Abstract

New Internet applications, such as online shopping and photo/video sharing, are continuously driving the increasing bandwidth demand of fiber networks. Currently, the standard speed for high-speed Internet transmission over existing lines is 10 Gigabits per second (Gb/s), although global telecom carriers are moving towards a new standard that will allow 40 Gb/s rates. As applications over the Web become increasingly popular, however, ultra-fast transmission with rates of 100 Gb/s or greater will be needed.

In this talk we will present a brief review of the development of optical fiber networks. We will show the latest research and development results of the next generation ultra-fast optical communications. The talk will answer the following questions: How to generate and process the ultra-fast optical signal? How to transmit ultra-fast optical signal over the existing global fiber infrastructure? How to overcome fiber impairments to the ultra-fast optical signals? What are the hopes and challenges? And when are we able to enjoy the benefits brought on by the ultra-fast optical communications?

Verizon Communication is leading the development of ultra-fast optical transmission. Last year, we have accomplished world's first 100 Gb/s transmission with live traffic. The live video signals are carried by the 100-Gb/s channel over more than 500 km from Tampa to Miami, Florida. The result is considered the "fastest field test ever for live video streaming" by Optical Fiber Communication Conference 2008. In this talk the details of this historical event will be shared with the audience as well.

Biography

Dr. Tiejun (TJ) Xia is an expert of photonic technologies and optical communications with more than twenty years of experience in research, development, and technical innovation. He is a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff with Verizon Communications where his responsibility is optical network technology development. In 2007, Dr. Xia led the industry’s first 100G transmission field trial with live traffic. Dr. Xia is also an Adjunct Professor in the School of Engineering and Computer Science at University of Texas at Dallas and a Mentor Advisor at STARTech Early Ventures. He is a co-founder of the newly formed industrial forum “Advanced Fiber Connectivity & Switching (AFCS)”, which focuses on fully automated fiber networks. In recent years Dr. Xia has developed a new system, Symmetrical Innovation System (SIS), to promote innovation in large corporations, and built the Verizon Innovation web site based on SIS. He is also active in promoting innovation and creative thinking in the local communities. He is an IEEE senior member and a committee member of APOC2008 and NFOEC2009. Recently he served as a Director for Network Technology Development at Chorum Technologies, where he managed advanced R&D activities for photonic system development. Prior to Chorum, he worked with MCI Communications for next generation optical transmission technologies. Before joining MCI, he was a research faculty member in the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Michigan. Dr. Xia holds his Ph.D. degree in Physics (Nonlinear Optics) from the University of Central Florida. He has published more than 100 technical papers and holds more than 30 granted or pending U.S. patents.