PIEMAN

Photonic Integrated Extended Metro and Access Network

Project status

Completed in 2009

CIP involvement

CIP were the technology partner responsible for the development of all of the optoelectronic components on the project, including the monolithic SOA-EAM reflective modulator device and the hybrid tuneable 10Gb/s laser transmitter.

About PIEMAN

PIEMAN will perform ambitious physical layer research into a future broadband optical access system with capability well beyond what is achievable today. The objective is a 100 km reach photonic network which will integrate access and metro into one system, whereas today access and metro are provided by separate systems. PIEMAN will therefore greatly simplify network architectures and so reduce costs.

The PIEMAN system will be an evolution from today’s passive optical networks and will offer multiple wavelengths each carrying 10 Gbit/s upstream and downstream. The upstream direction is especially challenging at 10 Gbit/s – a factor of ten faster than any passive optical network to date. The system will be all-optical between the user and the service node ~100 km distant. Radical new techniques will be studied to allow cost-effective “colourless” 10 Gbit/s transmitters in the customer premises of both  tunable laser and  reflective modulator designs.

Web site: http://www.ist-pieman.org/

Partners

BT (UK), CIP (UK), Siemens (Germany), Alcatel (Germany), University of Ghent (Belgium), UCC (Ireland)