Cable ISP Virgin MediaUK has today announced that they?ve completed the rollout of their 500Mbps+capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP)based DOCSIS/ RFoG broadband and phone network to cover 4,000 extra homes in the Gortonarea of Manchester.

As it stands today Virgin has built a network thatcovers 714,000 premises across the metropolitan region and 94,000 of those havebeen added since 2015 as part of their national Project Lightning networkexpansion, which aims to add an additional 3-4 million premises to their UKcoverage (so far they?ve completed over 1.7 million).

Other than Gorton, Virgin has also been busyworking around the Hurst, Hyde, Littleborough, Bury, Cowlishaw and Didsburyareas of Manchester.

Angeliki Stogia, City Councillor for DigitalInfrastructure, said:

?It cannot be underestimated howimportant connectivity is today as we rely more and more on digital technologyin our everyday life, education and work. So it?s fantastic to see the role outof ultra-fast broadband across the Gorton community, which will have anundeniable benefit for residents and businesses alike.?

Infinera (NASDAQ: INFN) and Italian service provider Fastweb say they have successfully demonstrated single-wavelength transmission of 500 Gbps on 180-km of Fastweb’s backbone fiber network. The high-speed network transmission trial leveraged Infinera’s Groove platform.

The trial used a live fiber route between Milan and Turin and did not require changes to the route’s amplifiers, tuning, or other elements, the partners say. Fastweb already employs the Groove disaggregated network platform, as well as the Infinera 7300 Multi-Haul Transport Platform and mTera Universal Switching Platform, in its fiber backbone. All three platforms came to Infinera through its acquisition of Coriant; Coriant added 600G capabilities to the Groove system shortly before the acquisition closed (see ?Coriant adds 600G transmission to Groove via CloudWave T”).

The trial aimed to demonstrate Fastweb’s ability to quickly scale capacity on its fiber-optic backbone, which comprises more than 650 nodes. ?Providing our customers with resilient, high-quality, and innovative solutions is in Fastweb’s DNA,” said Andrea Lasagna, CTO at Fastweb. ?As the market for high-performance long-haul transport continues to grow at an accelerated pace, a scalable and simple network approach is required to satisfy the growing demand for bandwidth. This trial confirms the outstanding performance provided by Infinera’s innovative solution, which enables us to deliver a best-in-class customer experience at the highest transmission speeds.”

wHEN

Security & Policing 2019 will take place from Tuesday 5 ? Thursday 7 March 2019.
Join us at Stand D22A
Address: Show Centre, ETPS Rd, Farnborough GU14 6AZ
Telephone: 0207 091 7835

OPENING TIMES

• Tuesday 5 March ? 09:00-16:30
• Wednesday 6 March ? 09:00-16:30
• Thursday 7 March ? 09:00-15:00
  Please note there is no general admittance to Security & Policing, all visitors are subject to Home Office approval

Virgin Media trials10G-EPON with ARRIS

February 11, 2019

Author Stephen Hardy
Editorial Director and Associate Publisher

UK cable operator Virgin Media and communications technology provider ARRIS say they have launched a field trial of 10G-EPON in Cambridgeshire. The collaborators say they can supply 8 Gbps downstream to 50 residences using the 10G-EPON technology.

The trial leverages DOCSIS Provisioning of EPON (DPoE) enabled 10G-EPON modules installed in an ARRIS E6000 Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS). The CMTS,which can reside in a cable system head end or hub, helps supply services to customers over hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) or, in this case, all-fiber networks. ARRIS says it enabled service delivery 12 weeks after initial installation and using Virgin Media’s existing infrastructure. This infrastructure included RF over glass (RFoG) technology, a point-to-point fiber to the premises (FTTP) approach that leverages in-place DOCSIS-enabled network hardware (see “SCTE to develop RF over Glass standards”).

Virgin Media brought in Sam Knows, the official speed test provider of UK telecom regulatory authority Ofcom, to confirm the download and upload speeds trial participants experience. A results screen visible in a video that describes the trial indicates that the upstream and downstream rates aren’t symmetrical; the typical upstream rate has not been revealed.

