The ultimate capacity of single-mode-fiber (SMF) has been shown to be limited by fiber nonlinearities. Space-Division-Multiplexing (SDM) is one of the promising approaches to further increase the capacity of fiber-based transmission system. Several techniques have been proposed on SDM in optical fibers. It would be very nice if someone shares some information about the potential applications of SDM in optical communication. Thanks in advance.
you can find a brief overview here
http://www.vpiphotonics.com/Applications/TransmissionSystems/HSHC_SDM.php#app
Potential applications are in area where you require to transmit a huge quantity of data on short to mid ranges. For instance, in datacenters, or to connect different sections of a distribution network inside a city.
As SDM usually requires special fibers, it is not well suited for long-range applications, at least for short term, as it would require to replace a lot of infrastructures.
The potential advantage of SDM over simply using a bunch of fibers is it could potentially reduce costs and needed energy, if all parts of the network (amplifiers, routers, multiplexers, etc.) also support SDM. However, this cost reduction only apply in the case you already need to deploy a new fiber; otherwise the cost of deploying the new fiber would not justify it.
You may find an overview of multi-core fibers here
Conference Paper Multi-Core Fibers: An Overview
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