Issue 5 | Q3 2015
High-speed broadband on the up! p14
p16 The case for Silicon Photonics p18 Mellanox drives p20 Demanding markets p22 PON set for record levels
p24 Refined fibres p26 FTTx empowers APAC p28 Future-proof Europe! p30 Trending Now
Optical Connections: Bringing the World the Latest in Optical Communications News
CONTENTS
cOVeR StORY
Bienvenido Fibre has been on the rise in Spain over the last few years, with telecoms regulator CNMC (Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia) recently reporting that connections in the country have grown to 1.81 million; an increase of well over 1 million on the previous year. Good progress was also reported in the FTTH Council Europe’s 2015 ‘FTTH market panorama’ and it is here that the fibre optics community will descend for ECOC 2015; the 41st edition of ECOC and a 20th anniversary for the exhibition. This edition of Optical Connections includes an in-depth look into the event, from page 32, with key presentations and exhibitors highlighted. According to the 2015 ‘Digital Agenda Scoreboard’, published by the European Commission, there has also been a dramatic rise in European 4G coverage and high-speed broadband. Matthew Peach reports on page 14. For a long time, Silicon Photonics has been viewed as a technology with huge potential. Yet recently, there have been questions asked as to just when it will start delivering on its promise. On page 16, Roy Rubenstein highlights the companies closest to reaching the manufacturing stage and tells us not to be fooled by the apparent calm. In the first of two articles looking at passive optical networks, on page 21, John Williams celebrates G-PON’s success in the fibre-based access market. Julie Kunstler follows with an analytical forecast of PON growth for 2015, from page 22. Earlier this year, a team from Southampton’s Optoelectronics Research Centre manufactured a record breaking 11km, hollow core photonic bandgap fibre. The ORC also announced that it will make its specialised, next generation fibres, like rare-earth-doped with ultra-high dopant concentrations, available for general purchase. On page 24, Matthew Peach explains how these specialised fibres are now supporting higher transmission rates and more energy-efficient networks. There has been a surge of fibre growth amongst APAC countries, with 155m subscribers at the end of 2014 and 174m predicted by 2019. Kendrick Struthers Watson highlights the growth diversity and technology preference of this region, on page 26. FTTH and FTTB subscriptions in Europe have also risen significantly. Director General of the FTTH Council Europe, Hartwig Tuaber, reviews the developments and predictions, on page 28. On page 30, Gordon Brebner, Distinguished Engineer at Xilinx, highlights how two of the industry’s hottest topics, Software Defined Networks and Network Functions Virtualization, are set to reduce capital and operational expenditure.
4 Industry news
Issue 5 |Q32015
High-speedbroadband on theup! p14
14 High-speed broadband on the up! Matthew Peach
p16 SiliconPhotonics p18 Mellanoxdrives p20 Demandingmarkets p22 PON set for record levels p24 Refined fibres p26 FTTx empowersAPAC p28 Future-proofEurope! p30 TrendingNow
OpticalcOnnectiOns: Bringing theworld the Latest inOpticalCommunicationsNews
16 The case for Silicon Photonics Roy Rubenstein
18 Mellanox drives Per Danielsen
20 Demanding markets John Williamson
22 PON set for record levels Julie Kunstler
24 Refined fibres Matthew Peach
26 FTTx empowers APAC Kendrick Struthers-Watson
28 Future-proof Europe! Hartwig Tauber
30 Trending now Gordon Brebner
32 Event focus - ECOC
liam taylor Sales Manager
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APPLICATIONS & RESEARCH
Alcatel-Lucent and Apollo achieve transmission record for capacity upgrade over 6,500km on transatlantic system A pollo and Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks the undersea cables fully flexible WDM grid and multiple modulation schemes tuning the
optical transmission in order to match each channel format to line performance. This spectral engineering capability will be further extended with next- generation technology offered by the 1620 SOFTNODE, enabling an increase in the ultimate capacity per fibre pair of more than 10%. Additionally, with the next step evolution of error correction coding and pulse shaping schemes, more than 10Tbit/s per fibre pair can be unlocked. Richard Elliott, Managing Director of Apollo said, “This new demonstration further proves the technological lead of the Apollo system in offering capacity increases. The achievable capacity of 8Tbit/s per fibre pair has confirmed once again our expectation; that Apollo could carry around four times the
subsidiary of Alcatel-Lucent, have demonstrated a capacity of 8 terabits-per-second of data per fibre pair – equivalent to approximately 1.25 million HDTV channels simultaneously streamed – on the Apollo South system, which connects France to the United States. For the demonstration ASN used its current generation 1620 Light Manager submarine line terminal, equipped with the latest 100 gigabit-per- second technology and made use of innovative detection techniques and advanced error correction coding. In combination with proprietary modulation and pulse shaping schemes, this commercially available solution counteracts the signal distortions and noise that impact high speed, long-distance transmission performance. This capacity demonstration was made possible by implementing smart spectral engineering, which includes a
Field trial carried out on the Apollo South system, connecting France to the US, demonstrated a capacity of 8Tbit/s per fibre pair.
performance throughout the life of a system. As capacity and connectivity needs continue to increase, the high resiliency to potential degradation at higher speeds combined with the reliability of our technology offer a cost-effective and flexible networking model to cope with content providers and their end-users’ service demands.”