In the same video, Ben Thomas, head of broadband and value added services at Virgin Media, says that the service provider does not have plans to roll out such high-speed broadband services in the near future.

Those in the biometrics industry know intuitively that facial recognition has advanced by leaps and bounds in recent years, but a new report from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) puts numbers to just how far the state of the art has come.

NIST, which is the world’s premier agency in the evaluation of biometric technologies against defined standards, has just published its latest report, ?NIST Interagency Report(NISTIR) 8238, Ongoing Facial Recognition Vendor Test (FRVT)”; and the organization has compared the data therein to previous reports, finding significant jumps in accuracy and other metrics.

Assessing 127 software algorithms from 39 providers ? ?the bulk of the industry”, the organization said in a statement ? NIST found that on average,between 2014 and 2018, facial recognition technology ?got 20 times better at searching a database to find a matching photograph”. Other metrics further elaborate the progress. In 2010, five percent of algorithms failed to match a face in a given database. This year, only 0.2 percent failed in their searches.

That having been said, ?[t]here remains a very wide spread of capability across the industry,” commented NIST computer scientist Patrick Grother. But Grother attributed much of the recent advancement to machine learning technology, and in particular to systems based on convolutional neural networks, a machine learning structure inspired by biological processes. ?About 25 developers have algorithms that outperform the most accurate one we reported in 2014,” thanks to the emergence of these technology, Grother suggested.

NIST’s full report, and those from previous years, are available from the organization’s website.

December 2018 ? by Alex Perala

Evolutionof IXP Architectures in an Era of Open Networking Innovation

December 2018

ByHarald Bock, Infinera

Internet exchange points (IXPs) play a key role in theinternet ecosystem. Worldwide, there are more than 400 IXPs in over 100countries, the largest of which carry peak data rates of almost 10 Tbps andconnect hundreds of networks. IXPs offer a neutral shared switching fabricwhere clients can exchange traffic with one another once they have establishedpeering connections. This means that the client value of an IXP increases withthe number of clients connected to it.

Simply speaking, an internet exchange pointcan be regarded as a big Layer 2 (L2) switch. Each client network connecting tothe IXP connects one or more of its routers to this switch via Ethernetinterfaces. Routers from different networks can establish peering sessions byexchanging routing information via Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) and then sendtraffic across the Ethernet switch, which is transparent to this process.Please refer to Figure 1 for different peering methods.

IXPs allow operators to interconnect nclient networks locally across their switch fabrics. Connectivity then scaleswith n (e.g., one 100-Gbps connection from each network to the switchfabric) rather than scaling with n? connections, as is the case whenindependent direct peering is used (e.g., one 10-Gbps connection to each of npeering partners). This leads to a flatter internet, improves bandwidthutilization, and reduces the cost and latency of interconnections, including indata center interconnect (DCI) applications. To avoid the cumbersome setup ofbilateral peering sessions, most IXPs today operate route servers, whichsimplify peering by allowing IXP clients to peer with other networks via asingle (multilateral) BGP session to a route server.

[Native Advertisement] IXPs can be grouped into not-for-profit (e.g.,industry associations, academic institutions, government agencies) andfor-profit organizations. Their business models depend on regulation and otherfactors. Many European IXPs are not-for-profit organizations that rely, forexample, on membership fees. In the U.S. most IXPs are for-profitorganizations. It is important to understand that all IXP operators, whilestill providing public neutral peering services, may also provide commercialvalue-added services (VAS), such as security, access to cloud services,transport services, synchronization, caching, etc.

Over the past few years, content deliverynetworks (CDNs) have been major contributors to the traffic growth of IXPs.IXPs are critical infrastructure for CDNs to keep their transport costs undercontrol. This is facilitated by putting content caches into the same locationsas IXPs put their access switches. Often these locations are neutral colocation(colo) data centers (DCs).

