June 6, 2024– Linfiber Tech (Nantong) Co., Ltd. (referred to as Linfiber Tech, www.linfiber.com) has collaborated with China Mobile to launch the first 800G hollow-core fiber transmission test network between Shenzhen and Dongguan in Guangdong province. The hollow-core fiber (HCF) provided by Linfiber Tech achieved remarkable key performance metric over a 20km link, including self-splicing loss of 0.05 dB, hollow-core to solid-core connection loss of <0.3 dB, and an installed cable loss of 0.6 dB/km (including connectors and splices). These technical advancements highlights Linfiber Tech’s superior capabilities and comprehensive expertise in hollow-core fiber technology.
HCF, known for its outstanding attributes of low loss, low latency, low dispersion, and low nonlinearity, has emerged as a promising star in the field of optical communication. Although its optical performance has been verified in laboratories, engineering deployments face challenges such as complex splicing, high bending loss, low structural strength, and water ingress into the fiber core. This pilot route was entirely laid in existing urban underground pipelines, which are highly utilized and spatially constrained. During the deployment, Typhoon Mawar hit Shenzhen and Dongguan, causing severe flooding in some sections and making outdoor splicing challenging due to prolonged exposure to rain and humidity. Under the leadership of China Mobile, this pilot successfully applied HCF technology in real-world engineering environments, overcoming various conditions like tension, compression, moisture, and outdoor splicing. The project pioneered and summarized a deployment solution for HCF cables in complex pipeline environments and extreme weather conditions, completing the typical financial dedicated line route in the Greater Bay Area in China. This pilot not only optimized dedicated line latency by over 30% but also successfully demonstrated an 800G wide-spectrum optical transmission system based on the C+L band. Over the 20km link, it achieved an ultra-high capacity transmission test of 128Tb/s full-duplex single-fiber transmission, laying a solid foundation for the next generation HCF communication.
Over the past 20 years of HCF development, the core members of Linfiber Tech have been at the forefront of research, making several foundational contributions. In 2010, the founder & CEO of Linfiber, Yingying Wang developed the world’s first hypocycloid-core hollow-core fiber (CLEO 2010 PDP CPDB4) during her PhD work in University of Bath in UK under the supervision of Prof. Fetah Benabid.This innovation reduced the loss level by an order of magnitude from 500 dB/km to 40 dB/km. This landmark achievement is regarded as the starting point for the rapid development of low-loss HCF in the next 15 years. In 2014, the team completed the first theoretical explanation of the loss reduction mechanism (Opt. Ex, 22, 24697). In 2018, they developed the world’s first conjoined-tube HCF, further reducing the loss by an order of magnitude to 2 dB/km (Nat. Commun. 9, 2828). In 2022, they achieved the world’s first 0.1 dB pluggable hollow-core to solid-core connector (Opt. Ex, 30, 15149). In 2023, the transmission loss was reduced to 0.2 dB/km (ECOC 2023) in Linfiber. Recently, Linfiber achieved stable production yields of HCF with loss below 0.5 dB/km.
Linfiber Tech has successfully achieved innovations across several aspects of HCF technology, covering fiber design, fabrication, splicing, cabling, performance characterization, and system monitoring. The company have their own IP and is committed to continuing research and improvement in HCF technology. Additionally, Linfiber Tech actively seeks strategic partnerships with upstream and downstream enterprises in the industry chain to jointly advance the industrialization of HCF technology. With its profound expertise and rich practical experience, Linfiber Tech is prepared to provide HCF for AI clusters, data centers, and telecommunications networks.
The CEO, Yingying Wang, has been invited to ECOC to give an invited talk on “Design, Fabrication and Characterization of HCF”. Please stay tuned!