Nokia pushes optical network capacity to theoretical limits with Photonic Service Engine 3 chipset (PSE-3), a digital signal processors designed for communication service providers (CSP) and webscale networks.

The PSE-3 chipset is the first coherent digital signal processor to implement probabilistic constellation shaping (PCS), a modulation technique pioneered by Nokia Bell Labs. PCS pushes optical fiber transmission capacity to very near the Shannon Limit - the maximum theoretical capacity of a communications channel, defined by Claude Shannon in 1948 while a researcher at Bell Labs.

Accordint to Nokia, by shaping the signal to match the characteristics of the optical fiber, PCS generates wavelengths that are more resilient to noise and other impairments, increasing capacity up to 65 percent over currently deployed networks, while also reducing power per bit by 60 percent. Networks built with systems using the new chipset require up to 35 percent fewer optical transponders, and by recovering latent capacity in deployed fiber, the PSE-3 extends the life of existing line systems and subsea cables, resulting in long-term savings.

With its powerful programmability, the PSE-3 can be used by network operators to grow beyond the limited flexibility of the 100G/200G networks that are prevalent today, to a highly scalable and automation-ready network. Reversing the tide of ever-increasing complexity in Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) systems, the PSE-3 provides adjustable wavelength capacity from 100G to 600G with a single, uniform modulation format, baud rate, and channel size.

The PSE-3 will be available across Nokia's packet-optical portfolio, including a new version of the 1830 Photonic Service Interconnect, a compact modular WDM platform widely adopted by internet content providers for high capacity datacenter interconnect. Based on a modular chassis architecture, the 1830 PSI-M will offer both cost-optimized and high-performance modules utilizing the PSE-3, and will be available in Q3 2018.