This article presents a radiation-hardened-by-process 56 Gbps 56 Gbps electro-absorption modulator driver designed in a 130nm SiGe BiCMOS technology for application in optical intra-satellite links. Details of the driver architecture are provided, along with the electrical and optical measurement setups used to evaluate its performance. To assess the vulnerability of the driver against radiation exposure in the space environment, samples were irradiated with X-rays up to a total accumulated dose of 1.2 Mrad(Si), simulating the effects of Total Ionizing Dose (TID) in orbit. Furthermore, heavy-ion experiments corroborated the driver’s resilience to Single Event Transients (SETs) across a range of linear energy transfers (LETs) from 20 to 65.2MeV cm2/mg, with a particle fluence of 1.2 × 107 cm−2. No Single Event Latchup (SEL) was observed in the irradiated samples during the heavy-ion exposure.

This article presents a radiation-hardened-by-process 56-Gb/s electro-absorption modulator (EAM) driver designed in a 130-nm silicon germanium (SiGe) bipolar complementary metal oxide semiconductor (BiCMOS) technology for application in optical intrasatellite links. Details of the driver architecture are provided, along with the electrical and optical measurement setups used to evaluate its performance. To assess the vulnerability of the driver against radiation exposure in the space environment, samples were irradiated with X-rays up to a total accumulated dose of 1.2 Mrad(Si), simulating the effects of total ionizing dose (TID) in orbit. Furthermore, heavy-ion experiments corroborated the driver's resilience to single-event transients (SETs) across a range of linear energy transfers (LETs) from 20 to 65.2 MeV cm(2)/mg, with a particle fluence of 1.2 x 10(7) cm(-2). No single-event latchup (SEL) was observed in the irradiated samples during the heavy-ion exposure.

We provide a vision for 6G fixed networks based on flexible and scalable high-capacity transmission technologies that form mesh edge networks to achieve ultra energy-efficient highly available networks with low latency. These networks will be controlled by AI-native orchestration across mobile, fixed, and compute domains. Mesh networking at the edge will be enabled by a seamless ‘confluence’ of radio fixed wireless (RFW), free space optical (FSO), and switched flex grid wavelength division multiplexed (Flex-WDM) transport using optical-spectrum-as-a-service (OSaaS) and integrated sensing and communication capabilities. In addition, in the frame of the European Smart Network Services Joint Undertaking, the ECO-eNET project will investigate key technologies and concepts to determine the full potential of confluent networks as a viable and scalable platform for 6G.

We present the optical and mechanical designs of an optically-pluggable package for photonic integrated circuits (PICs). Using off-the-shelf micro-optical components, low-loss (∼2 dB) expanded-beam connection between an edge-coupled SiN-based PIC and standard optical fiber is demonstrated. High reproducibility of coupling efficiency is demonstrated over up to 80 mating/de-mating cycles.