Fujitsu has unveiled its TransLambda technology, an innovative approach to multiplying capacity in today’s fiber networks. According to Fujitsu, the new technology can be deployed with minimal operational overhead and negligible capital investment.
The rise of 5G, combined with exponential growth in data center traffic, continues to drive demands for fiber capacity. Fujitsu has developed and now introduced this TransLambda technology, an ultra-high capacity, wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) multiband transmission system (MTS) that “substantially” can expand the transmission capacity of optical fiber networks without deploying new L- and S- band dedicated transceivers.
By packing multiple transmission bands into a single fiber using all optical wavelength conversion (AOWC), TransLambda would enable “up to three times the capacity to be delivered quickly and cost-effectively, offering reduced cost and simplified operation of data center interconnect (DCI) and long-haul transport networks.” This would be particularly crucial for those applications where C-band transmission is the only available option for the foreseeable future, such as optical links that use direct-attach or transponder-attach ZR/ZR+ pluggable coherent optics.
Fujitsu is introducing a TransLambda Test Kit to enable network service providers and data center operators to conduct proof of concept lab trials. The Fujitsu TransLambda Test Kit, which is currently being used in customer lab trials, is offered in a single blade configuration that can be used with any legacy WDM network architecture including multi-vendor systems.
Network Speed and Capacity
“TransLambda technology is just the latest in a line of innovations from Fujitsu to achieve the highest network speed and capacity as cost-efficiently as possible, helping our customers gain true competitive advantage in today’s demanding marketplace,” said Paul Havala, vice president of global planning at Fujitsu Network Communications. “Our TransLambda fiber multiplier approach is a much more cost-efficient way to achieve significant capacity increases without installing L-band equipment, addressing cost and operational overhead while seamlessly integrating into existing network architecture to fully leverage deployed fiber assets.”
Fujitsu’s TransLambda fiber capacity multiplier technology offers ultra-high capacity – up to 76.8Tb/s of data using 192 channels at 400G speeds per 75GHz channel – in a plug-and-play blade using C-band transponders.
By meeting the need for increased capacity without additional types of equipment, this approach would offer overall simpler network management with minimal capital expenditures and operational overhead, while protecting existing fiber investments. Moreover, capacity can be increased without architectural changes and independent of rates and modulation schemes. Therefore, operators can prolong use of existing transponders until all C-, L- and S- bands are fully utilized, and continue to use them as they upgrade to the next generation.
