Photonics & Space

The Réfimève+ project in France

The french Equipex project REFIMEVE+ (or MEFINEV+ for Metrological Fiber Network with European Vocation+) is based on a scientific innovation: the ability to transfer an ultra-stable optical frequency on Internet over long-distances without any traffic disruption. Initially from 2012 to 2020, the project has been extended up to 2024.

Currently the transfer frequency faces the difficulty of transporting information without degradation when clocks are separated by hundreds or even thousands of kilometers. This can be made if one of the clocks is transportable, but this solution is mostly not flexible and hard to organize. Otherwise, they are made through one or more satellites of the GPS (Global Positioning System) or telecommunication satellites. Despite their high level of maturity, performances of such comparisons are currently limited to a near 10^-15 level in relative terms. Those performances are insufficient to compare the best atomic standards and moreover, they are hardly perfectible as performances are limited by changes introduced in signals by crossing the atmosphere.

The technology provided by iXblue enables to overcome these chief limitations and ensures a frequency transfer at the level of 10^-19 over long distances.

The role of iXblue

Developing, manufacturing and maintaining the key technologies (hardware and supervision tool)

Within the REFIMEVE+ project, iXblue is the industrial company in charge of providing the hardware dedicated to ultra-stable optical frequency transfer over optical fibers. We are also responsible for the super-vision of the solution, to ensure a high quality of service and maintain the security of the host telecom network.

Deploying the key technologies (hardware and supervision tool)

iXblue is in charge of deploying the harware and the supervision tool on existing telecom networks and optimize the performances to deliver the optical frequency transfer solution

Operating fiber links as a service provider

iXblue operates the fiber link and is in charge of the super-vision to provide optical frequency transfer as a service

An industry-grade network

More than 5000 of km of fiber already equiped

iXblue has already deployed 4 links in France.

Fast deployment and optimization

It now takes iXblue team a few days to deploy the hardware and software to set-up a fiber link and optimize the performance of the frequency transfer. In France, we greatly benefit from the support of the telecom network operator RENATER.

Excellent uptime for the transmission of the reference signal (> 99%)

Due to the maturity of the technology of our RLS and the intelligence of the super-vision tool, uptimes higher than 99% over weeks have been demonstrated.