Current IXP infrastructure

While early IXPs in the 1990s were based onFiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) or Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM),today the standard interconnectivity service is based on Ethernet, as mentionedabove. The L2 IXP switch fabric itself has also evolved from simple Ethernetswitches in just one location, connected via a standard local area network, to InternetProtocol/Multiprotocol Label Switching (IP/MPLS) switches distributed overmultiple sites, which require wide area network (WAN) connectivity over opticalfiber. Utilizing an IP/MPLS switch fabric for the distributed L2 switchingfunction provides better scalability and is more suitable for WAN connectivity.The distribution of the IXP switch fabric over several locations facilitatesaccess for clients and improves resiliency. In most cases, these locations arein metro or regional areas, but extending the IXP fabric to a national orglobal scale is also possible.

Consequently, with more locations andincreasing bandwidth, a flexible and scalable high-performance connectivitynetwork becomes an important strategic asset for IXP operators. For larger IXPs,today?s locations are connected via high-capacity DWDM WAN links ? typically nx 100 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) today, with higher data rates like n x400GbE in preparation. Client routers connect to the IXP switch fabric withEthernet interfaces of 1/10/100GbE today and potentially 25GbE and 50GbE in thefuture.

Figure 2 shows a high-level standard IP/MPLSarchitecture of a distributed IXP. Client routers connect to IXP provider edge(PE) routers at different sites (e.g., in colo DCs) via standard1/10/100GbE interfaces. (Note: Depending on the business model, the colocationservices may be provided by the IXP as VAS or may be provided by an independentcolo DC provider.) The PE routers are connected to core provider (P) routerswith high-capacity links, often n x 100GbE DWDM. Detailed architecturesare highly customer specific and depend on many factors such as availabilityand ownership of optical fiber, topology, bandwidth, resiliency and latencyrequirements, etc.

It should be noted that althoughIP/MPLS-based L2 switch fabrics are mainly used today, there are alternativeapproaches such as Virtual Extensible Local Area Network (VXLAN) available thatare based on more recent DC connectivity methods. It may well be that thesemethods, which do not change the basic architecture topology, will be deployedmore often in the future.

It may also be worth mentioning that toprovide better resiliency of the IXP infrastructure, especially forhigh-capacity interfaces such as 100GbE, photonic cross-connects (PXCs) areincreasingly being used between client and PE routers. In case of failure orscheduled maintenance, the PXC can switch over from the client router to abackup PE router.

Innovation at IXPs: Disaggregation, SDN, NFV, network automation

Disaggregation, software-defined networking(SDN), network function virtualization (NFV), and network automation, asalready applied in the big ICPs? DC-centric networks, are now increasingly alsobeing used in telco networks and IXPs. As IXP networks are typically morelocalized than telco networks and must cope with less legacy infrastructure andservices, they may be an ideal place to introduce new networking concepts.

Disaggregation and openness speed innovation.Disaggregation, when applied to the IXP router and transport infrastructure,provides horizontal scalability, ensuring that even unexpected growth can beeasily handled without the need for pre-planning of large chassis-based systemcapacity or forklift upgrades.

On top of that, in a disaggregated network,innovation can be driven very efficiently, as network functions are decoupledfrom each other and can evolve at their own speeds. This enables IXPs to introduceadditional steps in interface capacity (e.g., 400GbE or 1 Terabit Ethernet) aswell as single-chip switching capacities (12.8T, 25T, 50T per chip) andfunctionalities (e.g., programming protocol-independent packet processors [P4])seamlessly. At the same time, the underlying electronic and photonicintegration will drastically reduce power consumption and space requirements aswell as the number of cables to be installed.

Openness breaks the dependency on a singlevendor and enables network operators to leverage innovation from the wholeindustry, not just from a single supplier.

