDM Technologies

Tutorial

〇Peter J. Winzer (Nokia Bell Labs, USA)

The long-term scaling disparity between CMOS processing capabilities (driven by Moore’s Law and affording ~40%/year growth in processing capabilities) and high-speed communications technologies (electrical and optical transmission, affording only ~20%/year growth in per-lane interface rates) has led to rather worrisome technology scalability problems, from chip-to-chip interconnects to trans-oceanic fiber-optic cables. Massive parallelism in the form of space- division multiplexing (SDM) is the only long-term sustainable and techno-economically attractive solution, across all communications scenarios affected by scalability concerns. In its broadest sense, SDM can be defined as ‘the use of spatial multiplicity beyond the deployment of M individual systems for an M-fold capacity increase’ and includes aspects such as array integration, waveguide integration, power management in parallel systems, and logical channel partitioning/routing. In this tutorial, we review the scaling of optical communication systems from chip-to-chip interconnects to submarine cables, taking into account all available classical (and quantum) degrees of freedom. We combine basic Shannon (and Gordon) capacity scaling with technological and engineering limitations to arrive at practically relevant directions for SDM research and commercial product developments.

Bio:Peter J. Winzer received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the Technical University of Vienna, Austria, in 1998. Supported by the European Space Agency, he investigated space-borne Doppler lidar and laser communications. At Bell Labs since 2000, he has focused on fiber-optic communication systems and networks and has contributed to high-speed optical transmission research records and product developments from 10 Gbit/s to 1 Tbit/s per carrier. Following his involvement in estimating the nonlinear fiber Shannon capacity, he investigated space-division multiplexing (SDM) and multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) techniques for fiber-optics and is globally promoting SDM as the only way to scale optical transport systems. He currently heads Bell Labs’ global Optical Transmission Research efforts. He has widely published and patented and is actively involved with the IEEE and the OSA. He served as Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE/OSA Journal of Lightwave Technology from 2013-2018, was Program Chair of ECOC 2009 and Program/General Chair of OFC 2015/2017. Dr. Winzer is among the few Highly Cited Researchers from an industrial research lab, a Bell Labs Fellow, a Fellow of the IEEE and the OSA, and an elected member of the US National Academy of Engineering. He has received multiple awards for his work, including the 2018 John Tyndall Award.