Ciena uses software to dip into the photonic layer

Ciena has enhanced its control plane and line elements to enable software to control the optical networking layer. The additions are part of Ciena's OPn network architecture evolution to enable greater visibility and automation. "It is about putting software into a system to allow you to program the photonic line," says Michael Adams, vice president of product & technology marketing at Ciena.

"For an SDN controller to control a photonic line, we need to present it as a programmable layer. The infrastructure is now there to be programmed."

Michael Adams, Ciena

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Acacia uses silicon photonics for its 100G coherent CFP

Acacia Communications has revealed the innards of its 100 Gig coherent pluggable module for metro networks. The AC-100 CFP combines a low-power DSP-ASIC with a silicon-photonics-based optics chip. The CFP's reach is 80km to 1,200km, and its power consumption is 24-26W, well within the pluggable's maximum power profile of 32W.

The power consumption of the AC-100 CFP, and its main components, and the target power consumptions of the components needed for a digital CFP2. Source: Gazettabyte

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Infinera introduces flexible grid 500G super-channel ROADM

Infinera has unveiled a flexible grid, reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer (ROADM) to complement its DTN-X optical networking platform.

An example showing the impact of a 500G super-channel ROADM node. Source: Infinera

"The FlexROADM will open up the Tier-1 operators in a way Infinera has not been able to do before," says Dana Cooperson, vice president, network infrastructure at market research firm, Ovum. "The DTN-X was necessary but not sufficient; the ROADM is the last piece."

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Amplifiers come to the fore to tackle agile network challenges

The growing sophistication of high-speed optical transmission based on 100 Gigabit-plus lightpaths and advanced ROADMs is rekindling interest in amplifier design.

Raman is a signature of the spread of 100 Gig but also the desire of being upgradable to higher bit rates

Per Hansen, II-VI

For the last decade, amplifier designers have been tasked with reducing the cost of Erbium-doped fibre amplifiers (EDFAs). "Now there is a need for new solutions that are more expensive," says Daryl Inniss, vice president and practice leader, components at market research firm, Ovum. "It is no longer just cost-cutting."

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Ericsson and Ciena collaborate on IP-over-WDM and SDN

Do company partnerships work? Ericsson and Ciena certainly think so, and provide a compelling argument for their collaboration in the areas of IP-over-WDM and software-defined networking (SDN). More such partnerships should also be expected.

Jan Häglund

Ericsson and Ciena have signed a global strategic agreement that provides Ericsson with Ciena's optical networking technology, while Ciena benefits from Ericsson's broader service provider relationships.

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ClariPhy samples a 200 Gigabit coherent DSP-ASIC

ClariPhy Communications has entered the 100 Gigabit coherent merchant chip market after announcing first samples of its LightSpeed-II devices. 

The family of coherent digital signal processing ASICs (DSP-ASICs) is manufactured using a 28nm CMOS process. "We believe it is the first 28nm standard product, and leaps ahead of the current generation [DSP-ASIC] devices," says Paul Voois, co-founder and chief strategy officer at ClariPhy.

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Transmode adopts 100 Gigabit coherent CFPs

Transmode has detailed line cards that bring 100 Gigabit coherent CFP optical modules to its packet optical transport platforms. 

We can be quicker to market when newer DSP-based CFPs appear

Jon Baldry

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