Verizon prepares its next-gen PON request for proposal

Verizon will publish its next-generation passive optical network (PON) requirements for equipment makers in the coming month.

Vincent O'Byrne

The NG-PON2 request for proposal (RFP) is being issued after the US operator completed a field test that showed a 40 gigabit NG-PON2 system working alongside Verizon’s existing GPON customer traffic.  

The field test involved installing a NG-PON2 optical line terminal (OLT) at a Verizon central office and linking it to a FiOS customer’s home 5 km away. A nearby business location was also included in the trial.

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US invests $610 million to spur integrated photonics

The US government has set up its latest manufacturing initiative, the sixth of nine, to address photonic integrated circuits (PICs). The $610 million venture is a combination of public and private funding: $110 million from the Department of Defense, $250 million from the state of New York and the rest private contributions.

Prof. Duncan Moore

Dubbed the American Institute for Manufacturing Integrated Photonics (AIM Photonics), the venture has attracted 124 partners includes 20 universities and over 50 companies.

The manufacturing innovation institute will be based in Rochester, New York, and will be led by the Research Foundation for the State University of New York. A key goal is that the manufacturing institute will continue after the initiative is completed in early 2021.

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Micro QSFP module to boost equipment port densities

Twelve companies are developing a compact Quad Small-Form-Factor Pluggable (QSFP) module. Dubbed the Micro QSFP (μQSFP), the multi-source agreement (MSA) will improve by a third the port count on a platform's face plate compared to the current QSFP.

Nathan Tracy

The μQSFP will support both copper and optical cabling, and will have an improved thermal performance, benefitting interfaces and platforms.

“There is always a quest for greater port density or aggregate bandwidth,” says Nathan Tracy, technologist at TE Connectivity and chair of the μQSFP MSA.

The challenge for the module makers is to provide denser form factors to increase overall system traffic. “As we go to higher densities, we are also increasing the thermal load,” says Tracy. “And so now it is a mechanical and a thermal [design] problem, and both need to be solved jointly.”

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Data centres to give silicon photonics its chance

Part 4: A large data centre operator’s perspective

The scale of modern data centres and the volumes of transceivers they will use are going to have a significant impact on the optical industry. So claims Facebook, the social networking company.

Katharine Schmidtke

Facebook has been vocal in outlining the optical requirements it needs for its large data centres.

The company will use duplex single-mode fibre and has chosen the 2 km mid-reach 100 gigabit CWDM4 interface to connect its equipment.

But the company remains open regarding the photonics used inside transceivers. “Facebook is agnostic to technology,“ says Katharine Schmidtke, strategic sourcing manager, optical technology at Facebook. “There are multiple technologies that meet our requirements.” 

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Verizon tips silicon photonics as a key systems enabler

Verizon's director of optical transport network architecture and design, Glenn Wellbrock, shares the operator’s thoughts regarding silicon photonics.

Part 3: An operator view

Glenn Wellbrock is upbeat about silicon photonics’ prospects. Challenges remain, he says, but the industry is making progress. “Fundamentally, we believe silicon photonics is a real enabler,” he says. “It is the only way to get to the densities that we want.”

Glenn Wellbrock

Wellbrock adds that indium phosphide-based photonic integrated circuits (PICs) can also achieve such densities.

But there are many potential silicon photonics suppliers because of its relatively low barrier to entry, unlike indium phosphide. "To date, Infinera has been the only real [indium phosphide] PIC company and they build only for their own platform,” says Wellbrock.

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The quiet period of silicon photonics

Michael Hochberg discusses his book on silicon photonics and the status of the technology. Hochberg is director of R&D at Coriant's Advanced Technology Group. Previously he has been an Associate Professor at the University of Delaware and at the National University of Singapore. He was also a director at the Optoelectronic Systems Integration in Silicon (OpSIS) foundry, and was a co-founder of silicon photonics start-up, Luxtera.

Part 2: An R&D perspective

If you are going to write a book on silicon photonics, you might as well make it different. That is the goal of Michael Hochberg and co-author Lukas Chrostowski, who have published a book on the topic.

Michael HochbergHochberg says there is no shortage of excellent theoretical textbooks and titles that survey the latest silicon photonics research. Instead, the authors set themselves the goal of creating a design manual to help spur a new generation of designers.

The book aims to provide designers with all the necessary tools and know-how to develop silicon photonics circuits without needing to be specialists in optics.

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Silicon photonics: "The excitement has gone"

The opinion of industry analysts regarding silicon photonics is mixed at best. More silicon photonics products are shipping but challenges remain.

Part 1: An analyst perspective

"The excitement has gone,” says Vladimir Kozlov, CEO of LightCounting Market Research. “Now it is the long hard work to deliver products.” 

Dale Murray, LightCounting

However, he is less concerned about recent setbacks and slippages for companies such as Intel that are developing silicon photonics products. This is to be expected, he says, as happens with all emerging technologies.

Mark Lutkowitz, principal at consultancy fibeReality, is more circumspect. “As a general rule, the more that reality sets in, the less impressive silicon photonics gets to be,” he says. “The physics is just hard; light is not naturally inclined to work on the silicon the way electronics does.”

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