NExt-generation WDM Metro and Access Networks

Project Information

NEWMAN

Grant agreement ID: 752826

DOI

10.3030/752826

Project closed

EC signature date 8 November 2017

Start date 1 March 2018

End date 29 February 2020

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 185 857,20

EU contribution

€ 185 857,20

Coordinated by

TRANSMODE SYSTEMS AB
Sweden

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - NEWMAN (NExt-generation WDM Metro and Access Networks)

Reporting period: 2018-03-01 to 2020-02-29

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

In the era of ICT, information exchange becomes more important than ever. Optical fibers become the essential building element to a connected world. Long-haul and submarine cables with large capacity channels have been deployed and being continuously upgraded. Metro-core optical networks are effectively providing different types of services. And as of today, massive fiber deployment is envisioned to penetrate into the last mile, where a critical trade-off exists between deployment cost and number of users sharing the cost. Therefore, next generation metro and access networks will need to shift into a new paradigm in design and deployment of the fiber infrastructure, which include research and innovations of transceiver and line system technologies.

The NEWMAN project aims at identifying the specific technological issues within the scope of the aforementioned challenges, and propose, test, and verify the feasibility of the new technology paradigm. The applicant together with the host organization, Infinera Corporation aim at a solution which can provide instant bandwidth to any end users with affordable solutions without compromising the performance. Such challenges can only be addressed from a vertical layer optimization approach, from the device and components in the bottom to build the next generation optical engine, to digital signal processing techniques to enable good performance and flexibility, up to networking design and management including the topology and other added features, such as security, monitoring, flexible roaming among others. Other targeted scenarios include 5G transport, cable services, data center interconnects, besides the new telecom architecture.

In the NEWMAN project, five key objectives were defined:
1. Training through research in practical optical communication technologies.
2. Develop a novel simulation model for next generation WDM system.
3. Identifying components fulfilling next generation WDM requirements.
4. Lab evaluation and demonstration of the new technologies.
5. Transfer the novel technologies into practical system and its potential commercialisation.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Upon the final period of the project, the key objectives of the NEWMAN project are considered to be successfully accomplished by delivering the corresponding work packages (WPs).

WP1: Overall research training and knowledge transfer.
The Fellow has received trainings from the host organization in terms of both technical skills and soft skills. Technical training includes optical and system design varication test (ODVT/SDVT), WDM system portfolio and design tools, signal integrity analysis and so on. Soft skills training includes security training, such as cybersecurity, data security and GDPR, ESD training among others. These trainings are well received and implemented in the daily works during the project, and have greatly enhanced the Fellow’s knowledge and awareness of the essentials of the industrial working environment, which is considered as a key objective for the panel of MSCA-IF-SE.

WP2: Development of a novel analytical and simulation models for next generation WDM transmission system.
During the project, the Fellow has developed a MATLAB based simulation tool enabling WDM transmission simulation with mixed data rate and modulation formats, such as on-off-keying (OOK) signals, quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) signals and digital subcarrier modulations (DSM). The developed simulation platform support time domain Monte-Carlo numerical analysis of the fiber nonlinearities induced during transmission, including self-phase modulation and cross-phase modulation. The simulated environment can be both generic and specific, considering different use cases.

WP3: Development of the preparation of advanced WDM components and their characterization.
The WP3 tasks are performed by analyzing the technical specifications with component and module vendors, including filters, wavelength selective switches, amplifiers. The Fellow is invited to several vendor meetings to learn and discuss the technical details of the latest optical components and modules, and to match with the WDM system design of the host organization. Also, from a subsystem point of view, the Fellow has studied technologies on both the client and line side optics, particularly for beyond 200G single lane technologies with advanced modulation formats, including 4-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM-4), discrete multitone (DMT) and coherent DSM, and on the beyond 5G fronthaul technologies including both digital and analog solutions. These relevant studies are reflected with corresponding publications.

WP4: Development of novel WDM technologies in the system level.
The Fellow is involved with a state-of-the-art innovation team within the host organization, Infinera Corporation and its global R&D team to design and develop a revolutionary technology, so called XR-Optics (https://www.infinera.com/innovation/xr-optics). The Fellow has contributed his knowledge and expertise in coherent optical communications to this game-changing innovation for next-generation networks during its pre-study and development phase. The tasks assigned to the Fellow align perfectly with the overall scope of the NEWMAN project, and a great momentum has been built, extending to future development phase of this technology.

WP5: Dissemination of the developed next generation WDM system and pushing potential commercialization.
During the NEWMAN project, the Fellow has successfully performed research and translated the generic results into publications in 4 journal and 15 conference papers, including several premier conferences such as OFC, ECOC, SPIE Photonics West and OECC. Besides, the Fellow has participated in workshops, seminars and training sessions to adequately disseminate the works supported by the project to public audiences. Additionally, the Fellow has served as the TPC Chair of conference ICAIT 2018 held in Stockholm, Sweden, TPC member of ACP’18-19 and OFC’20-21, where the Fellow contributes the professional experience obtained from the Project to the research community. Finally, as aforementioned, within the scope of the NEWMAN project the Fellow has contributed to the development and announcement of the XR-Optics, which is believed to be revolutionary and have a significant impact on the fiber-optic communication industry.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The NEWMAN project has made significant progress beyond the state-of-the-art, contributing to the development of high baud rate WDM optical communication technologies in terms of both the line-side and the client-side optics. Firstly, by pushing the single lane rate of the intensity modulation and direct detection (IM/DD) system towards beyond 200G, the NEWMAN project has directly contributed to the process of advancing the optical communication and networking industry from 100G era to the 400G era. Secondly, by performing system-level research on advanced digital subcarrier based coherent technologies, i.e. the XR-Optics innovation, it has contributed to a redefinition of the existing fiber-optic infrastructure towards a new paradigm where instant bandwidth availability can be made to the end users in a much more flexible, efficient and sustainable manner. This innovation will in turn create value to our information-driven society by supporting next generation bandwidth intensive services and applications.

Next-Generation WDM Networking Scenario requiring advanced transmission technologies