Ten Major Development Trends In Optical Networks

1.The backbone transmission network has entered the 400G era, and long-distance 800G technology is expected.

In 2023, the backbone transmission network for "digital data in the east and data in the west" will enter the 400G era, and the capacity of the trunk optical network will be greatly improved. While the large-scale commercial use of 400G is gradually deepening, the industry is also actively exploring the forward-looking deployment of 800G. 800G long-distance transmission requires continued development of key technologies such as 200GB+ high baud rate devices and C+L+S multi-band transmission based on 400G technology. Conduct research and achieve breakthroughs.

2.New optical fiber technology is developing rapidly, and hollow-core optical fiber may reshape the industrial landscape in the future.

In response to the demand for substantial growth in network traffic and continued reduction of transmission delays, new optical fiber technologies such as space division multiplexing optical fiber and hollow core optical fiber have ushered in rapid development. Among them, hollow-core optical fiber technology is expected to break through the inherent delay limit and nonlinear Shannon limit of existing single-mode optical fibers, and have a comprehensive disruptive impact on optical fibers, optical devices, optical systems and optical networks, and may reshape the industrial landscape in the future.

3.The outline of the integrated "air, sky, earth and sea" scenario is beginning to emerge, and laser communications will enter a stage of rapid development.

Currently, developed countries around the world have entered into the widespread deployment of low- and medium-orbit satellites and the upsurge of constellation construction. Laser communication technology has become the first choice for inter-satellite and satellite-to-ground interconnection due to its advantages such as large bandwidth, flexible networking, and good confidentiality. , and entered a stage of rapid development. Optical communication "goes to the sky, goes to the earth, and goes to the sea", and will realize the integration of "air, sky, earth and sea" and all-scenario connections and applications.

4.Long-distance 400G evolves from being usable and easy-to-use, and core device integration, power consumption and cost continue to be optimized.

The large-scale deployment of trunk 400G has driven the development of lasers, ITLA, EDFA and WSS devices in the direction of "C6T+L6T" integration. Currently, WSS has achieved device integration, EDFA has completed board integration, and coherent optical modules will evolve from MSA fixed packaging to pluggable packaging. The integration, power consumption and cost of 400G key components continue to be optimized, promoting 400G from usable to easy to use.

5.Short-range 1.6T technology is about to usher in a turning point in rapid development, helping high-speed interconnection of computing power.

Behind the popularity of topics such as ChatGPT and Sora is the arrival of the artificial intelligence era and the booming development of intelligent computing and supercomputing businesses. In the era of artificial intelligence, scenarios such as data center Al clusters present large-scale, high-bandwidth, low-latency, zero-packet-loss networking and other characteristics. Short-distance 1.6T high-speed optical transmission will usher in a rapid development inflection point. The surge in related demand will drive the development and maturity of standards, interfaces, optical module packaging and other technologies.

6.The small-grain OTN standard is initially mature, and the industry chain needs to comprehensively promote chips and equipment to follow up.

At the end of 2023, the fgOTN (fine grain OTN, small grain OTN) standard project was successfully established in ITU-T, and the relevant core standards are expected to be released in mid-2024. fgOTN has innovated in core technologies such as frame structure, mapping, and synchronization, and inherited the TDM mechanisms of SDH and OTN. In 2024, the industry chain will focus on and rapidly promote the maturity of chips and equipment, strive to move toward commercial use in 2025, and promote the high-quality development of OTN private line services.

7.All-optical cross-connection moves from the core to the edge to further efficiently match cloud-network collaboration needs.

The large-scale deployment of ROADM/OXC builds an "optical layer overpass" at the core node of the network, giving full play to the advantages of all-optical networks in terms of capacity, flexible scheduling, low latency, low power consumption, and high reliability. With the further advancement of cloud-network collaboration and computing power networks, metropolitan area pooled wavelength division enables resource dynamics, on-demand efficient sharing and flexible deployment, reduces network construction costs, and promotes all-optical crossover from the core to the edge.

8.Optical networks are moving towards the integration of communication and perception, and the value of the network is further enhanced.

In addition to building communication networks, optical fibers also have the ability to sense the status of multiple parameters such as temperature, stress, refractive index, vibration, magnetic field and electric field. Combining optical fiber sensing with optical communication can achieve large-scale, high-density integrated synaesthesia Optical network. Communication perception integration based on optical networks can realize the transition from "all-optical connection" to "light-sensing everything" and fully tap the value of optical network digital connections.

9.Artificial intelligence and digital twins are gradually moving toward application, and traditional optical networks are transitioning to smart optical networks.

Artificial intelligence, digital twins and traditional optical network technologies are cross-integrated and gradually moved towards pilot applications, highlighting the value and capabilities of smart optical networks. At present, the "connection + scale" of optical networks is growing rapidly. The transition from traditional optical networks to smart optical networks has greatly improved capabilities and efficiency in the entire network life cycle of "planning, construction, maintenance, and optimization" and improved user experience.

10.The importance of network security is highlighted, and optical networks build a comprehensive security system.

As a critical information infrastructure, optical networks carry most of the network traffic. The importance of optical network security is self-evident. Optical networks need to continue to carry out theoretical research innovation and practical verification from six major dimensions: hardware, system, network, management, control and supply chain localization, and build a comprehensive security system. At the same time, OTN encryption, quantum encryption and other technologies can be combined to further proactively improve business security.

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We have been designing, manufacturing and supplying passive components for fiber optical networks since 2003. Everything we do in FCST is designed to provide efficient, simple and innovative solutions to solve complicated tasks.

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