current entire Atlantic traffic in use today.” Philippe Dumont, President of Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks said, “This field trial is another proof point of the adaptability of ASN technology that continues to offer carriers a smart evolution path for tuning capacity and
Huawei Marine commences undersea installation of Nigeria-Cameroon cable H uawei Marine Networks has commenced installation of the NCSCS development policy throughout Cameroon’s national territory.” The NCSCS system forms part of Cameroon’s broader strategic than any other optical amplifier. The slim-line titanium casing supports enhanced burial capability through simultaneous
to provide users with faster bandwidth connectivity at a significantly lower cost. By providing direct connection to Nigeria, the cable system will also serve to enhance Cameroon’s position as the major bandwidth hub in the region and internationally to Europe and beyond.” Utilizing Huawei Marine’s industry leading Wavelength Division Multiplex (WDM) and Optical Transport Network technologies, the NCSCS also incorporates the world’s first titanium-cased six-fiber pair repeater. Huawei Marine’s second generation RPT 1660 represents a substantial advancement in innovation as it is not only the smallest repeater but also 40% lighter
(Nigeria-Cameroon Submarine Cable System), Cameroon’s first wholly-owned submarine cable with investment from the Cameroon government. Spanning 1,100km, the NCSCS will link Kribi in Cameroon, with Lagos in Nigeria and deliver 12.8Tbps of capacity to broadband users in both countries by the end of 2015. Jean-Pierre Biyiti Bi Essam, Cameroon’s Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, said the installation demonstrates “the willingness of the Government to implement a true broadband infrastructure
lay and burial beneath the seabed which reduces both marine installation costs and associated system risk. Mike Constable, Chief Executive Officer, Huawei Marine, said, “We are proud to be entering into the marine installation phase of this landmark project that will bring all-important connectivity to Cameroon and the region. This project represents the culmination of years of research and development and a rigorous qualification regime associated with our second-generation repeater which enhances our network solutions to the ultimate benefit of our customers.”
plan for building a National Broadband Network and the implementation is expected to significantly enhance the development of e-government, e-trade, e-education and e-health programs and boost the economic and commercial development of Cameroon. David Nkoto Emane, General Manager, Cameroon Telecommunications, said, “The NCSCS system will provide new opportunities and further the development of our network in both domestic and international markets. The NCSCS system enables us
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ISSUE 5 | Q3 2015
APPLICATIONS & RESEARCH
Vodafone and Alcatel-Lucent conduct Europe’s first TWDM-PON trial V odafone and Alcatel- Lucent are set to conduct Europe’s first field trial 10 Gigabit GPON (XG-PON1) and 10 Gigabit EPON. The Full Service Access Network (FSAN) Group and ITU are completing
of a time and wavelength- division multiplexed passive optical network (TWDM-PON), in investigations aimed at discovering the potential of using access network technology over Vodafone’s existing infrastructure. Vodafone said that the field trials build on the successful completion of their lab trial in Vigo, Spain, where Alcatel- Lucent’s TWDM-PON technology achieved bit rates of up to 20Gbps using two wavelengths. Gavin Young, Vodafone’s head of fixed access, said “We have been engaged with Alcatel- Lucent for several years on TWDM-PON development, testing and trial activities, and all of which have shown great results. We look forward to conducting field trials of TWDM- PON technology in Europe.” TWDM-PON is the next- generation access scheme after
the standard that supports up to eight wavelengths, each capable of 10 Gigabit symmetrical or 10/ 2.5 Gigabit asymmetrical speeds. The combination of time and wavelength division multiplexing allows TWDM-PON to support multiple PONs, each sharing its capacity among 16, 32, 64 or even 128 end points depending on the operator’s chosen split ratio. Operators can start with a 10 Gig PON using fixed-wavelength optics and move to TWDM- PON and tunable modules as their capacity needs grow. “You won’t have to swap out legacy XG-PON1 hardware two years from now,” said Stefaan Vanhastel, director of fixed access marketing at Alcatel- Lucent. In 2014, Alcatel-Lucent introduced a four-wavelength TWDM-PON based on a
WDM-PON is the next-generation access scheme after 10 Gigabit GPON (XG-PON1) and 10 Gigabit EPON.
operational efficiencies that keep them competitive in a challenging market. We are committed to providing them with innovative technologies that will allow them to reduce costs and deliver new services more easily. That is why TWDM-PON is such an important development for them.” First operator TWDM-PON pilot deployments will occur in 2016, says Alcatel-Lucent.
4-port line-card, each port supporting a 10 Gigabit PON. The line card is used within Alcatel-Lucent’s 7360 Intelligent Services Access Manager FX platform, and supports fixed and tunable SFP optical modules. Federico Guillén, president of Alcatel-Lucent’s fixed access business line, said “Vodafone wants to grow capacity to meet customer demand. They also want to benefit from
Witcom deploys Adva FSP 3000 system to enable ‘dynamic connectivity’ A dva Optical Networking has announced that German telecommunications carrier, customers want more bandwidth than ever before. Adva’s ROADM technology provides us with a dynamic infrastructure and enables us to move away from a provisioning new services and bandwidth. The network was
designed and tested with Adva’s long-term
WiTCOM, has deployed the Adva FSP 3000 with reconfigurable optical add- drop multiplexer technology throughout the Hessen region of Germany. The carrier is utilizing the ROADM capabilities to transform its previously fixed network into what it calls “a flexible and dynamic infrastructure”. Rainer Naaß, manager, IT-Business and Planning, WiTCOM, commented, “We need a network that can grow at the same pace as our clients’ demands. Enterprises are calling for faster access to mission- critical data and residential
rigid and costly infrastructure.” WiTCOM operates a 500km network with eight nodes connected in a ring architecture. The newly installed ROADM system transforms the network into a meshed ring topology and links between all sites can be configured instantly through adding and dropping wavelengths on multiple fibres. The Adva FSP 3000 was selected for its ability to enhance the flexibility and scalability of its metro network. The new system enables WiTCOM to rapidly respond to the growing demands of customers by
Adva FSP 3000
partner, Dacoso, a specialist in connectivity solutions and data center services, in the company’s laboratories in Langen, Germany. Operators were also trained in how to utilize the embedded multi- layer GMPLS Control Plane, RAYcontrol. The combination of Adva’s hardware and software has, said WiTCOM, “resulted in true network automation, dynamic routing and self- learning. It dramatically simplifies operations, drives energy efficiency throughout the network and provides an abundance of new revenue opportunities.”
