ADVA looks to the future with C-3PO
ADVA Optical Networking has been selected to participate in a research project to develop a new generation of photonic components to reduce power consumption and costs in optical networks. Named ‘Colorless and Coolerless Components for Low-Power Optical Networks’ (C-3PO), the grant-based three-year project aims to increase network capacity for the next generation of optical-networking applications
Individual optical components consume up to tens of watts each and the larger components necessary for future network capacity requirements will further increase the amount of power used, says ADVA. The energy required to cool the buildings housing the infrastructure can also increase power consumption by as much as six times. Participants in the C-3PO project aim to develop cost effective, coolerless, silica-based integrated components that are not wavelength-specific but that have high performance for Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) applications.
The project will yield low-cost, photonic-integrated transceivers that remove the need for expensive, thermoelectrically cooled tunable lasers, says ADVA, as well as electronics/photonics integration via electronic chip devices that are performance-optimised for low-power consumption. The components are projected to deliver large savings on equipment, potentially into the hundreds of millions of dollars from data and switching-centre applications alone, the company says. C-3PO will focus on metro and access networks and is supported by the European Commission's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). The total budget for the project is EUR 2.6m, EUR 2m of which will come from the EU.
“ADVA Optical Networking continues to drive innovation,” said ADVA's Chief Technology Officer Christoph Glingener. “Our participation in the C-3PO project is a strong example of how we push advanced technology to bring constant and continued innovation into the network. The components that result from C-3PO will be integrated into our FSP 3000 platform, which will enable our customers to automatically benefit from lower power consumption and OPEX. We will continue to pursue all opportunities to assist our customers in driving efficiency into their operational model. We look forward to great cooperation with the C-3PO project partners.”