Disaggregating the DWDM layer: Open line system

The underlying optical layer combines thelatest optical innovation and end-to-end physical layer automation with an opennetworking approach that seamlessly ties into a Transport SDN control layer.There are a number of industry forums and associations driving the vision ofopen application programming interfaces (APIs) and interworking further,including the Telecom Infra Project?s(TIP?s) Open Optical & Packet Transport project group, which is leading thealignment on information models, and the Open ROADM (reconfigurableoptical add/drop multiplexer) Multi-Source Agreement project, as well as other standardsdevelopment organizations such as the International Telecommunication Union?sTelecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T), which is working to ensurephysical layer interworking.

In addition, advances in open opticaltransport system architectures are creating ultra-dense, ultra-efficient IXPapplications, including innovative 1 rack unit (1RU) modular open transportplatforms for cloud and data center networks that can be equipped as muxponderterminal systems and as open line system (OLS) optical layer platforms.Purpose-built for interconnectivity applications, these disaggregated platformsoffer high density, flexibility, and low power consumption. Designed to meetthe scalability requirements of network operators now and into the future, innovationsin OLSs include a pay-as-you-grow disaggregated approach that enables thelowest startup costs, reduced equipment sparing costs, and cost-effectivescalability.

Many IXPs are deploying open opticaltransport technology to scale capacity while reducing cost, floor space, andpower consumption. Recent examples include the Moscow Internet Exchange(MS-IX), France-IX, Swiss-IX, ESpanix, Berlin Commercial Internet Exchange(BCIX), and the Stockholm Internet eXchange(STHIX).

Disaggregating the Router/Switch: WhiteBoxes, Hardware-independent NOS, SDN, and VNFs

Router disaggregation is well establishedinside DCs. Instead of using large chassis-based routers, highly scalableleaf-spine switch fabrics are being built with white box L2/L3 switches andcontrolled by SDN. Using white boxes together with a hardware-independent andconfigurable network operating system (NOS) provides greater flexibility and enablesIXP operators to select only those features that they really need.

Carrier-class disaggregated router/switchwhite boxes are distinguished by capabilities that include environmentalhardening, enhanced synchronization, and high-availability features, withcarrier-class NOSs that are hardware independent. To ensure the resiliencyrequired, these platforms rely on proven and scalable IP/MPLS softwarecapabilities and support for IP/MPLS and segment routing as well as datacenter-oriented protocols such as VXLAN and Ethernet Virtual Private Network(EVPN). Additional services such as security services that in the past may haverequired dedicated modules in the router chassis or standalone devices can besupported with third-party virtual network functions (VNFs) hosted on the whiteboxes or on standard x86 servers.

Packet switching functionality can beincreased with P4. P4 can be used to program switches to determine how theyprocess packets (i.e., define the headers and fields of the protocols that willneed to be processed). This brings flexibility to hardware, enabling additionalsupport for new protocols without waiting for new chips to be released or newversions of protocols to be specified, as with OpenFlow.

The comprehensive SDN/NFV management functionalityenables IXP operators to introduce advanced features such as pay-per-use,sophisticated traffic engineering, or advanced blackholing for distributeddenial of service (DDOS) mitigation.

Conclusion

IXPs are an integral and important part ofthe internet ecosystem. They provide a way for various networks to exchangetraffic locally, resulting in a flatter and faster internet. To staycompetitive, IXPs are also undergoing a transition from standard Ethernet/IPnetworks to cloud technologies, such as leaf-spine switching fabrics andDCI-style optical connectivity to reduce total cost of ownership, increaseautomation, and facilitate the offering of VAS in addition to basic peeringservices.

Harald Bock is vice president, network and technology strategy,at Infinera.

Infinera Redefines Operational Speed and Simplicity for Cable Operatorswith New Fiber-deep Access Solution

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Oct. 22, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE)– Infinera, provider of Intelligent Transport Networks,announced today the availability of an innovative packet-optical aggregationand transport solution purpose-built to accelerate and simplify the delivery ofhigh-speed, low-latency services in access networks at the lowest total cost ofownership. The new 1.6 terabit High-Density Ethernet Aggregator (HDEA) enablesnetwork operators to cost-efficiently address key operational and servicedeployment challenges in fiber-deep access environments, including DistributedAccess Architectures (DAA) in cable networks and 5G radio access network (RAN)transport infrastructure.