Martin Stengel, CTO at Dacoso, added, “Together with Adva, we have safeguarded the future connectivity of WiTCOM’s customers. Building on what was already a successful three-way partnership, we were able to remove the rigid nature of WiTCOM’s network and supply them with a versatile, efficient and scalable solution. This relationship is set to go further as WiTCOM is planning to enhance its network with Adva’s ConnectGuard encryption solution.”
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ISSUE 5 | Q3 2015
VISIT US AT ECOC STAND 118 and 200
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NEWS & BUSINESS
GigOptix raises revenue guidance by 5% to $9.8m for Q2, 2015
WDM to drive optical transport market to $15 billion by 2019
G igOptix Inc of San Jose, Ca, USA, a fabless supplier of analog semiconductor and optical communications components for fiber-optic and wireless networks, has raised its revenue guidance for second-quarter 2015 by 5%, from the $9.3- 9.5m provided on 27 April to about $9.8m, up 8% sequentially and 22% year-on-year. Continued demand in the firm’s High Speed Communications product line – primarily for its QSFP+ drivers and trans- impedance amplifiers for data-centre active optical cables and transceivers, and the linear-coherent 100G and 200G drivers for use in long-haul and metro telecom applications, as well as new business opportunities in the Industrial product line – has resulted in revamp Lebanon’s telecoms infrastructure, assuring that Internet users across the country would enjoy fibre optic connectivity by the year 2020. “Fibre optic networks will be installed in Lebanon progressively over five years and the country will be totally connected through this technology by the year 2020,” Harb said during a ceremony held at the Grand Serail and attended by Prime Minister Tammam Salam, ministers, ambassadors, and representatives of the private sector and the media. Harb said the ministry would also roll out 4G services to cover the whole country in two years, in preparation for the launch of 5G connection by the year 2020. The minister said that only 16% of Lebanon is currently covered by a 4G connection, while most
I n a recently released Optical Transport forecast report by Dell’Oro Group, wavelength division multiplexer (WDM) equipment demand is expected to drive the Optical Transport market to $15 billion by 2019. Dell’Oro’s report, with covers manufacturer revenue, average selling prices, unit shipments and Tributary/Line or Wavelength shipments (by speed up to >100 Gbps), forecast that WDM metro revenue is due to grow at a 10 percent compounded annual growth rate and that 75 percent of WDM network capacity installed across the next five years will be from 100 Gbps wavelengths. Demand for 200 Gbps wavelengths is expected to ramp in metro applications this year and is forecast to contribute nearly 25 percent of WDM metro equipment revenue by 2019.
the higher than initially forecast revenue. Based on these preliminary revenue results for second- quarter 2015, along with continued healthy margin performance and tight expense controls, GigOptix also believes that it will achieve positive GAAP net income and record non- GAAP profitability. In addition, as a result of the better than initially forecasted revenue performance for first-half 2015 (up 22% year-on-year) and the current continuous strong growth outlook for both the third quarter and the remainder of 2015, GigOptix has raised its revenue forecast for full-year of the country is still working on 2G and 3G, adding that the cost of implementing this new five year plan was not too high compared to the losses incurred by Lebanon in the absence of such an important technology. “The project will cost over $600 million but it will be fully covered by the budget of the Telecommunications Ministry and this project will attract foreign investments to Lebanon while providing new job opportunities. This is why we are urging CSOs (civil society organisations), local institutions, municipalities and the media to play a role in spreading this culture and informing people about the benefits of such a plan,” Harb said. Harb slashed the prices of communication and Internet services within weeks of replacing former Telecommunications Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui, reducing tariffs on local and international calls and cellular fees.
Jimmy Yu, Vice President of Optical Transport Market Research at Dell’Oro Group said “The network still needs a lot of raw bandwidth and WDM is the best equipment to deliver that. While high demand for long haul equipment will continue, the biggest growth that we are projecting is in metro applications. The majority of metro equipment purchases will still be made by telecom service providers, expanding their metro network capacity for higher speed services, but we also see a strong trend towards enterprises such as Internet content providers and financial institutions procuring and installing their own high speed 100 Gbps links. This trend is being powered by the increasing importance of data centres to a company’s core business.”
2015 by 4% (from the previously announced guidance midpoint of $37.5m) to at least $39m (up 19% on $32.9m for 2014). Lebanon gives FTTH $600m boost T elecommunications Minister Boutros Harb has unveiled a five year plan to
Boutros Harb said Lebanon would be “totally connected through this technology by the year 2020”
areas. A fibre optic network already exists in Lebanon but for the time being it only connects centres together. Head of state-owned telecoms operator Ogero, Abdel Moneim Youssef, said that Lebanon has used 15 Gb in 2007 compared to 45m Gb in 2010, 155m Gb and 310m Gb in 2014. “We still have hopes to seize the opportunity in five years to promote and enhance our connectivity as fast as possible in order not to be taken back by the great wave of data,” he concluded.
