Experimental demonstration of flexible bandwidth networking with real-time impairment awareness

We demonstrate a flexible-bandwidth network testbed with a real-time, adaptive control plane that adjusts modulation format and spectrum-positioning to maintain quality of service (QoS) and high spectral efficiency. Here, low-speed supervisory channels and field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) enabled real-time impairment detection of high-speed flexible bandwidth channels (flexpaths). Using premeasured correlation data between the supervisory channel quality of transmission (QoT) and flexpath QoT, the control plane adapted flexpath spectral efficiency and spectral location based on link quality. Experimental demonstrations show a back-to-back link with a 360-Gb/s flexpath in which the control plane adapts to varying link optical signal to noise ratio (OSNR) by adjusting the flexpath's spectral efficiency (i.e., changing the flexpath modulation format) between binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quaternary phase-shift keying (QPSK), and eight phase-shift keying (8PSK). This enables maintaining the data rate while using only the minimum necessary bandwidth and extending the OSNR range over which the bit error rate in the flexpath meets the quality of service (QoS) requirement (e.g. the forward error correction (FEC) limit). Further experimental demonstrations with two flexpaths show a control plane adapting to changes in OSNR on one link by changing the modulation format of the affected flexpath (220 Gb/s), and adjusting the spectral location of the other flexpath (120 Gb/s) to maintain a defragmented spectrum.