?The rapid pace of migration from 1G to 10Gconnectivity in access networks will create economic and operational challengesfor operators, and nowhere is this more evident than in the move to DAA withincable access networks,? said Heidi Adams, Senior Research Director, IP &Optical Networks, IHS-Markit. ?Space constraints, power efficiency, and cablemanagement are all key concerns when introducing large-scale aggregation intohub-site locations. Infinera?s new HDEA platform tackles these challengeshead-on.?

The Infinera HDEA, part of the Infinera XTM Series,is an access-optimized packet-optical aggregator that seamlessly integratesoptical transport capabilities, Metro Ethernet Forum Carrier Ethernet2.0-compliant Layer 2 Ethernet functionality and open, programmable softwarecontrol, including direct access via OpenFlow. Designed to support 1.6 terabitsof capacity in an ultra-compact 1 rack unit (1RU) chassis, the HDEA solution isoptimized for a range of access network applications, including ultra-highdensity 10G aggregation in DAA networks, 4G/5G mobile backhaul andhigh-capacity business Ethernet.

Key customer benefits include:

• Lowest total cost of ownership: The HDEA increases 10G density twofold and lowers power consumption by approximately half over comparable solutions, dramatically reducing operational expenses and capital expenses as access networks scale.
  
• Simplified mass subscriber connectivity: The HDEA accelerates and simplifies commissioning of high capacity such as 10G services with Infinera?s Auto-Lambda zero-touch provisioning capabilities, while mitigating deployment-impacting fiber management complexities by reducing fibers by a factor of 20 times with a unique sliding-mount design.
  
• Assured investment for 4G/5G infrastructure: The HDEA provides the high capacity and superior timing essential for a high-quality 4G and 5G mobile experience as more small cells are deployed.

?When we demonstrate to our customers how the HDEAenables the installation and commissioning of up to 1.6 terabits ofpacket-optical aggregation in 1RU in less than 10 minutes, the lights go on ina big way,? said Glenn Laxdal, Infinera Senior Vice President and GeneralManager, Product Management. ?This innovative new packet-optical accessoffering reinforces our commitment to extending the reach of our networkingsolutions and driving unprecedented value for our customers.?

Infinera product and technology experts will be atthe SCTE?ISBE Cable-Tec Expo? this week in booth 2905. Visit us to learnmore about Infinera?s comprehensive solutions for cable operators. Customerscan contact Infinerato arrange for a demonstration of our industry-leading intelligent transportsolutions at the show, including our newly introduced HDEA solution and thelatest advances in Infinera Auto-Lambda technology.

New photonic devices are said to be poised to enable the next leap in deep space exploration

Optical Society of America

New directed energy propulsion systems may enable the first interstellar missions,with small, robotic spacecraft exploring neighboring solar systems, accordingto experimental cosmologist Philip Lubin. He will present these and other advances at The Optical Society’s (OSA) Laser Congress, Light the Future Speaker Series, 4-8 Nov. in Boston.

Imagine a wafer-thin spacecraft powered by laser light capable of speeds greater than one quarter the speed of light?fast enough to reach the closest neighboring star to our solar system within 20 years, or something closer to home, like getting people to Mars in a month. By tapping into photonics-driven propulsion, researchers are well on their way to making this seemingly impossible science-fiction achievement a reality, said Lubin,who is a professor of physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

The research results Lubin will describe stem from NASA’s Starlight and Breakthrough Starshot programs, both of which support advanced research in photonics. Lubin is director of the Starlight program.

“Photonics,the production and manipulation of light, is already a part of our daily lives?from cellphones to computers to light-emitting-diode (LED) light bulbs to fiber optics that carry your data all over the place?even though you may not see it,” said Lubin. “You can point to practical examples of photonics in everyday life and it appears to have nothing to do with interstellar flight, but in fact it does, because it’s synergistic with the technology you need to achieve interstellar flight.”