The new changes resulted in an increase in the number of landline subscribers by 120,000 over a year and a half, while the number of digital line (DSL) subscribers went up by 100,000 for the same period of time, according to Harb. These changes led to an increase in Internet penetration from 70% in 2013 to 86% in 2015”. Among the major changes implemented by Harb in the past few months is the creation of technical workshops for connecting fibre optics to more than 40 new centers in rural
ISSUE 5 | Q3 2015 8
neWs & BUsiness
Free space optics global market forecast A ccording to a new survey published by US based market analyst, ElectroniCast, the global per transmitter FSO unit to provide redundancy in signal FSO or other wireless solutions. The Europe/ Middle East/Africa (EMEA) region is the current market leader, however, the APAC region has rapidly expanding
WIN a FREE ticket for FTTH Conference 2016! The FTTH Conference 2016, the largest fibre-to-the-home specific conference in the world, will take place in Luxembourg, between 16 th and 18 th February next year and we are giving away two tickets to readers of Optical Connections magazine. For your chance to win, email liam.taylor@ nexusmediaevents.com with your answer to the following question… By 2019, how many FTTH/B subscriptions are forecast for countries within the European Union? (If you need a clue, you will find an article from Hartwig Tauber, Director General of the FTTH Council Europe, on page 28...) Bandwidth infrastructureprovider, euNetworks, has announced it is using Ciena’s 6500 Packet- Optical Platform, equipped with the new WaveLogic 3 Extreme coherent optics, to deliver 100GE bandwidth services to customers. This utilises 200G per 50GHz dense wave division multiplexing (DWDM) channels and will deliver the first commercial high capacity 200G connectivity solution in EMEA. NEWS IN BRIEF euNetworks deploys Ciena’s 200G solution
links. Another FSO trend in 2015 is deployment in residential FTTH solutions, where relatively short-link FSO is being installed as an alternative to optical fibre. Of course, FSO usage in short- distance links is not new; however, marketing to carriers as an alternative to optical fibre termination at the home is an interesting proposition”. The increase in the consumption of FSO links in the Americas region is attributed to not only continued upgrades and network facilitation in the United States and Canada, but also from the accelerating economic growth of major cities in Latin America. European inner-city urban areas typically are difficult for wire-lines, including optical fibre cable installations; therefore, this fact promotes
consumption of fixed-location (stationary) transmitter/receiver links used in non-military/ aerospace FSO system equipment was $37.2m in 2014, up 11% from $33.5m in 2013. FSO transmitters and receiver pairs used in link equipment with a range capability of up to 500m led in relative market share in 2014, with a global consumption value of $25.2m. Stephen Montgomery, Director of the market study, said “In 2015, we are seeing hybrid link equipment as a winning solution, especially in longer-distance links, to provide the assurance of redundancy, to cover for FSO’s weaknesses (weather and other obstacles), as well as multiple emitters
market opportunities and therefore, the ElectroniCast forecast shows the APAC region with the fastest growth (2014-2020), with the region eventually taking over the technology that uses directed laser beams, which provide optical bandwidth transmitters and receivers to link voice, video, and data intelligent transfer. FSO systems are deployed near the 1550 nm wavelength window as well as the near-visible infrared spectral region around 780nm to 850nm and selected providers claim that their solutions can provide “carrier- class” availability even in adverse weather conditions. leadership position. FSO is a line-of-sight
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TECHNOLOGIES & PRODUCTS
Altera’s FPGA family offers co- packaged optical interface options A ltera’s latest Stratix 10 FPGA family uses advanced semiconductor packaging techniques that paves the way for co-packaged optical interfaces. The chip company recognises that future are also looking at optical transceivers directly connected to the FPGA,” said Davies. Such links would simplify interfacing to OTN mappers, and benefit data centre designs that use optical links between racks and for the top-of-rack switch. (SoC) devices that include a quad-core 64-bit architecture Cortex-A53 ARM processor alongside the programmable logic. The Stratix 10 family is
Infinera reports improved Q2 2015 financial results Infinera Corporation has released financial results for the second quarter of 2015, which ended June 27, 2015. Revenue for the quarter was $207.3m compared to $186.9m in the first quarter of 2015 and $165.4m in the second quarter of 2014. Tom Fallon, Infinera’s Chief Executive Officer, commented, “Our outstanding second quarter results were driven by robust demand across multiple verticals, as customers continued to build next generation networks with Infinera. Differentiated products, exceptional customer experience and a vertical business model enable us to continue to grow our top line rapidly and our bottom line even faster.” ADVA unveils CloudConnect ADVA Optical Networking has unveiled its FSP 3000 CloudConnect, a data centre interconnect product designed to cater for the differing needs of the data centre players and to scale to 100 terabit. The FSP 3000 CloudConnect comes in several configurations, with all the platforms using the QuadFlex card that has an 800 gigabit throughput: up to 400 gigabit client-side interfaces and a 400 gigabit line rate. The QuadFlex card is only a half rack unit (RU) wide and up to seven can be fitted in ADVA’s 4 rack unit SH4R CloudConnect platform, for a total line-side transport capacity of 2.8 Tbit/s. Broadcom launch 10G EPON cable residential gateway Semiconductor manufacturer, Broadcom, has released a DOCSIS-compatible, 10G Eth- ernet Passive Optical Network (EPON) residential gateway reference design that allows cable multiple system operators (MSOs) to provide multi-gigabit speeds for high-speed video and Internet services through an FTTH network, without ex- pensive upgrades implications. The platform combines Broadcom’s BCM55030, a 10G/10G EPON optical network unit (ONU) system-on- a-chip (SoC), with the widely deployed BCM33843 DOCSIS 3.0 cable gateway device. NEWS IN BRIEF
implemented using Intel’s 14nm FinFET process and supports up to 5.5 million logic elements, nearly 5x larger than Altera’s 20nm Arria family of FPGAs which has 1.15 million logic elements. Intel announced in June its intention to acquire Altera for US $16.7 billion. Altera will have engineering samples of the Stratix 10 towards the end of 2015, before being shipped to customers.
