PMC-Sierra delivers industry’s highest performance forward error correction technology for 40G and 100G OTN deployments

SUNNYVALE, USA: PMC-Sierra Inc. has announced its innovative Forward Error Correction (FEC) technology for high performance, cost-effective 40G and 100G Optical Transport Network (OTN) deployments.

PMC-Sierra’s Swizzle FEC delivers the industry’s highest Net Effective Coding Gain (NECG) of 9.45dB, enabling 35 percent greater optical reach than other competing hard FEC technologies based on the seven percent overhead specified in the ITU G.709 standard.

The explosion of bandwidth demand from mobile data, video and enterprise data services is driving network operators towards deployment of 40Gb/s and 100Gb/s OTN links in their metro and regional networks. These data rates require higher symbol rates and complex modulation schemes, both of which increase sensitivity to optical impairments in optical networking gear.

PMC-Sierra’s Swizzle FEC compensates for these impairments, correcting up to four times as many errors as competitive solutions, maximizing optical spans over the existing fiber infrastructure.

“Capital spending remains a barrier to entry for mass deployment of 40G and 100G OTN technology,” said Babak Samimi, director of marketing of PMC-Sierra’s Communication Products Division. “Our Swizzle FEC technology will be a significant contributor in driving the economic viability of 40G and 100G OTN deployments. By maximizing optical reach and reducing the number of optical regenerators required, operators can cost-effectively transition to scalable OTN transport networks.”

PMC-Sierra’s Swizzle FEC delivers 9.45dB of Net Effective Coding Gain within the lowest OTN overhead of 6.7 percent specified in the ITU G.709 standard, nearly reaching the theoretical maximum defined by the Shannon Limit. For longhaul deployments, the Swizzle FEC architecture delivers 10dB or higher NECG for OTN overhead configurations of greater than the 6.7 percent.