One of the greatest challenges in validating this photonics concept as it relates to propulsion is the demonstration of the laser power required to accelerate the proposed/hypothetical spacecraft, according to Lubin.

Synthesized optics for directed energy propulsion systems

Large directed energy systems are not built using a single gigantic laser, but instead rely on beam combining, which involves the use of many very modest power laser amplifiers.

“Our system leverages an established typology called ‘Master Oscillator Power Amplifier’ design,” said Lubin. “It’s a distributed system so each laser amplifier “building block” is between 10 and 1000 Watts. You can hold it in your hand. Instead of building a gigantic laser, you combine a lot of small little laser amplifiers that, when combined, form an extremely powerful and revolutionary system.”

Lubin suggests an analogy with supercomputers, which are built using a large number of central processing units (CPUs). “By coherently combining billions of low poser laser power amplifiers?similar to the same power of a typical modern household LED?you suddenly have this amazingly capable directed energy system,” he said.

Interstellar probes powered via laser light

Directed energy systems may enable interstellar probes as part of human exploration in the not-too-distant future, and they are at the heart of the NASA Starlight program and the Breakthrough Star shot Initiative to enable humanity’s first interstellar missions. The same core technology has many other applications,such as rapid interplanetary travel for high mass missions, including those carrying people; planetary defense; and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI).

“Our primary focus currently is on very small robotic spacecraft. They won’t carry humans on board?it’s not the goal for the interstellar portion of our program,” said Lubin. “If humanity wants to explore other worlds outside our solar system, there are no other physically obtainable propulsion options for doing this?with two exceptions.

“One way would be if we could master a technological approach known as anti matter annihilation engines, which are theoretical propulsion systems that generate thrust based on energy liberated by interactions at the level of subatomic particles. But we don’t currently have a way to do that,” Lubin said,”and it involves a number of complexities we do not have a current path to solving.

“The other option is directed energy or photonic propulsion, which is the one we’refocusing on because it appears to be feasible,” Lubin said. In one variant, directed energy propulsion is similar to using the force of water from a garden hose to push a ball forward. Miniscule interstellar spacecraft(typically less than a kilogram and some that are spacecraft on a wafer) can be propelled and steered via laser light, he said.

“Miniaturizing spacecraft isn’t required for all of the mission scenarios we’re considering,but the lower the mass of the spacecraft the faster you can go,” Lubin said. “This system scales in different ways than ordinary mass ejection propulsion.”

So far,all of the rockets that have blasted off from Earth are based on chemical propulsion systems whose basic designs date back to World War II. They are just barely able to make it off the surface of the Earth and into orbit. Making a bigger rocket doesn’t make it go faster, it just allows the rocket to carry more mass. Photonic propulsion works differently, because the less dense the pay load the faster you go. So you want to lower the mass to go faster.

Like driving in a rain storm?in space

One significant challenge for relativistic spacecraft is radiation hardening,because “when we begin to achieve speeds close to the speed of light, the particles in interstellar space, protons in particular, that you plow into?ignore the dust grains for the moment?are the primary radiation source,” said Lubin. “Space isn’t empty; it has roughly one proton and one electron per cubic centimeter, as well as a smattering of helium and other atoms.”

Smashing into those particles can be significant at high speeds because while they maybe traveling slowly within their own frame of reference, for a fast-moving spacecraft they make for high-speed impacts.

“When you hit them it’s like driving in a rainstorm. Even if the rain is coming down straight from the sky your windshield gets plastered because you’re going fast?and it’s quite a serious effect for us,” Lubin said. “We get enormous radiation loads on the leading edge as the front gets just absolutely clobbered, whereas the rest of the spacecraft that is not the forward edge and facing in different directions doesn’t get hit much at all. It’s an interesting and unique problem, and we’re working on what happens when you plow through them.”

In terms of a time frame for putting directed energy propulsion technology to work,”We’re producing laboratory demos of each part of the system,” said Lubin. “Full capability is more than 20 years away, although demonstration missions are feasible within a decade.”

