400-gigabit coherent modules finally hit their stride

NeoPhotonics discusses 400-gigabit coherent modules, the move to 130-gigabaud symbol-rate optical components and a company tunable laser milestone.

NeoPhotonics’ 400ZR pluggable optical modules are now available and will ship in volume from the autumn.

“The QSFP-DD and OSFP 400ZR [optical modules] have passed qualification tests and we are engaged in numerous customer qualifications around the world,” says Ferris Lipscomb, vice president of marketing at NeoPhotonics.

Ferris Lipscomb

400ZR modules implement the OIF’s 400-gigabit standard to connect directly equipment in data centres up to 120km apart without needing separate dedicated dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) optical transport equipment. The first 400ZR modules will be used by data centre operators.

But coherent pluggables support longer-reach modes. These may be interoperable if implementing the OpenZR+ multi-source agreement (MSA) or when delivering custom optical performance that are referred to as ZR+ modules.

NeoPhotonics has reported that its 400-gigabit coherent QSFP-DD when operated as a ZR+ module can achieve an 800km reach.

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NeoPhotonics talks 400ZR, 600G, 800G and Lidar

Many companies that prepared for the OFC show in March had their plans thwarted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

OFC did take place in San Diego despite all the hardships. But company withdrawals meant technology demonstrations were scrapped, press releases went unissued and stories left untold.

Ferris Lipscomb

Intel and Ranovus, for example, planned to fanfare their first co-packaged optics designs at OFC. Demonstrations to interested parties did occur but at their offices instead.

Equally, 800-gigabit coherent technologies from Ciena and Infinera would have been showcased at the show, as would industry organisations' interoperability demonstrations. 

NeoPhotonics announced in January that it was sampling 400-gigabit coherent pluggable offerings in the CFP2 and OSFP form factors.

At OFC it was to show a QSFP-DD module implementing the 400ZR OIF coherent standard, thereby completing its 400-gigabit coherent portfolio. 

“A lot of the planned demos involved inter-operation in customer switches with other modules,” says Ferris Lipscomb, vice president of marketing at NeoPhotonics. “Many of these demos are now being done in San Jose [its HQ in California] for customers coming individually.”

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NeoPhotonics’ growing 400G coherent pluggable portfolio

Part 2: 400-gigabit coherent pluggables 

NeoPhotonics has unveiled its first two 400-gigabit coherent pluggable modules that support the OIF’s 400ZR coherent standard and extended ZR+ modes. 

Ferris LipscombThe company has delivered samples of its ClearLight CFP2-DCO module for trials. The CFP2-DCO supports 400ZR, metro, and long-haul optional transmissions. 

NeoPhotonics has also delivered to a hyperscaler the first samples of a 400-gigabit OSFP pluggable that supports 400ZR and 400ZR+. 

Both modules use Inphi’s latest Canopus 7nm CMOS coherent digital signal processor (DSP) chip. 

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Data centre interconnect drives coherent

• NeoPhotonics announced at OFC a high-speed modulator and intradyne coherent receiver (ICR) that support an 800-gigabit wavelength

• It also announced limited availability of its nano integrable tunable laser assembly (nano-ITLA)  and demonstrated its pico-ITLA, an even more compact silicon photonics-based laser assembly

• The company also showcased a CFP2-DCO pluggable

NeoPhotonics unveiled several coherent optical transmission technologies at the OFC conference and exhibition held in San Diego last month.

Ferris Lipscomb“There are two [industry] thrusts going on right now: 400ZR and data centre interconnect pizza boxes going to even higher gigabits per wavelengths,” says Ferris Lipscomb, vice president of marketing at NeoPhotonics.

The 400ZR is an interoperable 400-gigabit coherent interface developed by the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF).

Optical module makers are developing 400ZR solutions that fit within the client-side QSFP-DD and OSFP pluggable form factors, first samples of which are expected by year-end.

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NeoPhotonics ups the baud rate for line and client optics

• Neophotonics’ 64 gigabaud optical components are now being designed into optical transmission systems. The components enable up to 600 gigabits per wavelength and 1.2 terabits using a dual-wavelength transponder.    

• The company’s high-end transponder that uses Ciena’s WaveLogic Ai coherent digital signal processor (DSP) is now shipping.  

• NeoPhotonic is also showcasing its 53 gigabaud components for client-side pluggable optics capable of 100-gigabit wavelengths at the current European Conference on Optical Communication (ECOC) show being held in Rome.  

NeoPhotonics says its family of 64 gigabaud (Gbaud) optical components are being incorporated within next-generation optical transmission platforms. 

Ferris LipscombThe 64Gbaud components include a micro intradyne coherent receiver (micro-ICR), a micro integrable tunable laser assembly (micro-ITLA) and a coherent driver modulator (CDM).

The micro-ICR and micro-ITLA are the Optical Internetworking Forum’s (OIF) specification, while the CDM is currently being specified.   

“Three major customers have selected to use all three [64Gbaud components] and several others are using a subset of those,” says Ferris Lipscomb, vice president of marketing at NeoPhotonics.

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NeoPhotonics samples its first CFP-DCO products

NeoPhotonics has entered the fray as a supplier of long-distance CFP pluggable modules that integrate the coherent DSP-ASIC chip with the optics. 

The company has announced two such CFP Digital Coherent Optics (CFP-DCO) modules: a 100 gigabit-per-second (Gbps) module and a dual-rate 100Gbps and 200Gbps one.

“Our rationale [for entering the CFP-DCO market] is we have all the optical components and the [merchant coherent] DSPs are now becoming available,” says Ferris Lipscomb (pictured), vice president of marketing at NeoPhotonics. “It is possible to make this product without developing your own custom DSP, with all the expense that entails.”

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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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