ANTONY SAVVAS COHERENT PLUGGABLES
He also points out that Acacia is releasing a pluggable version of its 5nm 140Gbaud Jannu transceiver early next year. This transceiver will deliver 800G wavelengths with 50% better reach than current 400G wavelengths based on ZR+. “This double capacity and extended reach opens the door to 800G transport for all metro applications,” Homa says. FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS Serge Melle, head of optical networks product marketing at Nokia, sees plenty of opportunities for new growth in the field. “We definitely see ever-greater application optimisation for coherent transport optics. Today, with fifth generation optics, we have application optimisation between super-coherent optics, designed for maximum capacity- reach over thousands of kilometres and more, and, concurrently, 400G pluggable coherent optics used in transport and packet platforms,” says Melle. Fundamentally, he says, it is how these application-optimised coherent optics are used as complete IP and optical- managed networking solutions, that will potentially unlock value for network operators. “There is lots of activity in the coherent market these days, and the II-VI and Coherent merger, whose company re-naming to Coherent may have been a wise naming choice, highlights further expansion of application-optimised coherent optics to the network edge,” adds Melle. At the other end of the spectrum are new developments in super-coherent optics for high-performance core, long-haul and subsea applications, he says. “We will soon see multi-terabit coherent solutions that reach the practical Shannon Limit in terms of capacity, reach and spectral efficiency, and which continue to drive progress around an economic Shannon Limit. What’s really interesting to see today is new technologies like continuous baud rate adjustment in super-coherent optics, one of the enablers for scaling wavelength capacity to 400G over trans- oceanic distances, for instance.” With all this activity across the cloud, data centres, the edge and the core, it’s clear there is plenty more to come in the pluggable coherent market.
manager, says, “Coherent pluggable optics has very quickly become one of the most competitive ecosystems in the industry. At the moment, there are four very different types of vendors competing for volume. These include suppliers coming from the IC (integrated circuit) space, Tier 1 optical component players, traditional NEM’s (network equipment manufacturers) and client optic pluggable specialists “These four types bring a unique set of capabilities and IP to the table. Who wins is anything but certain.” He says 400G ZR has transitioned into a volume production phase as several customers are ramping up or have already ramped up significant capacity. Cost pressures continue to be a driver but are more complex than just capital costs. Issues such as throughput, factory floor utilisation and equipment up-time at scale are “major concerns”. “In terms of optical testing, pluggable optics are significantly more complicated than they are sometimes given credit for. It is much more than a simple go-no- go in manufacturing. These devices are very small systems that require some degree of trim, tuning or calibration. This can result in a heavy optical test load if vendors are not careful up front. The software control interfaces and telemetry capabilities are also very deep and if underestimated can cause real issues if not properly vetted,” Adams says. DISAGGREGATION 400G ZR+ OpenROADM pluggables in the CFP2-DCO form factor are now available, and, “significantly”, they enable network operators to engineer disaggregated solutions, with transponders from multiple vendors inter-working with each other, says Jonathan Homa, Ribbon senior director of solutions marketing. Homa says, “400G ZR+ performance
transceivers will also serve the ever- increasing data demands of cellular 5G networks.” Rob Shore, senior vice president of marketing at Infinera, says of the new optical areas that have to be addressed, “There have been substantial developments in coherent technology enabling high-power optical solutions in very small packages. This enables potential deployment in a much wider variety of applications, including all the way to the network edge, and supporting a wider variety of networking equipment including routers, switches, and servers.” Shore comments, “The biggest challenge network operators face is how to effectively operationalise coherent optics in all these new network scenarios. One of the primary focuses of the Open XR Forum is to develop a standardised method of seamlessly operating and managing these optical engines in a wider variety of network scenarios, without losing any of the visibility, reliability or performance of traditional optical networking.” Indeed, the industry’s Open XR Forum has recently released a specification for managing coherent pluggables. APPLICATIONS Ciena’s Xenos said network providers are deploying coherent pluggables in three main applications. First, she says, the leading, high-volume application for 400G coherent pluggables is high bandwidth data centre interconnects over short reach 80-100km links. Secondly, beyond metro DCI, service providers with moderate capacity needs (≤400G per wavelength) are evolving their optical transport networks with coherent pluggables to realise the cost reduction/sustainability benefits of the new technology. Lastly, coherent pluggables also have an important role to play in next gen metro and edge architectures, she confirms, to support enterprises increasingly moving workloads to the cloud; consumers requiring reliable, high bandwidth speeds to the home; and those mobile networks enabling new AI-driven applications. COMPETITION AND CHALLENGES Test and measurement firm VIAVI Solutions says there is plenty of competition in the market. Matt Adams, VIAVI Solutions senior product line
currently available in CFP2-DCO pluggables will be available early
next year in much smaller QSFP-DD pluggables, at roughly one quarter the size.” This is “disruptive”, he says, because it facilitates 0dBM IPoDWDM applications, where coherent pluggables are integrated directly into routers for use over ROADM networks. These QSFF- DD pluggables will also enable more compact optical transport platforms.
Scott Wilkinson Lead optical component analyst, Cignal AI
Helen Xenos Senior director, Ciena
Jonathan Homa Senior director , Solutions Marketing, Ribbon
Tracey Vanik Head of photonics research, EPIC.
Rob Shore SVP marketing, Infinera.
Matt Adams Senior product line manager, VIAVI Solutions.
Serge Melle Head of optical networks product marketing, Nokia
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| ISSUE 30 | Q3 2022
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