#	Pagina
attuale pagina	/open-h2020/projects/213140/results.html

Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PASSION (Photonic technologies for progrAmmable transmission and switching modular systems based on Scalable Spectrum/space aggregation for future agIle high capacity metrO Networks)

Teaser

Summary

In the last decade we assisted to a continuous growth of the metro network, but we are now facing a bottleneck in the transmission and routing of the huge amount of data due to the dramatic increase of the number of users, the content size, and to the convergence with mobile and datacom networks. Photonics is a key enabling technology for the evolution of the entire telecommunications infrastructure, supporting increasing bandwidth requirements and quality of service (QoS), but the traditional optical technologies exploited today mainly for long haul transmission are too expensive and power hungry for the future metro network.
The aim of PASSION project is to develop new photonic technologies and devices for supporting sustainable metro networks, capable of enabling target capacities of Tb/s per spatial channel, 100 Tb/s per link and Pb/s per node over a few hundred-kms distances. A new metro network infrastructure is envisioned within the project, fitting the network operator requirements and roadmaps and offering multiple relevant characteristics that include: (i) reduced network cost, energy/power consumption and equipment footprint, that are achieved by the development of compact/cost-effective switching technologies and transmitter (using direct modulated vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, VCSELs) and multi-channel coherent receiver modules with dense photonic integration; (ii) increased system flexibility and modularity by the adoption of sliceable bandwidth/bitrate variable transceivers (S-BVTs) with reconfigurable parameters; (iii) increased network and system scalability, programmability and reconfigurability, that are enabled by agile aggregation in the spectrum, polarization and space dimensions and the implementation of a software defined networking (SDN) control platform.
In particular, Figure 1 shows the S-BVT Tx based on the modular approach: the module integrating 40 VCSELs in Silicon photonics capable of enabling up to 2 Tb/s aggregated capacity constitutes the building block of the S-BVT. By combining four of such a module, a full 160-channel Tx supermodule is obtained with 25-GHz granularity over the whole C band and with up to 8 Tb/s capacity. By exploiting also polarization-division multiplexing and spatial multiplexing, coupling two supermodules outputs orthogonal in polarization and exploiting bundles of fibers or multi-core fibers, PASSION Tx is able to reach a capacity per link higher than 100 Tb/s.
PASSION network platform is also realized by means an innovative energy-efficient and small-footprint node approach, adopting different technologies: flex-grid aggregation/disaggregation/add switches; high-connectivity multicast switches, and large-port photonic polymer PLC-based space switch matrixes. Such a S-BVT based network architecture (Fig. 2) with 25-GHz fine granularity guarantees reconfigurability and flexibility at different levels (in spectrum, polarization and space), and scalability to support a â€œpay-as-you-growâ€ scheme. SDN ensures network programmability, fitting network operator requirements and roadmaps.

Work performed

After 18 months from the start of the project (December 1st, 2017) 18 PASSION deliverables have been completed and 11 milestones have been achieved. In particular, in addiction to outcomes related to the project management and dissemination (such as the PASSION website, the dissemination and data management plans), we achieved important scientific results reported in the following.
- Definition of use cases and requirements for the PASSION network, systems and sub-systems. Considering the targeted uses cases, a detailed definition of the metro network architecture divided into a number of hierarchical levels supporting different aggregated data traffic volumes and operating at heterogonous granularities has been provided. Moreover, the node and the transceiver architecture have been defined.
- Definition of the technological circuitry matching the functionalities required by the PASSION optical node. Photonic integrated circuits able to handle the add/drop traffic and traffic aggregation/disaggregation functionalities with a modular approach have been identified and designed with the aim to deliver on-chip switch node functionalities for flexible Pb/s capacity. The fabrication is on going.
- Detailed design of the 40-VCSELs Tx module architecture targeting up to 2 Tb/s aggregated capacity. The Si-Ph architecture with multiple VCSELs bonded and coupled on a SOI-based Si-PIC embedding wavelength multiplexing capabilities has been proposed, including assembly strategy and optical and electrical interfaces. Preliminary test of the VCSEL sources supported by the selected electrical drivers has been performed. First wafer runs for the VCSELs matching the PASSION requirements have been completed. SiPh chips for the 2-Tb/s module realization have been fabricated.
- Development of the process and the building blocks to enable the monolithically integrated coherent receiver submodule per each channel. Two tunable laser concepts have been selected and fabricated.
- Design of the scalable S-BVT architecture, considering the different components and identifying the S-BVT requirements, parameters and features, including the modularity, granularity and slice-ability. Key control functionalities to be handled by the SDN controller and the control interfaces have been developed.

Final results

The fulfilment of PASSION main goal is the availability of an application driven photonic technological platform for the development of a new generation of low-cost, energy-efficient and reduced-footprint devices, modules and sub-systems exploiting the synergy between directly-modulated VCSEL capabilities with massive integration in Silicon Photonics, multichannel coherent detection, innovative switching technologies and spectrum/space aggregation. They will support a radically new sustainable modular and scalable network architecture for the metro segment. In this perspective, PASSION is expected to significantly impact on the metro network architecture, based on the superimposition of the spectrum and space aggregation. Scalability arises as a key functionality to be considered in the design of the envisioned metro network architecture in order to easily expand/upgrade the network according to the existing and future traffic demand. Hence, a programmable and modular approach becomes crucial to enhance network scalability without requiring significant re-engineering of the existing infrastructure.
The innovation potential of the European photonic companies and notably of the SMEs involved in the project will be improved by the cooperation along the value chain in PASSION. PASSION is a multi-disciplinary project requiring optical design, integration design, packaging design, system design as well as network design skills. Each Partner will focus on his core competences in terms of his resources and infrastructures, while relying on other Partners, thanks to already-established long-lasting relationships, with a new open access infrastructures and services to design, prototyping manufacturing and testing.