Optical Connections Industry Focus 2021

ECOC 2021

The booths have been packed away and the visitors have gone home, but ECOC 2021 will remain in the memory as the first live ECOC event since 2019. It proved, among other things, that there is no substitute for face-to-face meetings and presentations, however good virtual, on-line expo technology gets. It is in this spirit that we are taking ECOC forward to Basel, Switzerland, in 2022 and look forward to meeting our friends and colleagues in the industry once more. ECOC 2021 EXPO A LIVE SUCCESS! Europe’s Leading Optical Network Event Gets Warm Welcome Back

DAY ONE ECOC Exhibition’s return as the much- missed, in-person live hub of fibre optic innovation was welcomed by exhibitors and attendees in a sunny, blue-skied Bordeaux. Attendees from the biggest names in optical networks were made to feel right at home in France, where the groundworks for today’s fibre optic networks were first laid. In the 1840’s the guiding of light by refraction, the principle that makes fibre optics possible, was first demonstrated here.

Market Focus theatre was at capacity as well-received presentations from Michael Lebby of Lightwave Logic Inc. on ‘Advancing integrated photonics with electro-optic polymer modulators’ and from Ayar Labs UK Ltd on Optical I/O for Chip-to-Chip Communications saw in the afternoon. 800G was the hot topic of the afternoon, with presentations from Sicoya, Source Photonics, Artista and Marvell on the bill. OIF wrapped up the day with Josef Berger, Marvell Semiconductor, Inc. and OIF Representative by exploring the Deployment of 400ZR and the ongoing OIF Work to Define 800ZR/LR. DAY TWO The overall feeling at day one of ECOC Exhibition from exhibitors, presenters and attendees alike was an enthusiastic welcome to the return of the in- person event format and its benefits, opportunities and possibilities. The relationships both made and built upon, thanks to face-to-face meetings, can’t

in 2020, accounting for 25% of the total market for optical transceivers. Kozlov believes that the market position of SiP technology will be solidified over the coming decade thanks to co-packaged optics and developments with optical chips. As the Market Focus sessions got under way, so too did the action at the newly introduced Product Focus theatre. As a live feature for the first time since its induction at last year’s virtual event, attendees were treated to a presentation on pluggable coherent optics from Viavi’s Paul Brooks. Brooks examined the key area where addition functionality and complexity drives inter-op challenges beyond the traditional photonic domain focus. Attentive attendees at the Product Focus theatre were witness to more insight at the forefront of optical innovation as the day continued. Rangchen Yu of Sifotonics explored the progress made in standardisation and MSA on extended reach optical solutions, focusing on 100G, 400G and 800G. The

A fantastic venue for a fantastic expo.

Day one was the time for attendees of ECOC to demonstrate the latest innovation in the field. For the first time since 2019 in Dublin, Europe’s leading optical network event was back. Kicking the day off were Market Focus and Product Focus sessions from LightCounting and VIAVI Solutions, respectively. In a busy Market Focus feature, attendees were welcomed with both shelter from the warm Aquitaine sun and insight from LightCounting CEO and founder Vladimir Kozlov on the accelerated adoption of silicon photonics between 2018-2020. Sales of SiP-based products reached almost US$2 billion

applications in 5G and data centre connectivity for these new generation of 400G and 800G extended reach solutions were also discussed. Staying on the theme of 5G, David Binder, Yamaichi Technologies’ Business Development Manager spoke about the technical and geopolitical factors affecting pluggable transceivers in its rollout – and how Yamaichi is responding to this market environment. Throughout the day, the

Queueing for registration.

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INDUSTRY FOCUS 2021/2022

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