Getting to Mars quickly

The same core photonics technology in the NASA Starlight program also allows for extremely rapid interplanetary missions, including missions to Mars that could transport people in trips as short as one month. This would dramatically reduce the dangers to humans on the long journey to the red planet and is currently being studied as one option.

Trillion Planet Survey

Photonics advances also mean that we can now leave a light on for extraterrestrial intelligence within the universe if we want to be found?in case there is other intelligent life that also wants to know the answer to the question, “are we alone”?

Lubin’s students explore this concept in their “Trillion Planet Survey”experiment. This experiment is now actively searching the nearby galaxy Andromeda, which has about a trillion planets, and other galaxies as well as ours for signals of light.

Combining Lubin’s research with his students’ experiment, there are opportunities for signaling life. When technological advances allow for the demonstration of lasers powerful enough to propel the tiny spacecraft, these lasers could also be used to shine a beacon towards the Andromeda Galaxy in hopes that any life form there could discover and detect that source of the light in their sky.

The reverse case is more interesting. Perhaps another civilization exists with similar capability to what we are now developing in photonics. They may realize, as we do, that photonics is an extremely efficient means of being detected across vast distances far outside our galaxy. If there is an extraterrestrial civilization that is broadcasting their presence via optical beams,like those proposed for photonic propulsion, they are candidates to be detected by a large scale optical survey such as the Lubin team’s Trillion Planet Survey.

“If the transmission wavelength of an extraterrestrial beam is detectable, and has been on long enough, we should be able to detect the signal from a source anywhere within our galaxy or from nearby galaxies with relatively small telescopes on Earth even if neither ‘party’ knows the other exists and doesn’t know ‘where to point,'” Lubin said. This “blind-blind” scenario is key to the “Search for Directed Intelligence” as Lubin calls this strategy.

Planetarydefense

Perhaps one of the most intriguing uses for photonics?closer to home?is to tap it to help defend Earth from external threats such as hits from asteroids and comets.

The same system the researchers are starting to develop for propulsion can be used for planetary defense by focusing the beam onto the asteroid or comet. This causes damage to the surface, and as portions of the surface are ejected during the reaction with the laser light, momentum would push the debris one way and the asteroid or comet in the opposite direction. Thus, little by little, it will deflect the threat, Lubin said.

“The long-term implications for humanity are quite important,” he added.”While most asteroid threats are not existential threats, they can be quite dangerous as we saw in Chelyabinsk, Russia in 2013 and in Tunguska,Russia in 1908. Sadly, the dinosaurs lacked photonics to prevent their demise.Perhaps we will be wiser.”

Providedby: Optical Societyof America

Industry News

A Photonics Megamerger

Stewart Wills

On 9 November, the global materialsand opto electronics company II-VI Inc.announced that it planned to acquire the optical-technology and communicationsfirm Finisar, in a cash-and-stocktransaction valued at some US$3.2 billion. The deal, expected to be completedin the middle of calendar 2019, would create what could be the world?s largestpublicly traded company involved principally in photonic technologies, withrevenues amounting to some US$2.5 billion.

In stating the rationale for thegiant merger, II-VI?s president and CEO, Vincent Mattera Jr., ina press release accompanying the announcement, cited the growth potentialof ?disruptive mega trends? driven by laser and materials innovation, in sectorssuch as communications, consumer electronics and the automotive business. AndFinisar?s CEO, Michael Hurlston, argued that the business combination withII-VI would ?enhance our ability to hit market windows that won?t stay open forlong.?

Apple at the core?

The financial press, perhaps notsurprisingly, has focused on the relationship between both firms and AppleInc., and in particular on the latter?s drive to trick out its iPhone X productline with 3-D sensing capabilities driven by vertical-cavity surface-emittinglasers (VCSELs).

Last year, for example, Apple pumpedsome US$390 million into an investment that supported Finisar?s acquisition ofa large semiconductor fab to boost VCSEL production. And II-VI has also beenbuilding its capabilities in VCSELs, not only for their potential in next-gensmartphones but also for their application in the market for autonomous-vehiclelidar.

