Books in 2018 - Part 3
More books read in 2018, as recommended by Steve Alexander and Yves LeMaitre.
Steve Alexander, senior vice president and CTO, Ciena
I was standing in line at a Starbucks and was chatting with another person who asked what all these engineers were doing talking about networks of submarines. In fact, it was a nearby conference on submarine cables. The person said: “I thought that’s what satellites were for”.
I wanted to find a book I could point people to who think that satellites carry most of the international traffic when, in fact, it is the fibre-optic submarine cables that carry the vast majority of the world’s communications. I came up with The Undersea Network by Nicole Starosielski.
Our industry does such a good job at this that most people don’t even know such networks exist. It is like air; it is there and it works.
My youngest son read The Martian by Andy Weir after seeing the movie and he thought it was pretty good. I’ve always been a Sci-Fi fan but haven’t read much lately so it was nice to get back into it.
Yves LeMaitre, chief strategy officer at Lumentum
I am afraid I am guilty of spending far too much time streaming shows and sports to my laptop. The good thing is my TV stays off. However, I did manage to read several books this year. The three I would highlight - all non-fiction - have a focus on US history.
The first, Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard, is about the presidency and assassination of James Garfield intertwined with several of the scientific inventions of the times.
Another title by Candice Millard that I recommend is The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey that details his exploration of the Amazon.
My third recommendation, The Devil in the White City: A Saga of Magic and Murder at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson, tells the story of the Chicago’s World Fair of 1893 combined with a serial killer story.
Reading about what are still relatively recent events highlights how much the world has changed in the last century while people’s aspirations and desires have not.
The life stories and achievements of Theodore Roosevelt, James Garfield and Daniel Burnham, the architect of the Chicago World’s Fair, should challenge us to expect more from our leadership, whether in the political, business or social arenas. We have become complacent in accepting mediocrity and lowering our standards.
Reading these stories should remind us that true leadership exists and is a rare quality that should be appreciated and recognised.
Oclaro showcases its pluggable CFP2-DCO at ECOC
Multi-sourcing CFP2-DCO modules, coherent digital signal processor (DSP) partnerships, new laser opportunities and the latest on Lumentum’s acquisition of Oclaro. A conversation with Oclaro’s chief strategy officer, Yves LeMaitre.
Oclaro demonstrated its CFP2 Digital Coherent Optics (CFP2-DCO) pluggable module working with Acacia Communications’ own CFP2-DCO at the recent European Conference on Optical Communication (ECOC), held in Rome.
Yves LeMaitreOclaro announced earlier this year that it would use Acacia’s Meru coherent DSP for a CFP2-DCO product.
The company also announced at ECOC the availability of a portfolio of single-mode lasers that operate over an extended temperature range.
“We see two new laser opportunities for us,” says LeMaitre. “The upgrade of the access networks and, concurrently, the deployment of 5G.”
Coherent pluggables
The CFP2-DCO is a dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) module that supports 100-gigabit and 200-gigabit data rates. With the CFP2-DCO design, the coherent DSP is integrated within the module, unlike the CFP2 Analog Coherent Optics (CFP2-ACO) where the DSP chip resides on the line card.
“A concern of the market is that there has been essentially only one source of CFP2-DCO for the last few years and it was Acacia,” says LeMaitre. “Now there will be a broader supply for people who want coherent pluggables.”
Oclaro has been selling a CFP2-ACO but the company could not address those systems vendors that do not have their own DSP yet want to use coherent pluggables. “Now we can leverage our optics and combine it with Acacia’s DSP and bring another source of the CFP2-DCO,” says LeMaitre.
Acacia’s Meru is a low-power DSP that supports 200 gigabit-per-second (Gbps) wavelengths using either 8-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (8-QAM) or 16-QAM. Using 8-QAM enhances the optical reach at 200 gigabit. Oclaro’s CFP2-DCO uses its indium phosphide-based optics whereas Acacia’s module uses the company’s silicon photonics technology.
Oclaro sees the deal with Acacia as a first step, given the coming generation of 400-gigabit coherent modules including the 400ZR.
Production of Oclaro’s CFP2-DCO will commence in early 2019.
WaveLogic Ai DSP
Oclaro, along with module makers Lumentum and NeoPhotonics, signed an agreement in 2017 with Ciena to use the equipment maker’s 400-gigabit WaveLogic Ai coherent DSP. Oclaro is now shipping the 400-gigabit optical module that uses the Ciena DSP.
“The market for these types of large 400-gigabit form-factor modules in fairly limited as it is already addressed by many of the network equipment manufacturers,” says LeMaitre. “It [the module] is targeted at a few customers and a few opportunities.”
When the agreement with the three module makers was announced, there was talk of Ciena developing coherent DSPs for emerging applications such as 400-gigabit pluggables. However, Ciena has since decided to bring its own coherent modules to the marketplace and Oclaro does not yet know if it will get access to Ciena’s future coherent DSPs.
