A New Fiber Standard for Terrestrial Applications, Developed from Submarine Technology

Abstract:
The ITU-T Recommendation G.654 for cut-off shifted optical fiber was first published in 1988. Until recently, it has been used to define the properties of optical fiber used in undersea networks, including some of the longest systems installed on the planet across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In November 2016, the standard was upgraded to include a new Table E, specifically targeted at terrestrial applications, designed to deliver some of the reach benefits of G.654 to the terrestrial arena by incorporating attribute specifications that are more suitable to that application space (e.g. restricted mode field diameter and macrobending limits). Fiber manufacturers have responded to the updated standard with compliant products, such as Corning(r) TXF(TM) optical fiber, that will extend the reach of long-haul networks and data center interconnects. The reach advantage obtained will become more critical as 200 Gb/s channel operation becomes mainstream and 400 Gb/s operation starts to be considered. This paper will explain the development of the standard to extend to terrestrial applications and demonstrate the advantage that may be achieved when installing a G.⁶⁵⁴E fiber also featuring ultra-low-loss.