In this paper, for the first time, a cost efficient network slicing method is proposed for torus data centers based on optical packet switching transport. The torus optical packet switched rings are separately synchronized so that electronic regrooming is employed at the nodes connecting different rings, for the inter-ring transit of optical packet traffic. In the proposed network slicing method called “HYB-BOSS network slicing”, we introduce optical circuit switching over “network slicing paths” in order to leverage low-cost network operation. The resulting network has a hybrid optical packet/circuit switching architecture. Next, an optimal network planning tool is developed to evaluate the cost efficiency of HYB-BOSS network slicing in terms of required optical interfaces and optical fibers when compared with network slicing in purely optical packet switched torus. The numerical results show that HYB-BOSS network slicing can reduce the number of optical interfaces in a network by up to 33%.

We investigate the potential of 100 Gb/s polarization division multiplexed (PDM-) quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) paired with coherent detection to enable the future capacity upgrade of current networks designed for 10 Gb/s nonreturn to zero (NRZ) on-off keying data. We experimentally assess the tolerance to nonlinear effects of such a solution over optical systems based on low chromatic dispersion fibres. We particularly study the performance penalties brought by copropagating channels (either PDM-QPSK or 10 Gb/s NRZ) onto 100 Gb/s PDM-QPSK data, in which both polarisation tributaries are over-modulated with return-to-zero and temporally interleaved by half a symbol period. Besides, we investigate one option to overcome these limitations: introducing band-gaps in the multiplex.

The introduction of wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) has triggered a tremendous capacity growth in submarine systems, both by the increase of the number of WDM channels and by the increase of the channel bitrate. Starting from 2.5 Gbit/s in the mid-1990s, the bitrate was upgraded to 10 Gbit/s by the end of the century in commercial products. The next generation of submarine systems will likely be based on a 40-Gbit/s bitrate. However, transmissions at a 40-Gbit/s rate are more challenging than transmissions at 10 Gbit/s. The goal of this paper is to provide an overview of the technologies which could be required or used in next-generation submarine systems. In the first part of this paper, an overview of the history of submarine links is provided. Then the technologies used in current N times 10 Gbit/s systems are described. Eventually, the challenges to overcome are discussed, whether they concern the type of fiber, the type of optical amplifier, or the nature of the modulation format