S wiss high precision introduced the DiaLink solution. A product designed to provide efficient, comfortable and smart fibre installations, with no splicing, or complicated connector assembly required. Users simply pull in pre- assembled fibre optic cables with DiaLink connectors on both ends of the required link. The connections are made at the floor or wall box in the work area, with the other end of the fibre optic cable connected to the ODF (Optical Distribution Frame), via DiaLink connections. The excess length of cable can be stored in the DiaLink fibre storage box. solutions manufacturer, Diamond SA, have FPGAs will need to support a variety of line speeds and modulation schemes.“You can’t build one transceiver that fits all of these requirements and even if you could, it would not be an optimised design,” said Craig Davis, senior product marketing manager at Altera. Using this approach, a customer can add to their design the desired interface, including optical interfaces as well as electrical ones. “We
With the system-in-package integration, different FPGAs can be built without having to create a new expensive mask set each time. “You can build a modular lego-block FPGA and all that it has different is the packaged substrate,” said Davies. Altera has detailed two variants of the Stratix 10 family: 10 FPGAs and 10 system-on-chip
Fibre to the desk simplicity by DiaLink, from Diamond.
The compact DiaLink interface enables installation in crowded cable ducts and protects against contamination, and the small cable diameter allows for smaller and lighter installation cable spools. Tensile force of up to 300N can be achieved, thanks to the tractive cap. The active components in the network determine the network speed. The faster the better. Scientific studies have shown that a fast reaction time has a positive impact on working efficiency, thus, making the quality of the components in the core or edge area crucial. The Fibredesk stations however, can do even better
and it is not just data, or USB modules that can be integrated, with digital power component integration also possible, allowing the user to turn their office space into a fully functioning ‘smart working’ environment. Efficient, comfortable and smart installations, with no splicing or complicated assembly.
R&M launch integrated HD traffic access point module
S wiss connectivity systems provider, R&M, has introduced an HD traffic access point (TAP) module, for network and application performance supervision. The module enables ongoing performance
like 10 Gigabit Ethernet and 16G Fibre Channel.R&M have said that, by combining the functionality of an optical tap and physical layer monitoring in one easy-to-use structured cabling module, the HD TAP module is a market first.
monitoring using passive optical tapping that is fully integrated into the cabling infrastructure and uses an advanced optical splitter to reduce insertion loss and modal noise and enable high- performance applications,
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ISSUE 5 | Q3 2015
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TECHNOLOGIES & PRODUCTS
Socionext takes part in record- breaking transmission field trial
S ocionext’s latest generation of ultra- high-speed digital-to- analogue (DAC) and analogue- to-digital (ADC) converters, have been integrated into state-of-the-art coherent receivers and transmitters for a recent, record-breaking field trial which transported dozens of terabits per second over a 762 kiliometer Lyon-Marseille- Lyon fibre link. Socionext were part of a team of advanced technology engineers that included staff from Orange, Coriant, Ekinops and Keopsys and have successfully demonstrated the highest ever C-band transmission capacity using 24 x 1 Tbps/DP-16 QAM (i.e. 24 Tbps), 32 x 1 Tbps / DP-32 QAM (i.e. 32 Tbps) and 32 x 1.2 Tbps/DP-64 QAM (i.e. 38.4 Tbps) modulation formats in a ‘live’ networking environment. By achieving transmission reach of 762 kilometres in the same ‘live’ environment, the test has more than doubled the previous field record for 32 QAM and is the
“Having already supported the launch of the leading 100 Gbit, 200 Gbit and 400 Gbit technology we are confident that highly power efficient, economic single chip Terra- bit systems are also within reach.”
and ADC IP optimized for network applications will help system vendors to address the exponential growth of global and metropolitan internet traffic” said Manfred Mettendorff, Senior Director with Socionext Europe.
first ever regional transmission for 64 QAM. The field trial, which was performed within the framework of the European Celtic-Plus SASER (Safe and Secure European Routing) project, funded jointly by the BMBF (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung) and DGE (Direction Générale des Entreprises), and supported by the IDEALIST project (Industry-Driven Elastic and Adaptive Lambda Infrastructure for Service and Transport Networks), was conducted using the latest advances in ultra-high capacity optical communications, with an aim of validating the compliance of the participating organisations most advanced optical transport solutions with the real operation constraints of a ‘live’ capital transport network. “We are excited to be able to contribute again to a world record in optical transport with our advanced ADC and DAC technology. Our 3rd and 4th generation DAC
Efficient, comfortable and smart installations, with no splicing or complicated assembly.
