Guest Editorial: Towards large-scale commercialisation of space-division multiplexing fibres

We are delighted to present this special issue of IET Optoelectronics on ‘Towards large-scale commercialisation of Space-division multiplexing (SDM) fibres’. This issue features contributions from five speakers at the ECOC 2023 workshop ‘What Will Eventually Trigger Large-Scale Commercialisation of SDM Fibres?’, held in Glasgow on 1 October 2023.

SDM is a promising technology to effectively deal with the unabated growth of data traffic in optical fibre networks. Over the past decade, extensive research on SDM optical fibres has resulted in the development of high-quality, multicore and few-mode fibres as well as other network elements that leverage the SDM concept. Whereas large-scale commercialisation of SDM fibres is essential to meet the ever-increasing demand for higher data rates, achieving practical deployment requires more than innovative fibre designs. It also necessitates system optimisation to reduce cost per bit and standardisation to ensure interoperability. The successful commercialisation of SDM fibres also hinges on the advancement of other network elements such as optical amplifiers, multiplexers, connectors and splices. This special issue explores the challenges and opportunities associated with SDM fibre commercialisation. It aims to identify potential triggers that could accelerate the adoption of SDM technology across various applications such as submarine optical cable systems, terrestrial fibre networks and data centre interconnects.

We hope this special issue provides readers with a comprehensive overview of the latest advancements in SDM technologies and valuable insights into their large-scale deployment, paving the way for significant upgrades in optical fibre communication systems in the years ahead.