40-Gbit/s ETDM Channel Technologies for Optical Transport Network

We review recent progress and the future of 40-Gbit/s electrical time division multiplexed (ETDM) channel technologies for the optical transport network (OTN), where optical technologies, including high-speed ETDM channel transmission and wavelength division multiplexing (WDM), dramatically enhance network flexibility while reducing transport node cost as well as transmission cost. The 40 Gbit/s channel has recently been specified to be one of the optical channels in OTN. A new digital frame for the optical channels [optical channel transport unit (OTU)] was introduced for the network node interface of OTN in International Telecommunication Union-Telecommunication (ITU-T) standard. The specified data bit rates are 2.7 Gbit/s (OTU1), 10.7 Gbit/s (OTU2), and 43.0 Gbit/s (OTU3). These OTU frames have additional overhead bytes that support the network management overhead for OTN and out-of-band forward error correcting (FEC) codes. We discuss the feasibility and impact of the OTU3 frame in terrestrial networks. A newly developed 43-Gbit/s OTN line terminal prototype that confirms the feasibility of 43-Gbit/s ETDM channels and the OTU3 management capability is discussed. As a guide to the evolution of OTN, modulation formats for 43Gbit/s-based DWDM transmission are described for long distance application with the total capacity over one terabit per second.