The goal of 100 Gbps Ethernet transmissions is closer to reality with the announcement Wednesday that Alcatel-Lucent researchers have recorded an optical transmission record along with three photonic integrated circuits.

In papers presented at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exposition/National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference (OFC/NFOEC), Alcatel-Lucent researchers disclosed research that they believe will likely pave the way to successful implementation of the very high speed transmissions. "Several new technologies were used," the firm said in a statement, "including a highly linear, balanced optoelectronic photoreceiver and an ultra-compact, temperature-insensitive coherent mixer."

Carried out by researchers in Bell Labs in Villarceaux, France, the successful transmission of 16.4 Tbps of optical data over 2,550 km was assisted by Alcatel's Thales' III-V Lab and Kylia, an optical solution company. The researchers used 164 wavelength-division multiplexed channels modulated at 100 Gbps in the effort.

Also accepted at the OFC/NFOEC conference were three papers from researchers at Bell Labs in Holmdel, N.J. The three papers describe the development of three photonic integrated circuits designed to achieve 100 Gbps with high spectral efficiency.

The three papers describe the development of different components useful in achieving 100 Gbps, including an integrated high-speed receiver, a dual-polarization modulator, and another modulator used for systems with extremely high spectral efficiency.

"These breakthroughs highlight the depth and breadth of the work done by Bell Labs researchers in optical networking and physical technologies around the world, and show how they must constantly improve and innovate across various technical areas to pave the way to the future of communications," George Rittenhouse, Bell Labs research VP, said in a statement.