[Whitepaper] CIENA: Shannon’s Limit Is Real

Download the Whitepaper by CIENA on Shannon's Limit is Real

For several years now, the submarine network industry has benefitted from the arrival of coherent-based modems allowing

cable operators to upgrade their submerged network assets to previously unthinkable total information-carrying capacities.

Channel speeds initially increased from 10Gb/s to 40Gb/s, then to 100Gb/s, and now even higher. Submarine cables

deployed many years ago are now supporting an order of magnitude increase in total information-carrying capacity. The

exact total capacity of an upgraded cable depends upon its unique performance personality, but all increases are indeed

astounding. Such cable upgrades breathed new life into existing subsea wet plants, some over a decade old, and allows cable

operators to maintain pace with over 40% CAGR in demand.

The introduction of coherent Submarine Line Terminating Equipment (SLTE) was a sea change milestone in the industry, with

operators getting used to massive increases in capacity their subsea assets could support. However, there’s a looming limit

to how many bits can be crammed into an optical fiber, known as the Shannon Limit. It’s a red-hot topic of discussion these

days, and rightfully so.