New technique doubles distance of fibre optic communications
UCL researchers have demonstrated a new way to process fibre optic signals that could double the distance data travels error-free through transatlantic sub-marine cables, and cut long-distance transmission costs.
As demand for high-speed communications grows, more information is being sent through the existing fibre infrastructure using different frequencies of light to create the individual data signals. However, these signals can interact with each other and cause distortions, meaning the data is received with errors.
According to UCL professor of optical communications and networks Polina Bayvel, the team wanted to find ways to increase the amount of information being carried over existing fibre optic infrastructure.
They used a 16QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) super-channel made of a set of frequencies that could be coded using amplitude, phase and frequency to create a high-capacity optical signal. The super-channel was then detected using a high-speed super-receiver, and an algorithm was used to undo digital distortion based on calculations of the length of the fibre optic cable and the properties of this. As a result, the signals were transmitted error-free over 5890km compared to the previous 3190km.
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