Infinera(NASDAQ: INFN) has revealed partnerships with II-VI Inc. (NASDAQ: IIVI) andLumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) to advance the development of optical transceivers basedon the systems house’s XR optics technology. While the timeframe forcommercialization of such modules was not revealed initially, sources atInfinera tell Lightwave that products should be announced at some point thisyear.

XR opticstechnology made its debut at ECOC 2019 last September in Dublin. The technologyenables point-to-multipoint coherent transmission (see ?Infinera unveils XR optics single-source coherentpoint-to-multipoint transmission technology”), leveraging Infinera’sInfinite Capacity Engine and what Infinera terms ?coherent subcarrier aggregation”to enable Nyquist subcarriers or subcarrier bundles generated by a singlecoherent transmission source to be assigned to various endpoints. The approachwould significantly reduce the cost of hub-and-spoke architectures, Infinerabelieves.

As describedat the time, Infinera’s strategy is to deliver XR optics in the form ofpluggable coherent modules that could be inserted into router ports. (XR opticsmodules would need to be positioned at both ends of the coherent transmission.)The company said it would seek partners to ensure both the development of suchmodules and multiple sources of them. Infinera itself had announced previouslythat it plans to get into the pluggable module space (see ?Infinera offers Infinite Network pluggable coherent modulestrategy details”), making the company potentially one such source.

It appearsthat the collaboration could result in modules from all three partners. Whilethis conclusion wasn’t clear from the original announcements, a source atLumentum responded via an email to a Lightwave query that “Our intentionis to develop and market the XR Transceiver as a ‘Market Participant.’ Bothparties plan to jointly bring new interoperable transceivers to market based onthe Infinera DSP Device and the Lumentum TROSA.”

?Collaboratingwith Infinera leverages our deep experience in high-speed coherent componentsand pluggable modules to bring an innovative solution like XR optics tomarket,” commented Beck Mason, senior vice president and general manager ofLumentum’s Telecom Transmission Business, via Infinera’s press releaseannouncing their partnership. ?The XR optics concept aligns with our corestrategy to provide scalable and flexible coherent optical network solutionsthat enable higher speeds for next-generation transport networks.”

A sourceat Infinera wrote via email that the company and its partners would support aseries of XR optics modules in a variety of form factors and with varioustransmission rates. “Specific product announcements along with features,form factors, and implementation will be announced later this year,” thesource added.

A requestfor additional comment from II-VI remains unfulfilled. ?We are looking forwardto leveraging our highly integrated laser technology platform, coupled with ourindustry-leading optics and module expertise, together with Infinera’s coherentsubcarrier aggregation DSP and transmission expertise, to achievenext-generation coherent transceiver solutions,” said Matthias Berger, vicepresident, Coherent Optics Business Unit, at II-VI, in the press release thatannounced the company’s work with Infinera. ?This collaboration will enable usto jointly deliver digital coherent optics in small pluggable form-factors andwith low power consumption.”

StephenHardy Feb 2020

More thanhalf of the data center switch ports shipped in 2024 will operate at data ratesof 100 Gbps or greater, predicts Dell?Oro Group in a new report. The high-speedport shipments will occur within the context of an overall market in 2024 ofmore than 60 million ports shipped, the marketresearch firm states in its new Ethernet Switch ? Data Center Five YearForecast Report.

While 100-Gbpsports have shipped for some time, Dell?Oro analysts expect deliveries of400-Gbps ports will begin to ramp by the end of this year and into early 2021.These 400-Gbps ports will be followed at some point during the forecast periodby 800-Gbps ports. Ports at 400 Gbps and greater will compose more than 25% ofshipments by 2024, Dell?Oro predicts.

?800 Gbps,400 Gbps, as well as new waves of 100 Gbps will be enabled by faster SerDestechnologies and higher -speed optics,? said Sameh Boujelbene, senior directorat Dell?Oro. ?Optics will continue to play a vital role in the data centerswitch market. The availability of high-volume, low-cost optics is crucial indriving any speed transition.

?Additionally,as network speed increases beyond 800 Gbps, pluggable optics will hit densityand power issues. Hence it will become imminent for the industry to adoptalternative options such as co-packaged optics (CPO). We expect such transition tobring major disruptions to the supply chain as it requires new business andserviceability models,? Boujelbene added.

The Ethernet Switch ? Data Center Five Year Forecast Reportdescribes market trends and includes tables covering manufacturers? revenue,port shipments, and average selling price forecasts for various technologies:Modular and Fixed by Port Speed; Fixed Managed and Unmanaged by Port Speed.Port speed demand assessed in the forecast include 1 Gbps, 10 Gbps, 25 Gbps, 40Gbps, 50 Gbps, 100 Gbps, 200 Gbps, and 400 Gbps.

The company asserts the platforms are the most compact available to businesses and mobile network operators (MNOs), as well as the only to offer uncompromised line-rate 100-Gbps activation testing.

Stephen Hardy FEB 2020

BusinessWire

ADVA (FSE: ADV) has unveiled the ADVA FSP 150-XG400 Series of demarcation and aggregation platforms for the delivery of MEF 3.0-certified 100-Gbps services to the network edge. The company asserts the platforms are the most compact available to businesses and mobile network operators (MNOs), as well as the only to offer uncompromised line-rate 100-Gbps activation testing.

Available in a 1RU or 2RU form factors, the FSP 150-XG400 Series features platforms with 1, 10, 25, 40,or 100 Gigbit Ethernet interfaces. They benefit from carrier-class Ethernet OAM and Y.1564 feature sets, including the aforementioned full line-speed activation testing for services up to 100 Gbps. The platforms support network overlay capabilities for the delivery of MEF services over IP networks and provide standard SDN interfaces for direct control from open source and commercial SDN controllers.

?Our newest product family removes all the roadblocks and makes the task of transforming metro networks simple. With our FSP 150-XG400 Series delivering high-density demarcation and aggregation, businesses can expand and embrace the potential of IoT, and operators can deliver the next level of resilient SLA-based Carrier Ethernet services,” commented James Buchanan, GM, Edge Cloud, ADVA.

For mobile network applications such as radio access networks, the environmentally hardened platforms also support hardware-based timing for precise frequency and phase synchronization.

?The arrival of 5G is bringing unprecedented data speeds, but mobile applications can only be as fast as the back haul network. That’s why MNOs are now looking to upgrade their access infrastructure from 10-Gbps to 100-Gbps line rates. Our FSP 150-XG400 Series supports a smooth and extremely cost-effective migration to higher capacity while also enabling the distribution of precise network synchronization that next-generation services require,” said Stephan Rettenberger, senior vice president, marketing and investor relations, at ADVA.