Progress toward realizing a low-latency, energy-efficient optical communications infrastructure with an eye on 100G-PON and IOWN
TOKYO, May 26, 2026 -- As part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications-commissioned research and development project, "Research and Development (JPMI00316) of Advanced Optical Transmission Technology Contributing to a Green Society", Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. (OKI), Lightera Japan Co., Ltd. (Lightera), and Keio University have used the "Keio Future Photonic Network Open Lab (*1)" established by Keio University, and announced the result of a demonstration of a next-generation optical line using hollow-core fiber. By combining a prototype of a next-generation optical line system developed by OKI with the hollow-core fiber (*2) developed by the Lightera Group, we succeeded, for the first time in the world, in the single-fiber bidirectional wideband WDM transmission in 1.26 μm - 1.58 μm, and also confirmed minimized power consumption by switching to the optimal optical line system. When commercialized, it is expected to reduce wasted power (theoretically to one-tenth of current electricity consumption) while meeting the increasing traffic demands. Three members will continue to advance research and development, aiming to realize carbon neutrality by 2050 and to generate new services leveraging low-latency of transmission.
The communication traffic has been rapidly increasing by new lifestyles such as tele-work, the distribution of ultra-high-definition video, and the advancement of a digital twin society using cutting-edge technologies including generative AI. As a result, power consumption for tele-communication infrastructure has also been increasing and large-capacity low-power-consumption optical transmission networks are required as the social infrastructure. To respond these requirements, three members conducted research commissioned by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications on "Research and Development of Advanced Optical Transmission Technology Contributing to a Green Society" and developed large-capacity optical transmission technology and efficient optical access reception technology. This project enabled telecom carriers to establish the high-quality service infrastructure in the future that requires low-latency and large-capacity, and to reduce the energy cost of running the facilities, while meeting the increasing traffic demands of the users.
In the future, OKI will promote research on use-cases that take advantage of the features of hollow-core fiber in addition to next-generation PON systems (*3) and will work on further research and product development aiming the practical application of 100G-PON (*4) and the access system required for IOWN® (*5). Lightera will further advance hollow-core fiber technologies, including related peripheral technologies, to improve performance and accelerate mass production toward early practical application, and will conduct demonstrations with various users using the "Keio Future Photonic Network Open Lab" and other facilities.
