FADY MASOUD XR OPTICS
Ever-increasing capacity demand and the need for greater flexibility driven by cloud applications are the driving forces behind extending coherent optical technology to the edge of the network. This should not come with complexity as a trade-off. XR Optics provide a transformative architecture to extend coherent optical technology and its benefits from the core to the edge, enabling network operators to solve today’s challenges efficiently and cost-effectively, while ensuring a simple, future- proof architecture, writes Fady Masoud , Director, Solutions Marketing at Infinera. Reducing complexity at the network edge XR OPTICS:
THE LAY OF THE LAND Content creation is driving relentless bandwidth demand. In fact, more than 1 billion gigabytes of new data are created every day, equivalent to 333 million HD movies added and over 400,000 hours of video streaming daily. All this data is transmitted over the network. 5G wireless is also projected to put more pressure on the network, with an expected 10 to 100 times more bandwidth per user, significantly lower latency, and an order of magnitude more devices per square kilometre. Moreover, the rise of multi-access edge computing sites is accelerating and multiplying the deployment of data centres in metro areas. By processing data and services as close to the end user as possible, edge computing allows organisations to reduce latency, improve performance, and reduce transport costs. Furthermore, enterprises around the globe are moving their applications to the cloud and leveraging cloud service providers to reduce costs, increase productivity, and enhance access to the latest technology and applications. All this growth is putting considerable pressure on network operators, forcing them to cope with capacity levels doubling every two years while they also reduce operational costs and complexity. DIFFERENT CHALLENGES AT THE EDGE Metro residential/broadband and 5G xHaul are the fastest-growing segments of the market, while core/long-haul networks are growing at a much more modest rate and creating a discrepancy in economy of scale. Edge/access technologies are based on very low cost and high volume, with capacity typically capped at 10 Gbps, while their network core counterparts are designed around high performance, reflected by the constant
increase in capacity per wavelength (currently 800 Gbps). However, access and aggregation network architectures are based on point-to-point connectivity. As more connected devices are added to the network and each demands more capacity, network complexity skyrockets. This drives numerous site visits and the constant need to reengineer the network. Simultaneously, service providers must contain capex and opex spending and keep the network as simple as possible. These challenges can only be overcome by a major technology shift – extending coherent technology to the edge and simplifying the overall network architecture. SOLVING THE AGGREGATION MISMATCH Since optical networking’s inception, actual network traffic patterns and the technology used to transport that traffic have been misaligned. Traffic patterns, particularly in metro networks, are overwhelmingly hub and spoke, with numerous endpoints consuming traffic that is aggregated by a few hub locations. In contrast, optical connectivity solutions traditionally use point-to- point technology, where each end of the connection must operate at the
same speed. The result is an extremely inefficient transport architecture that requires large numbers of bookended optical transceivers, as well as numerous intermediate aggregation devices like routers, switches, or DWDM muxponders to “up-speed” traffic flows. XR Optics is the next major inflection point in optical transceiver technologies. It uses digital signal processing to subdivide the transmission and reception of a given wavelength spectrum into smaller-frequency channels called digital subcarriers. These can be independently managed and assigned to different destinations, enabling the industry’s first scalable point-to multipoint, direct low- speed to high-speed optical transceiver connectivity (Figure 1). A single 400G XR Optics hub module generates 16 x 25 Gbps digital subcarriers. Multiple digital subcarriers can be combined and assigned to a specific destination to provide the required bandwidth. XR Optics supports point-to-point and point-to-multipoint configurations and can be deployed into a wide range of networking equipment, including routers, Ethernet switches, servers, and many other networking devices.
Figure 1: Solving the aggregation challenge with XR Optics. (Source: Infinera)
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INDUSTRY FOCUS 2022/2023
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