Intengent promotes silicon photonics economics to benefit III-V optics
T raditional optics can achieve the economic benefits common to silicon photonics with its use of equipment, processes and fabrication plants paid for by the chip industry. So argues Valery Tolstikhin, head of design consultancy Intengent and former founder and CTO of Canadian start-up OneChip Photonics. Tolstikhin says the rise of silicon photonics has sparked a general interest in the economics of component making. At present, indium phosphide fabs use
components and sub-systems, and III-V foundries that make photonic chips for them. “The aim is that you can go and design within existing fabs and processes something that meets the customer’s application and requirements,” he said. One company Intengent is working with is ELPHiC, a Canadian start-up that is raising funding to make single-mode mid-board optics. The indium- phosphide design combines analogue electronic circuitry with the photonics.
with wafers,” said Tolstikhin. “That is the only way to make a process mature, reproducible and reliable.” To use such MMIC fabs requires that optical devices are designed to be process compatible, requiring them to be manufacturable without using wafer regrowth stages. This is something that Intengent can do and what OneChip Photonics demonstrated with its optical designs. Intengent acts as a bridge between OEMs building optical
specialist processes to make relatively low volumes of optical components. Tolstikhin wants traditional optical component designs to piggyback on higher-volume indium phosphide and gallium arsenide fabs that make electronic devices such as monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) for wireless. “To take photonics out of boutique fabs, you need to do some standardisation and move to a fabless model, then you can load the fabs day and night
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ISSUE 5 | Q3 2015
For more information please contact: Laura Garcia at info@kamaxeurope.com www.kamaxeurope.com
HIGH SPEED BROADBAND ON THE UP
There has been a dramatic rise in European 4G Coverage and high-speed European Commission. 2015 has also seen a 14% lift for broadband in a third market forecast report, by Ovum, writes Matthew Peach. High-speed broadband, sales all on the up, say
which saw an increase in coverage from 12% to 91.9% and from no coverage to 67%, respectively.” The observed data confirms Europe’s preference for upgrading existing copper networks. Moreover growth in overall NGA coverage can be primarily attributed to an increase in very-high-bit-rate digital subscriber line (VDSL) coverage, which grew by over 7% in the year, reaching 37.6% of EU households by the end of 2014. The fact that VDSL continues to be the fastest-growing NGA technology further solidifies the shift observed in 2013, HIS continued, with companies in many target countries refocusing their broadband deployment strategies towards upgrading existing copper networks rather than investing in the typically more costly deployment of fibre optic all the way to consumers’ homes. Fellenbaum added, “VDSL coverage grew significantly in a number of markets. Most significant increases were recorded in Denmark, Austria, and Iceland, which all reported increases in VDSL coverage exceeding 30 percentage points.” Fiber-to-the-premises coverage – providing super- fast broadband connections – also increased, with services
technologies, the report concluded. broadband coverage also stayed at its 2013 level, but availability of NGA technologies in rural areas increased from 18.1% in 2013 to 25.1% of rural homes passed by high- speed networks in 2014. Alzbeta Fellenbaum, senior analyst at IHS Technology, commented, “Denmark, Netherlands and Sweden are leading the EU’s deployment of high-speed broadband, with 99% of households now covered by LTE. Other countries with outstanding performance in LTE coverage also include the Czech Republic and Malta, • At 89.6%, rural fixed
The report’s key findings included: • At the end of 2014, 4G LTE mobile broadband was available to nearly 8 in 10 (79.4%) of EU households, a 20% increase over 2013. • Next Generation Access homes, making high-speed (at least 30Mbps) broadband services available to 15.5m households more than in 2013. • Fixed broadband coverage remained the same as in 2013 at 97%, pointing to a “slowing trajectory” as EU member states focus instead on NGA and mobile broadband coverage reached 68.1% of EU
Matthew Peach R esearch conducted by technology and business market analyst IHS Inc. and Italian consultancy Valdani, Vicari & Associati on the availability of broadband services across all European Union member states was published by the European Commission at the end of June. The EC’s “Digital Agenda Scoreboard” shows a dramatic improvement in 4G LTE coverage and high-speed broadband availability.
100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% EL IT FR PL HR SK CZ EU ROBG IE ES FI SE NO SI HU CY DE EE AT UK PT LV IS DK LU LT NL BE MT
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Growth in 2014
2014 NGA coverage, by country. © 2015 IHS
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equipment and FTTx analysts
broadband, according to “2015 Digital Agenda Scoreboard”, published this summer by the equipment sales over 2014, with FTTx optics sales expected to reach “a new record level”
Global 2.5G Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) spending will remain above $4 billion mark in 2015
$7.8bn for the full-year of 2015, that total would be well above historical years’ performances and would show operators’ continued commitment to providing premium fixed broadband services.” IHS reports that in North America, incumbents, utilities and municipalities “are feeling that FTTH and gigabit services are giving them a chance to compete against established cable companies”, which are limited to asymmetric residential services. The competitive landscape has also heated up in Latin America after years of consolidation and regulatory restrictions; cable operators and telcos in that region are now investing after years of underinvestment. Ovum forecasts FTTx optics to exceed $1bn in 2015 According to a third market forecast published mid-2015, this time by London-based analyst Ovum, sales of FTTx optics and associated equipment are expected to reach “a new record level” in 2015, following a record- breaking 2014. The report forecasts that global FTTx optical components revenue will exceed $1bn this year, up from $953m in 2014. Next year is set to remain strong, with forecast revenue of $985m. Demand for PON equipment – both OLTs and ONTs – is driving the FTTx optics market to record levels.