“We remain very interested in working with Ciena if they give us access to a DSP that could fit into pluggable coherent solutions but we have no agreement on that,” says LeMaitre.
There is an expectation in terms of dollar-per-bit that 400-gigabit modules are not yet meeting
Access and 5G wireless
At ECOC, Oclaro announced the availability of extended-temperature 10-gigabit and 25-gigabit lasers for access network and 5G deployments. The company also detailed its electro-absorption modulated laser (EML) supporting single-wavelength 100-gigabit transmissions for the data centre.
LeMaitre says the latest laser opportunities stem from the expansion and speed upgrades of the access infrastructure as well as upcoming 5G deployments. “This is resulting in a new lease of life for single-mode lasers because of the faster speeds and increased distances,” he says. These distances range from 10-40km and even 80km.
The environmental conditions required for these applications means the lasers must operate over industrial temperature (I-Temp) ranges, from -40 to 85oC and even higher.
Oclaro’s 25-gigabit directly-modulated laser (DML) for 5G fronthaul and mid-haul applications operates at up to 95oC. This means the laser does not need a thermo-electric cooler, simplifying the module design and reducing its power consumption. The laser has also been operated at 50 gigabit-per-second (Gbps) using 4-level pulse-amplitude modulation (PAM-4).
LeMaitre says the architectures for 5G will vary depending on the density of deployments and the primary application such as broadband or the Internet of Things.
Oclaro also announced an extended temperature range DML for 10-gigabit passive optical networks such as XGS-PON and 10GE-PON. The laser, which operates at the 1270nm wavelength, is used at the optical network unit (ONU) at the premises. Oclaro is also developing new 10-gigabit EMLs for the downstream link, from the PON optical line terminal (OLT) to the ONU. Transmission distances for such PONs can be 20km.
The company recently expanded laser production at its Japan and UK facilities, while the 10- and 25-gigabit lasers are now being mass-produced.
400 Gigabit Ethernet
Oclaro was one of five companies that took part in a 100-gigabit single-wavelength interoperability demonstration organised by the Ethernet Alliance at the show. The other four were Applied Optoelectronics, InnoLight Technology, Source Photonics, and Sumitomo Electric Industries.
The company showed its EML operating at 50 gigabaud with PAM-4 in the 100-Gigabit QSFP28 module. The 50Gbaud EML can operate uncooled such that no thermo-electric cooler is needed.
Oclaro says it will soon start sampling a 400-gigabit QSFP-DD FR4 module. The 2km four-channel FR4 developed by the 100-Gigabit Single Lambda MSA will use four 50Gbaud lasers. Volume production of the FR4 module is expected from the second quarter of 2019.
LeMaitre says 400-gigabit modules for the data centre face two key challenges.
One is meeting the power consumption of the new form factor modules such as the QSFP-DD. The optics for a four-wavelength design consumes 3-4W while the accompanying PAM-4 digital signal processor can consume 7-8W. “A transceiver burning 10-12W might be an issue for large-scale deployments,” says LeMaitre. “There is a power issue here that needs to be fixed.”
The second challenge for 400-gigabit client-side is cost. The price of 100-gigabit modules has now come down considerably. “There is an expectation in terms of dollar-per-bit that 400-gigabit modules are not yet meeting,” says LeMaitre. If the DSPs have yet to meet the power needs while the cost of the new modules is not in line with the dollar-per-bit performance of 100-gigabit modules, then 400-gigabit modules will be delayed, he says.
Acquisition
Lumentum’s acquisition of Oclaro, announced in March, continues to progress.
LeMaitre says two of the main three hurdles have now been overcome: anti-trust clearance in the U.S. and gaining shareholder approval. What remains is achieving Chinese clearance via the State Authority for Market Regulation.
“Until the merger deal is closed, we have to continue to operate as two separate companies,” says LeMaitre. But that doesn't prevent the two firms planning for the day when the deal is completed. Issues being worked through include the new organisation, the geographic locations of the companies’ groups, and how the two firms will work together to build a combined financial model.
The deal is expected to close before the year-end.
Oclaro points its laser diodes at new markets
“To succeed in any market ... you need to be the best at something, to have that sustainable differentiator”
Yves LeMaitre, Oclaro
Now LeMaitre is executive vice president at Oclaro, managing the company’s advanced photonics solutions (APS) arm. The APS division is tasked with developing non-telecom opportunities based on Oclaro’s high-power laser diode portfolio, and accounts for 10%-15% of the company’s revenues.
“The goal is not to create a separate business,” says LeMaitre. “Our goal is to use the infrastructure and the technologies we have, find those niche markets that need these technologies and grow off them.”
Recently Oclaro opened a design centre in Tucson, Arizona that adds packing expertise to its existing high-power laser diode chip business. The company bolstered its laser diode product line in June 2009 when Oclaro gained the Newport Spectra Physics division in a business swap. “We became the largest merchant vendor for high-power laser diodes,” says LeMaitre.
