Researchers at NTT Network Innovation Laboratories have reported a long-haul optical transmission result of more than 100 Tb/s over 2,000 km on a single optical fiber, using what it describes as a first for this class of long-haul transmission. The team combined a 200-GBaud-class ultra-high-speed signaling technique with a low-noise optical amplification method it developed, targeting higher-capacity backbone networks.
Fukutaro Hamaoka of NTT Network Innovation Laboratories is scheduled to present the work at the 2026 Optical Fiber Communications Conference and Exhibition (OFC), running 15 March to 19 March 2026 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. “The internet’s backbone — the long-distance fiber-optic network systems that connect cities and countries — must grow in capacity to keep up with the explosive demand driven by video streaming, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and emerging applications like virtual reality,” said Fukutaro Hamaoka, NTT Network Innovation Laboratories. “Ultimately, this technology could help ensure that consumers and businesses continue to enjoy fast, reliable and affordable internet service even as data demand grows.”
For the transmission format, the researchers used 200-GBaud-class ultra-high-speed signaling to increase the average data rate per wavelength channel to more than 1 Tb/s. The team notes that increasing per-channel throughput could reduce the number of wavelength channels required for a given total capacity, which it says could simplify network equipment and reduce costs.
To maintain signal quality over distance, the researchers developed a low-noise forward Raman pumping technique, which it says enabled high-quality transmission of the 200-GBaud-class signals over 2,000 km. For the system test, the team built a large-scale S+C+L triple-band testbed spanning a wider spectral range than commercial systems, then transmitted 92 wavelength channels over 2,000 km; each channel carried 200-GBaud-class signals for a total capacity exceeding 100 Tb/s.
“This work illustrates the impact that high symbol rate transmission and low noise Raman amplification can have on scaling long haul network capacity,” said Lidia Galdino, OFC program chair, Corning. “Achieving over 100 Tb/s across S, C and L bands over 2,000 km is a notable step toward future ultra- high-capacity backbone systems.”
Source: Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition
