NeoPhotonics showcases a CFP2-ACO roadmap to 400G

NeoPhotonics has begun sampling its CFP2-ACO, a pluggable module for metro and long-haul optical transport. 

The company demonstrated the CFP2-ACO module transmitting at 100 gigabit using polarisation multiplexed, quadrature phase-shift keying (PM-QPSK) modulation at the recent OFC show. The line-side module is capable of transmitting over 1,000km and also supports PM-16QAM that doubles capacity over metro network distances.

Ferris LipscombThe CFP2-ACO is a Class 3 design: the control electronics for the modulator and laser reside on the board, alongside the coherent DSP-ASIC chip.

At OFC, NeoPhotonics also demonstrated single-wavelength 400-gigabit transmission using more advanced modulation and a higher symbol rate, and a short-reach 100-gigabit link for inside the data centre using 4-level pulse-amplitude modulation (PAM4) signalling. 

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COBO looks inside and beyond the data centre

The Consortium of On-Board Optics is working on 400 gigabit optics for the data centre and also for longer-distance links. COBO is a Microsoft-led initiative tasked with standardising a form factor for embedded optics.

Established in March 2015, the consortium already has over 50 members and expects to have early specifications next year and first hardware by late 2017.

Brad Booth

Brad Booth, the chair of COBO and principal architect for Microsoft’s Azure Global Networking Services, says Microsoft plans to deploy 100 gigabit in its data centres next year and that when the company started looking at 400 gigabit, it became concerned about the size of the proposed pluggable modules, and the interface speeds needed between the switch silicon and the pluggable module.

“What jumped out at us is that we might be running into an issue here,” says Booth.

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ECOC 2015 Review - Part 1

Part 1: Line side announcements

• Several companies announced components for 400 gigabit optical transmission
• NEL announced a 200 gigabit coherent DSP-ASIC
• Lumentum ramps production of its ROADM blades while extending the operating temperature of its tunable SFP+

400 gigabit

Oclaro, Teraxion and NeoPhotonics detailed their latest optical components for 400 gigabit optical transmission using coherent detection.

Oclaro and Teraxion announced 400 gigabit modulators for line-side transmission; Oclaro’s based on lithium niobate and Teraxion’s an indium phosphide one.

NeoPhotonics outlined other components that will be required for higher-speed transmission: indium phosphide-based waveguide photo-detectors for coherent receivers, and ultra-narrow line-width lasers suited for higher order modulation schemes such as dual-polarisation 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (DP-16-QAM) and DP-64-QAM.

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OFC 2015 digest: Part 2

The second part of the survey of developments at the OFC 2015 show held recently in Los Angeles.   

 

Part 2: Client-side component and module developments   

• CFP4- and QSFP28-based 100GBASE-LR4 announced
• First mid-reach optics in the QSFP28
• SFP extended to 28 Gigabit
• 400 Gig precursors using DMT and PAM-4 modulations 
• VCSEL roadmap promises higher speeds and greater reach

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Acacia unveils 400 Gigabit coherent transceiver

• The AC-400 5x7 inch MSA transceiver is a dual-carrier design
• Modulation formats supported include PM-QPSK, PM-8-QAM and PM-16-QAM
• Acacia’s DSP-ASIC is a 1.3 billion transistor dual-core chip 

Acacia Communications has unveiled the industry's first flexible rate transceiver in a 5x7-inch MSA form factor that is capable of up to 400 Gigabit transmission rates. The company made the announcement at the OFC show held in Los Angeles. 

Dubbed the AC-400, the transceiver supports 200, 300 and 400 Gigabit rates and includes two silicon photonics chips, each implementing single-carrier optical transmission, and a coherent DSP-ASIC. Acacia designs its own silicon photonics and DSP-ASIC ICs.

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OIF shows 56G electrical interfaces & CFP2-ACO

The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) is using the OFC exhibition taking place in Los Angeles this week to showcase the first electrical interfaces running at 56 Gigabit. Coherent optics in a CFP2 pluggable module is also being demonstrated.

“The most important thing for everyone is power consumption on the line card”

The OIF - an industry organisation comprising communications service providers, internet content providers, system vendors and component companies - is developing the next common electrical interface (CEI) specifications, as well as continuing to advance fixed and pluggable optical module specifications for coherent transmission including the pluggable CFP2.

“These are major milestones that the [demonstration] efforts are even taking place,” says Nathan Tracy, technologist at TE Connectivity and the OIF technical committee chair.

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ECOC reflections: final part

Gazettabyte asked several attendees at the recent ECOC show, held in Cannes, to comment on key developments and trends they noted, as well as the issues they will track in the coming year. 

Dr. Ioannis Tomkos, Fellow of OSA & Fellow of IET, Athens Information Technology Center (AIT)

With ECOC 2014 celebrating its 40th anniversary, the technical programme committee did its best to mark the occasion. For example, at the anniversary symposium, notable speakers presented the history of optical communications. Actual breakthroughs discussed during the conference sessions were limited, however.

Ioannis Tomkos

It appears that after 2008 to 2012, a period of significant advancements, the industry is now more mainstream, and significant shifts in technologies are limited. It is clear that the original focus four decades ago on novel photonics technologies is long gone. Instead, there is more and more of a focus on high-speed electronics, signal processing algorithms, and networking. These have little to do with photonics even if they greatly improve the overall efficient operation of optical communication systems and networks.

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