This initiative is part of an experimental research project to help strengthen the telecommunications infrastructure of the city of L’Aquila, following a major earthquake which struck the city in 2009, destroying much of the city centre.
As part of this project, Optoscribe’s fan-in/fan-out (FIFO) devices convert between multiple standard single-mode fibres (SMFs) and Sumitomo Electric’s MCFs. The use of MCF can dramatically increase the amount of data transferred across the optical fibre while minimising space.
Over 6 kilometres of MCF cable has been installed, the majority of which is located in a walkable multi-service underground tunnel as part of an Optical Ring, the experimental optical network for INCIPICT (Innovating City Planning through Information and Communications Technologies), which was led by the University of L’Aquila, and funded by the Italian Government.
The MCF testbed will be used to host a wide range of R&D activities in the broad field of optical communications, and specifically in the area of SDM transmission over MCFs. These include device testing, transmissions and software-defined networking, also in conjunction with the ongoing 5G trial – L’Aquila is one of the five Italian sites selected for trialling 5G technologies. The testbed will serve to assess problems and requirements for MCFs installed in the real field, thereby contributing to the development of SDM transmission systems.
Commenting Nick Psaila, CEO of Optoscribe, said: “This announcement follows on from our previously announced strategic cooperation with Sumitomo Electric, and we are delighted to be involved in this ground-breaking project with Sumitomo Electric and the University of L’Aquila to help deploy the world’s first field-deployed testbed for MCF communications.”
Tatsuo Saitoh, Head of Optical Communication Laboratory of Sumitomo Electric, said: “We believe this project will pave the way for realisation of optical communications system using MCF and our future MCF products will solve customers’ challenges for ultra-high capacity communication.”