ADVA’s 800-gigabit CoreChannel causes a stir

ADVA’s latest addition to its FSP 3000 TeraFlex platform provides 800-gigabit optical transmission. But the announcement has caused a kerfuffle among its optical transport rivals.

ADVA’s TeraFlex platform supports various coherent optical transport sleds, a sled being a pluggable modular unit that customises a platform’s functionality.

Stephan RettenbergerThe coherent sleds use Cisco’s (formerly Acacia Communication’s) AC1200 optical engine. Cisco completed the acquisition of Acacia in March.

The AC1200 comprises a 16nm CMOS Pico coherent digital signal processor (DSP) that supports two wavelengths, each up to 600-gigabit, and two photonic integrated circuits (PICs), for a maximum capacity of 1.2 terabits.

The latest sled from ADVA, dubbed CoreChannel, supports an 800-gigabit stream in a single channel.

ADVA states in its press release that the CoreChannel uses “140 gigabaud (GBd) sub-carrier technology” to deliver 800-gigabit over distances exceeding 1,600km.

This, the company says, improves reach by over 50 per cent compared with state-of-the-art 95GBd symbol rate coherent technologies.

It is these claims that have its rivals reacting.

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The era of 400G coherent pluggables finally emerges

Part 1: 7nm coherent DSPs, ZR and ZR+

The era of 400-gigabit coherent pluggable modules has moved a step closer with Inphi’s announcement of its Canopus coherent digital signal processor (DSP) and its QSFP-DD ColorZ II optical module. 

NeoPhotonics has also entered the fray, delivering first samples of its 400-gigabit ClearLight CFP2-DCO module that uses the Canopus DSP.

Pranay AiyaThe ColorZ II and ClearLight modules support the 400ZR OIF standard used to link data centres up to 120km apart. They also support extended modes, known as ZR+, that is not standardised.

ZR+’s modes include 400 Gigabit-per-second (Gbps) over distances greater than 400ZR's 120km and lower data rates over metro-regional and long-haul distances.    

The announcements of the Canopus DSP and 400-gigabit pluggable coherent modules highlight the approaches being taken for ZR+. Optical module vendors are aligning around particular merchant DSPs such that interoperability exists but only within each camp.  

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Oclaro uses Acacia’s Meru DSP for its CFP2-DCO

Oclaro will use Acacia Communications’ coherent DSP for its pluggable CFP2 Digital Coherent Optics (CFP2-DCO) module. The module will be compatible with Acacia’s own CFP2-DCO, effectively offering customers a second source. 

Tom Williams This is the first time Acacia is making its coherent DSP technology available to a fellow module maker, says Tom Williams, Acacia’s senior director, marketing.

Acacia benefits from the deal by expanding the market for its technology, while Oclaro gains access to a leading low-power coherent DSP, the Meru, and can bring to market its own CFP2-DCO product. 

Williams says the move was encouraged by customers and that having a second source and achieving interoperability will drive CFP2-DCO market adoption. That said, Acacia is not looking for further module partners. “With two strong suppliers, we don’t see a need to add additional ones,” says Williams.  

“This agreement is a sign that the market is reaching maturity, with suppliers transitioning from grabbing market share at all costs to more rational strategies,” says Vladimir Kozlov, CEO and founder of LightCounting Market Research.

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Coherent optics players target the network edge for growth

Part 1: Coherent developments

The market for optical links for reaches between 10km and 120km is emerging as a fierce battleground between proponents of coherent and direct-detection technologies. 

Interest in higher data rates such as 400 gigabits is pushing coherent-based optical transmission from its traditional long-distance berth to shorter-reach applications. “That tends to be where the growth for coherent has come from as it has migrated from long-haul to metro,” says Tom Williams, senior director of marketing at Acacia Communications, a coherent technology supplier. 

Source: Acacia Communications, Gazettabyte

Williams points to the Optical Internetworking Forum’s (OIF) ongoing work to develop a 400-gigabit link for data centre interconnect. Dubbed 400ZR, the project is specifying an interoperable coherent interface that will support dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) links for distances of at least 80km.

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Acacia looks to co-package its coherent PIC and DSP-ASIC

• Acacia Communications is working to co-package its coherent DSP and its silicon photonics transceiver chip. 

• The company is also developing a digital coherent optics module that will support 400 gigabit. 

Acacia Communications is working to co-package its coherent DSP and its silicon photonics transceiver chip. The line-side optical transceiver company is working on a digital coherent optics module that will support 400 gigabits.

Acacia announced last November that it was sampling the industry’s first CFP2 Digital Coherent Optics (CFP2-DCO) that supports 100- and 200-gigabit line rates. The CFP2-DCO integrates the DSP and its silicon photonics chip within a CFP2 module, which is half the size of a CFP module, with each chip packaged separately.

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