In a groundbreaking development, Cisco has announced the successful transmission of data at speeds of 800Gbps across the Amitié transatlantic cable. Stretching 6,234 kilometers from Boston, Massachusetts, to Bordeaux, France, this achievement marks a significant advancement in the capacity of subsea network cables, driven by the burgeoning demands of cloud computing and AI technologies.
The Amitié cable, which incorporates Space Division Multiplexing (SDM) technology with an unprecedented 16 fiber pairs, represents a leap forward in the efficiency and capacity of undersea cables. This technology allows for the sharing of repeater power across fiber pairs, optimizing the cable’s performance.
During a real-time field trial, Cisco exceeded previous industry benchmarks by achieving Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) at 800G within a 150GHz channel spacing. This trial not only set a new standard for spectrum efficiency at 5.33bit/s/Hz but also demonstrated a remarkable spectral efficiency of up to 5.6bit/s/Hz. Moreover, the trial included the transmission of 600G over a record-breaking 12,469 kilometers in a trans-Atlantic loopback configuration, marking the first instance of a 140Gbaud single carrier signal being demonstrated live over such a distance.
The Amitié submarine cable, which now forms a crucial part of Microsoft’s global network infrastructure, is instrumental in supporting a wide range of Microsoft services across the US, UK, and France. This venture into enhanced subsea cable technology underscores the importance of robust and swift network connections in today’s AI-driven landscape.
Bill Gartner, Cisco’s Senior Vice President of Optical Systems and Optics, emphasized the trial’s significance in demonstrating the potential for increased network capacity over long distances. Microsoft’s General Manager of Cloud Network Engineering, Jamie Gaudette, also highlighted the achievement as a testament to the commercial viability and enhanced capacity of SDM cables in today’s digital era.
This trial utilized Cisco’s NCS 1014 platform, featuring Acacia’s cutting-edge Coherent Interconnect Module 8 (CIM 8), powered by the Jannu digital signal processor and advanced silicon photonics, showcasing technologies that are not only innovative but also currently deployed across various networks.
