LUMIRing continues to strengthen its position as a cutting-edge research and innovation platform with the latest upgrades to its multicore fibre testbed, deployed along the Yellow Line of the Lisbon Metro. These new developments significantly enhance the ability to evaluate advanced optical communication technologies under real-world operating conditions.

A comprehensive characterization of multicore fibres has now been successfully performed within the testbed infrastructure. This includes detailed measurements of key transmission parameters such as attenuation, polarization mode dispersion, inter-core crosstalk, skew, and chromatic dispersion. 

In parallel, optical amplifiers have been installed and integrated into the LUMIRing network. This important upgrade enables the testing of long-haul multicore fibre transmission in a realistic urban and harshed deployment scenario. By combining extended reach capabilities with live environmental conditions, the platform offers a unique opportunity to evaluate system robustness, scalability, and performance outside controlled laboratory settings.

These advancements position LUMIRing as a key enabler for the development and validation of future optical network technologies, supporting the transition toward higher-capacity, space-division multiplexed communication systems.