VI, Berlin Try 25G Lasers

BERLIN -- VI Systems GmbH (VIS), a leader in advanced optical engines and components and the Technology Development Fund (TEF) of the Berlin Investment Bank (IBB) launched a project devoted to the development of a prototype device based on the patent of the Technical University of Berlin. The device aims a very high speed signal transmission over the single mode optical fiber deployed in the telecommunication networks, in particular targeting, so called, access networks at distances of few to few dozens of kilometers. The device includes a saturable absorber section and is based on a novel operational principle of generating very short pulses, tuning, and switching their repetition frequency by applying an electro-optic effect. The device is targeting the 1300 nm wavelength range matching the transparency and the zero dispersion window of the standard single mode fiber. The device will operate at the transmission rates of up to 25 Gb/s and beyond. Monolithic integration of the functional sections makes the device simple, low cost and power efficient. The project control and commercial administration of intellectual property are managed by the IPAL GmbH, a Berlin based company which specializes in patent exploitation.

The new technology will enable to transfer the dramatically increasing amount of information, fueled by an explosion of network-connected devices, with the total amount of global Internet traffic to quadruple by 2015 and reach about 1 zettabytes per year, according to an internal study conducted by Cisco. The number of network-connected devices will be more than 15 billion, twice the world's population, by 2015.

VI Systems GmbH