What Will Eventually Trigger Large-scale Commercialization of SDM Fibers?

Space division multiplexing (SDM) is a promising technology to effectively deal with an unabated growth of data traffic in optical fiber networks. Over the past decade, fundamental research on SDM fibers has led to the development of high-quality multi-core and few-mode fibers as well as other network elements leveraging the SDM concept. Large-scale commercialization of SDM fibers will be crucial to satisfy the continuous demand for higher data rates. However, bringing these fibers to practical applications requires efforts beyond innovative fiber designs such as optimization to reduce system cost per bit and standardization to ensure interoperability. Successful commercialization of SDM fibers also depends on the progress made with regard to other network elements such as optical amplifiers, multiplexers, connectors, and splices. This workshop will provide a platform to discuss the challenges and opportunities for SDM fiber commercialization and aims at identifying potential triggers that can accelerate the deployment of SDM technology in various application areas.

Speakers:

The first commercial deployment of multi-core fiber technology in submarine cables

Mattia Cantono, Google, US

Subsea: Keep watching that business case!

Lara Garrett, Subcom, US

Challenges to make MCF cost-effective with respect to SCF technologies

Jean-Christophe Antona, ASN, France

Amplification technology for SDM signals transmitted by using SDM fibres

Hitoshi Takeshita, NEC, Japan

Fiber solutions for trunks, branches, and repeaters in SDM systems; path to commercialization

Bera Pálsdóttir, OFS Fitel Denmark, Denmark

Conditions for SDM fiber widespread commercialization and deployment

John Downie, Corning, US

Ultra-low loss 2-core fibre for expanding submarine cable capacity

Takemi Hasegawa, Sumitomo Electric, Japan

Opportunities for SDM fibers in telecommunication networks

David Neilson, Nokia Bell Labs, US

Sustainable Capacity Scaling through Spatial Division Multiplexing with Shared Optical Subsystems

Gabriele Di Rosa, Adtran Networks, Germany

How can we consider multicore fibre standard?

Kazuhide Nakajima, NTT, Japan