ADVA targets access with its latest pluggable module

• The 25 gigabit-per-second (Gbps) SFP28 is self-tuning and has a reach of 40km
• ADVA’s CEO, Christoph Glingener, in his plenary talk at ECOC 2022 addressed the unpredictable nature of technology adoption.

Saeid Aramideh

ADVA has expanded its portfolio of optical modules with an SFP28 for the access market.

The AccessWave25 is a self-tuning dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) pluggable.

The SFP28 is designed to enable communications service providers to straightforwardly upgrade their access networks from 10Gbps to 25Gbps.

ADVA made the announcement just before ECOC 2022.

Features

The SFP28 module links switches and routers to DWDM open-line systems (see diagram below).

The 40km-reach pluggable uses 4-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM-4) and supports 25 gigabit Ethernet and eCPRI traffic.

The module uses the G.metro self-tuning standard to coordinate with the remote-end transceiver a chosen channel in the C-band, simplifying configuration and removing human error.

The G.metro communication channel also enables remote monitoring of the module.

The SFP28 consumes 3W and works over the extended temperature of -40 to 85oC.

Source: ADVA

Strategy

ADVA says vertical integration is a critical part of its Optical Engine unit’s strategy.

Saeid Aramideh, ADVA’s Optical Engine’s vice president of business development, says the unit focusses on such technology disciplines as silicon photonics, laser technology and digital signal processing.

The digital signal processing includes aggregation as with ADVA‘s MicroMux module products, PAM-4 used by the AccessWave25, and coherent as with its 100ZR module announced in June.

Advanced packaging is another technology area of interest.

“These are the fundamental innovation areas we focus on,” says Aramideh. “We build our product portfolio based on these platforms.”

ADVA also looks at the market to identify product gaps.

“Not so much every MSA module, but what is happening on the aggregation side,” says Aramideh. “What is it that other people are not paying attention to?”

This is what motivated ADVA’s MicroMux products. The MicroMux module family includes a 10-by-10 gigabit going into 100 gigabits, a 10-by-one gigabit into 10 gigabits, and a four-by-100 gigabit going into 400 gigabits.

“The reality is over 10,000 MicroMux modules are carrying traffic with a top tier-one network provider in Europe,“ says Aramideh. “Not on ADVA equipment but on other network equipment maker, which we haven't made public.”

For access aggregation, ADVA unveiled at OFC its four-by-10 gigabit MicroMux Edge BiDi with a 40km reach.

“This is for Ethernet, backhaul, and services where fibre is limited and symmetric latency is important,” says Aramideh.

ADVA’s 100ZR module uses a coherent digital signal processor (DSP) developed with Coherent. The 100ZR is a QSFP28 module that dissipates 5W and reaches 300km.

Now, ADVA has added the AccessWave25, a tunable SFP28 that uses direct-detect technology and PAM-4, including ADVA’s IP for distance optimisation.

“The AccessWave25 works on legacy, so if you have a 10-gigabit network, you don't have to change anything on the physical layer,” he says.

ADVA also looks at metro applications and says it will announce lower-power, smaller form factor coherent designs.

ECOC plenary talk

The CEO of ADVA, Christoph Glingener, gave a plenary talk at ECOC.

Entitled Never say never, Glingener reflected on technology adoption and its timing.

Christoph Glingener

He pointed out how technologies that, at first, seem impractical or too difficult to adopt can subsequently become mainstream. He cited coherent optical communication as one example.

Glingener also discussed how such unpredictability impacts business, citing supply-chain issues, the global pandemic, and sovereignty.

Sovereignty and the influx of government capital for fibre rollout and semiconductors confirm that the optical communications industry is in a good place. But Glingener worries how the industry’s practitioners are ageing and stresses more needs to be done to attract graduates.

Tracing optical communications’ progress, he talked about the 15-year cycles of first direct detect and then fibre amplification. Coherent then followed in 2010.

The industry is thus ripe for breakthrough technology.

Reaching limits

Shannon’s limit means spectral efficiency no longer improves while Moore’s law’s demise continues. Near-term trends are clear, he says, parallelism, whether it is multiple spectrum bands, multiple fibres, or multiple fibre cores. This, in turn, will drive new optical amplifier and wavelength-selective switch designs.

Further optimisation will be needed, integration at the device level and the creation of denser systems. Network automation is also essential and that requires much work.

Glingener also argues for optical bypass rather than electrical packet processing. Large core routers overseeing routing at the IP and optical layer will not aid the greening of the internet.

Next wave

So what is the next technology wave?

Possibilities he cited include hollow-core fibre, photonic computing, and quantum entanglement for communications and the quantum internet.

Will they reach a large scale? Glingener is doubtful.

Whatever the technology proves to be, he said, it is likely already being discussed at ECOC 2022.

If he has a message for the audience, it is to apply their own filter whenever they hear people say, ‘it will never come,’ or ‘it is too difficult.’  Never say never, says Glingener.