Books read in 2021: Part 2

In Part II, two more industry figures pick their reads of the year: Sara Gabba of II-VI and Ciena’s Joe Marsella.

Sara Gabba, Strategic Marketing, II-VI

I’ve always read a lot. I cannot fall asleep without the sweet or the exciting company of a good book!

In the last year, I’ve spent many evenings reading fairy tales to my young daughter and, on top of the traditional ones from Andersen or the Grimm brothers, I’ve surprisingly discovered that she really likes the Greek myths (in an adaptation for children), which are the archetypes of most of the ‘modern’ tales. Love, mystery, jealousy, fear, talent, heroism: all the instincts and passions of humankind are there and able to capture every reader.

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II-VI expands its 400G and 800G transceiver portfolio

II-VI has showcased its latest high-speed optics. The need for such client-side modules is being driven by the emergence of next-generation Ethernet switches in the data centre.

The demonstrations, part of the OFC virtual conference and exhibition held last month, featured two 800-gigabit and two 400-gigabit optical transceivers.

“We have seen the mushrooming of a lot of datacom transceiver companies, primarily from China, and some have grown pretty big,” says Sanjai Parthasarathi, chief marketing officer at II-VI.

Sanjai Parthasarathi

But a key enabler for next-generation modules is the laser. “Very few companies have these leading laser platforms - whether indium phosphide or gallium arsenide, we have all of that,” says Parthasarathi.

During OFC, II-VI also announced the sampling of a 100-gigabit directly modulated laser (DML) and detailed an optical channel monitoring platform.

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II-VI shrinks an optical line system into an OSFP module

II-VI has developed an optical line system that fits inside a pluggable module. 

The advent of coherent pluggable modules implementing the 400ZR standard allows switches and routers to be linked across separate data centres. Now, with a pluggable optical line system, a dedicated line-system platform is no longer needed to send the 400ZR signals over a fibre. 

Sanjai ParthasarathiIn turn, the network operating system on the switch manages the optical line system directly such that a separate optical management software layer is no longer needed.

“We have shrunk an entire pizza-box line system into a small pluggable,” says Sanjai Parthasarathi, chief marketing officer at II-VI.

Indeed, one customer refers to the II-VI pluggable product - dubbed the OSFP-LS - as a ‘zero-rack-unit’ platform.

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