now available to 18.7% of European households. Baltic countries traditionally lead in availability of FTTP services; in 2014 Lithuania and Latvia remained the two countries with the highest FTTP coverage, with homes passed by FTTP reaching nearly 95% of households in Lithuania and 83.2% in Latvia. However, the strongest growth in FTTP coverage compared to 2013 was recorded in Portugal and Spain, where FTTP coverage increased by 16.1% and 22.1% respectively, reaching 65.8 percent of Portuguese and 44.8 percent of Spanish homes. 2015 sees 14% lift for broadband equipment sales The global broadband aggregation equipment market, including DSL, PON and Ethernet FTTH, totalled $2.1bn in the first quarter of 2015, which represents a 5% sequential drop, but a 14% gain year on year, driven by GPON and VDSL deployments, according to another report from analyst IHS. Jeff Heynen, research director for broadband access at IHS, commented, “Broadband aggregation equipment spending went above $2 billion in each of the last three quarters, so there was bound to be some slowdown to start this year. Although we expect to see spending to drop to around
$5 $4 $3 $2 $1 $0
2013
2014
2015
© IHS Infonetics PON, FTTH, and DSL Aggregation Equipment: Quarterly Market Share, Size and Forecasts; May 2015
The largest potential downside to the forecast could come from a slowdown in FTTx deployments by the Chinese operators. China is the single largest consumer of PON optics in the world and any slowdown would negatively impact the forecast. However, Ovum believes that China’s newest operator entrant into FTTx, China Mobile, is well positioned to deploy an FTTx network, bring existing mobile customers onto its new wireline broadband network, and offer additional services. “This strong outlook benefits Japanese optical subcomponent vendors such as laser and lens manufacturers. Meanwhile, the wireline broadband FTTx market upswing is having a positive impact on component and equipment vendors,” concluded Kunstler.
Julie Kunstler, principal analyst in Ovum’s intelligent networks and components team and author of the report, commented, “Numerous positive factors are driving the FTTx optics market to new levels, including FTTH network deployments by China Mobile and the continued network builds by China Telecom and China Unicom.” Other positive trends contributing to the strong growth are FTTx network deployments by North American MSOs, Google Fiber’s expansion plan, US telco deployment plans, European deployment plans, continued deployments in the Middle East, small deployments in South and Central America and Africa, and the movement toward FTTP or FTTH, which both require more PON ONT optics.
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THE CASE FOR SILICON PHOTONICS
The case for silicon photonics Silicon photonics has been a technology of promise for over a decade. So it is not surprising that industry voices have started to question the technology, writes Roy Rubenstein.
Facebook has said it will use duplex single-mode as the fibre of choice for its large data centres and has selected the 2km, 100 Gig CWDM4 interface to connect equipment. “Facebook is agnostic to technology,“ says Katharine Schmidtke, strategic sourcing manager, optical technology at Facebook. “There are multiple technologies that meet our requirements.” Yet silicon photonics’ ability to produce integrated designs - with all the required functions placed in one or two chips - is appealing, says Schmidtke. Such designs are needed to scale and that requires a high- yielding process, especially when a single large data centre uses hundred of thousands of optical transceivers. This style of manufacturing is what the chip industry excels at. Silicon ends up dominating fields, not necessarily because it is the best choice in terms of performance but because it ends up being so cheap in scale, says Hochberg: “Once you can do something in silicon and do it adequately well, it tends to displace everything else from the majority of the market.” Applications Silicon photonics may be in a quiet period but products are shipping in volume. Cisco has been using its 100 Gig CPAK transceivers for several years, with two CPAKs being silicon photonics-based. And the 40 Gig PSM4 module now ships in excess of 100,000 units. Six companies offer 40 Gig PSM4 products, says LightCounting, but silicon photonics player Luxtera has a healthy start. Acacia is another selling silicon photonics-based modules. Unlike Cisco and Luxtera, Acacia offers 100 and 400 Gig coherent modules for
phosphide and gallium arsenide can. “With III-V, all the core functionality can be integrated in a single die,” says Joris Van Campenhout, programme director for optical I/O at imec, the Belgium nano-electronics research centre. “In terms of pure performance, III-V is still a bit further.” But what attracts Verizon and Facebook to silicon photonics is its ability to produce integrated designs and its potential to ramp to volume manufacturing quickly. “Fundamentally, we believe silicon photonics is a real enabler,” says Glenn Wellbrock, director of optical transport network architecture and design at Verizon. “It is the only way to get to the densities that we want to get to, going forward.” Wellbrock says indium phosphide photonic integrated circuits (PICs) can also achieve such densities. But with silicon photonics, there are many potential suppliers, given its relatively low barrier to entry compared to indium phosphide.”To date, Infinera has been the only real [indium phosphide] PIC company and they build only for their own platform,” says Wellbrock.
players - some silicon photonics players, others like Finisar and Lumentum (formerly JDSU) adding it to their portfolio - all back the technology. “I don’t think anything has fundamentally changed [regarding silicon photonics],” says Julie Eng, vice president of transceiver engineering at Finisar. “There is a lot of excitement over it, and then in developing any new technology there are always setbacks, difficulties and challenges.” Vladimir Kozlov, CEO of LightCounting Market Research, agrees. “The excitement has gone,” he says. “Now it is the long hard work to deliver products.” Promise “The great advantage silicon photonics gives you is access to first-rate fabrication infrastructure,” says Michael Hochberg, director of R&D at Coriant’s Advanced Technology Group. Silicon photonics offers 8- and 12-inch wafers, access to high-volume foundries, and an ability to manufacture complex designs in volume and with a high yield. But silicon can’t lase whereas the III-V materials of indium
ROY RUBENSTEIN
A fter steady
technological progress and a spate of start- up acquisitions, silicon
photonics has entered a quiet period and even experienced setbacks. Silicon photonics pioneer Intel announced in February it would delay the launch of its silicon photonics products by a year. And IBM - like Intel, a long-time developer of the technology - has announced a near-complete 100 Gigabit WDM transceiver but said that while it intends to use the technology internally, wider adoption will be needed if the design is to be economical. “As a general rule, the more that reality sets in, the less impressive silicon photonics gets to be,” says Mark Lutkowitz, principal at consultancy fibeReality. Yet Verizon, Facebook, Cisco, Coriant, and Mellanox Technologies, as well as optical component and module
10,000,000
40-400G Si 40-400G InP 40-400G GaAs
8,000,000
6,000,000
4,000,000
2,000,000
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
LightCounting’s forecast showing the volumes of 40 to 400 Gig transceivers shipping between 2010-2021
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Large scale data centres use hundreds of thousands of optical transceivers. Image supplied by Facebook.