The products include single laser chips, laser arrays and stacked arrays that deliver hundred of watts of output power. “We had all that fundamental chip technology,” says LeMaitre. “What we have been less good at is packaging those chips - managing the thermals as well as coupling that raw chip output power into fibre.”
The new design centre is focussed on packaging which typically must be tailored for each product.
Laser diodes
There are three laser types that use laser diodes, either directly or as ‘pumps’:
- Solid-state laser, known as diode-pumped solid-state (DPSS) lasers.
- Fibre laser, where the fibre is the medium that amplifies light.
- Direct diode laser - here the semiconductor diode itself generates the light.
All three types use laser diodes that operate in the 800-980nm range. Oclaro has much experience in gallium arsenide pump-diode designs for telecom that operate at 920nm wavelengths and above.
Laser diode designs for non-telecom applications are also gallium arsenide-based but operate at 800nm and above. They are also scaled-up designs, says LeMaitre: “If you can get 1W on a single mode fibre for telecom, you can get 10W on a multi-mode fibre.” Combining the lasers in an array allows 100-200W outputs. And by stacking the arrays while inserting cooling between the layers, several hundreds of watts of output power are possible.
The lasers are typically sold as packaged and cooled designs, rather than as raw chips. The laser beam can be collimated to precisely deliver the light, or the beam may be coupled when fibre is the preferred delivery medium.
“The laser beam is used to heat, to weld, to burn, to mark and to engrave,” says LeMaitre. “That beam may be coming directly from the laser [diode], or from another medium that is pumped by the laser [diode].” Such designs require specialist packaging, says LeMaitre, and this is what Oclaro secured when it acquired the Spectra Physics division.
Applications
Laser diodes are used in four main markets which Oclaro values at US$800 million a year.
One is the mature, industrial market. Here lasers are used for manufacturing tasks such as metal welding and metal cutting, marking and welding of plastics, and scribing semiconductor wafers.
Another is high-quality printing where the lasers are used to mark large printing plates. This, says LeMaitre, is a small specialist market.
Health care is a growing market for lasers which are used for surgery, although the largest segment is now skin and hair treatment.
The final main market is consumer where vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) are used. The VCSELs have output powers in the tens or hundreds of milliwatts only and are used in computer mouse interfaces and for cursor navigation in smartphones.
“These are simple applications that use lasers because they provide reliable, high-quality optical control of the device,” says LeMaitre. “We are talking tens of millions of [VCSEL] devices [a year] that we are shipping right now for these types of applications.”
Oclaro is a supplier of VCSELs for Light Peak, Intel’s high-speed optical cable technology to link electronic devices. “There will be adoptions of the initial Light Peak starting the end of this year or early next year, and we are starting to ramp up production for that,” says LeMaitre. “In the meantime, there are many alternative [designs] happening – the market is extremely active – and we are talking to a lot of players.” Oclaro sells the laser chips for such interface designs; it does not sell optical engines or the cables.
Is Oclaro pursuing optical engines for datacom applications, linking large switch and IP router systems? “We are actively looking at that but we haven’t made any public announcements,” he says.
Market status
LeMaitre has been at Oclaro since 2008 when Avanex merged with Bookham (to become Oclaro). Before that, he was CEO at optical component start-up, LightConnect.
How does the industry now compare with that of a decade ago?
“At that time [of the downturn] the feeling was that it was going to be tough for maybe a year or two but that by 2002 or 2003 the market would be back to normal,” says LeMaitre. “Certainly no-one expected the downturn would last five years.” Since then, nearly all of the start-ups have been acquired or have exited; Oclaro itself is the result of the merger of some 15 companies.
“People were talking about the need for consolidation, well, it has happened,” he says. Oclaro’s main market – optical components for metro and long haul transmission – now has some four main players. “The consolidation has allowed these companies, including Oclaro, to reach a level of profitability which has not been possible until the last two years,” says LeMaitre.
Demand for bandwidth has continued even with the recent economic downturn, and this has helped the financial performance of the optical component companies.
“The need for bandwidth has still sustained some reasonable level of investment even in the dark times,” he says. “The market is not as sexy as it was in those [boom] days but it is much more healthy; a sign of the industry maturing.”
Industry maturity also brings corporate stability which LeMaitre says provides a healthy backdrop when developing new business opportunities.
The industrial, healthcare and printing markets require greater customisation than optical components for telecom, he says, whereas the consumer market is the opposite, being characterised by vastly greater unit volumes.
“To succeed in any market – this is true for this market and for the telecom market – you need to be the best at something, to have that sustainable differentiator,” says LeMaitre. For Oclaro, its differentiator is its semiconductor laser chip expertise. “If you don’t have a sustainable differentiator, it just doesn’t work.”