over 10km using PAM-4. “This platform can be scaled to perform 400 Gig using a 4-by- 100 Gig or an 8-by-50 Gig WDM approach,” says Martin Guy, CTO & strategic marketing at Teraxion. “In the long run, data centre operators are interested in WDM over single- mode fibre and we believe silicon photonics can play a significant role here.” Silicon photonics start-up Aurrion is another eyeing WDM. “We perceive that the market has a lot of use for WDM,” says Eric Hall, vice president of business development at Aurrion. “When that is enabled on silicon photonics, much will come out of that, not only better instantiations of existing products but the development of new, more complex designs.” Aurrion has demonstrated a 4x25 Gig WDM design. Mellanox, which acquired Kotura, is another using silicon photonics for WDM in the data centre. It is a founding member of the OpenOptics MSA. “It [the MSA] supports more narrow line spacing, and scales to eight and 16 channels,” says Arlon Martin, senior director, marketing at Mellanox. “We think that is an interesting play at 400 Gigabit.” Mellanox is also using silicon photonics for 100 Gig PSM4. Challenges Indium phosphide specialist Oclaro has not stated any silicon photonics product plans but says once the performance and cost gets to a level it needs, it will consider using the technology.
that while silicon photonics had no technical hurdles, it had no edge compared to DML-based designs. “That is what brought us to parallel single mode,” says Welch. Luxtera uses one laser across multiple lanes for its PSM4 designs. “It is cheaper than multi-mode while having the long reach of single mode,” he says. Luxtera is now sampling its 100G (4x25G) PSM4 and will be in general production later this year. Finisar and Lumentum have several photonic technologies in-house and both have now added silicon photonics to their design toolkit. The companies consider using silicon photonics for any new product design and assess its merits against their existing technologies. Finisar backs VCSELs for the installed base of multi-mode fibre and believes indium phosphide DML lasers are best suited for 10 Gig single-mode transceivers. “All those millions of units that are sold using DMLs; nobody needs a new technology to make those parts,” says Eng. Where silicon photonics is starting to show an advantage is for multi-channel designs and where a channel speed of greater than 25 Gig speeds is needed, says Eng. Here silicon photonics competes with indium phosphide modulators and PAM-4 modulation. Finisar has demonstrated a silicon photonics single-channel transceiver operating at 50 Gig. Teraxion has shown a 100 Gig silicon photonics transceiver
Adam Carter, chief commercial officer at Oclaro, highlight concerns about the robustness of the supply chain for silicon photonics and manufacturing challenges. “A lot of people own the technology internally but that does not mean that it is broadly available,” says Carter. “And the foundries that are available today are boutique.” There is also much more to making a part than the fab process, says Brandon Collings, Lumentum’s CTO. “The ideal view is that silicon photonics solves so many problems,” says Collings. “But even when you decide to use silicon photonics, there is a whole pile of issues - packaging, testing and electronics - that need to play into the solution that are not CMOS-centric.” “When I first got involved in silicon photonics, I perceived that it was an opportunity to drive a different cost structure,” says Carter who, before joining Oclaro, was at Cisco when it bought Lightwire.”I’m a little bit maturer now in my thinking.” “The performance is there, it is now a manufacturing question,” says Facebook’s Schmidtke. Silicon photonics benefits from volume, and the volume is here with the large data centre requirements. Moreover, she expects to see that level of manufacturing maturity proven in the coming year. If Schmidtke is right, silicon photonics will no longer need to state its case as early as ECOC 2016.
metro-regional and long-haul networking. Silicon photonics has not shown itself to be the overwhelming solution for such long distance networks but that could change, says LightCounting. Cisco developed the CPAK after the input/ output (I/O) traffic it needed for its equipment line cards could not match the packet processing capabilities of its network processor (NPU).“By the time someone could provide us with the optics that could achieve the I/O density, that silicon investment would have gone stale,” says Russ Esmacher, director, packet optical sales at Cisco Systems. Cisco acquired silicon photonics start-up Lightwire and the resulting CPAK gave it a year’s time-to-market advantage, says Esmacher: “It also helped us tremendously in terms of power consumption.” Cisco went from a 100 Gig line card to a 400 Gig one while keeping the power consumption fixed, despite moving to a 400 Gig NPU and four 100GBASE- LR4 CPAKs. “We ship product, and to ship, you need to have product differentiation against a pretty competitive landscape,” says Brian Welch, Luxtera’s director of product marketing. “There are indium phosphide directly modulated lasers (DMLs) on one side and VCSELs on the other, and you need to take both on.” Luxtera looked to WDM for product differentiation but found
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