II-VI and Finisar believe that puttingtogether their technology platforms in GaAs and InP compound semiconductorlaser design and fabrication will enable the combined entity to bring theselaser products to market faster?providing them with a competitive leg up versusother companies such as Lumentum, also a big VCSEL supplier to Apple.

Markets andsynergies

Beyond the VCSEL market, II-VI seesthe potential for the merger to add value through scale, synergies and themarrying of complementary technologies. For example, Finisar, a market leaderin optical-communications components such as transceivers and reconfigurableoptical add-drop multiplexers (ROADMs), would bring a suite of productscurrently lacking at II-VI. That could open up billions of dollars worth of newaddressable communications markets to the latter firm, particularly as 5Gtechnology gains momentum.

In a larger sense, the deal rationalealso stems from a perceived opportunity for ?deep vertical integration? acrossthe combined firms? core technology portfolios, from engineered materialsthrough complex, multi-component solutions. The breadth and integration, thefirms suggest, could open up access to a wide variety of markets. The companyalso hopes to extract around US$150 million in run-rate cost cuts from themerger, through ?procurement savings, internal supply of materials andcomponents, efficient research and development, consolidation of overlappingcosts and sales and marketing efficiencies.?

A photonics mergertrend

The large II-VI deal marks aculmination of sorts in a merger trend in optics and photonics that?s been gatheringsteam since the beginning of the decade. The advisory and consulting firmCeres, for example, identified some1,032 M&A transactions involving photonics in the year 2016 alone, withan aggregate deal value of US$114.6 billion. These included transactions rangingfrom marquee deals such as Coherent?sbillion-dollar acquisition of Rofin-Sinar to a wide variety of smalltuck-in purchases.

More recently, announcements inaddition to the II-VI/Finisar combination highlight the large deal values anddollar amounts sloshing around in the current merger pool. In March 2018, forexample, II-VI/Finisar?s competitor in the VCSEL arena, Lumentum, disclosed itsintention to acquire the optical components and modules company Oclaro forUS$1.8 billion in cash and stock. And, at the end of October 2018, MKSInstruments, a diversified provider of industrial process and productivitytechnologies, reported that it would acquire laser-maker Electro ScientificIndustries for around US$1 billion, with the deal expected to close in the 2019first quarter.

For the II-VI/Finisar deal inparticular, II-VI plans to use a combination of cash on hand and US$2 billionin new debt to pay for the merger. Under the terms of the deal, the companywould pay Finisar stockholders US$15.60 per share in cash plus 0.2218 shares ofII-VI stock per Finisar share for the purchase. That amounts to a combinedvalue of US$26 per share for Finisar?a premium of roughly 38 percent over thelatter?s closing stock price the day before the deal was announced. It wouldalso leave nearly a third of the new combined entity in the hands of Finisarinvestors.

Rocky start on WallStreet

Notwithstanding the long-termrationale articulated by the companies, the immediate response of theinvestment community to the deal was less than positive. A number ofcommentators focused on the premium that II-VI would pay for Finisar, whichlooked a bit steep to some eyes, and on the significant leverage that II-VIwould have to take on to fund the deal. Further, the acquisition still needs topass antitrust and regulatory muster in the United States, China and othercountries?not an inconsiderable factor, given that the Lumentum?Oclaro deal,announced in March, is still waiting for the nod from Chinese regulators.

As a result, in the immediateaftermath of the announcement, while Finisar shares popped up smartly in priceto reflect the potential gains from the deal premium, II-VI stock sagged nearly20 percent in value on the day of the merger announcement. And the stock fellanother 15 percent on the following Monday, as II-VI was hit with negativefallout from the news that Apple Inc. was reducing shipments of semiconductorlasers from another VCSEL supplier, Lumentum, presumably owing to weakenedsales expectations for Apple?s iPhone X products.

Clearly, it will take a while for thenear-term stock price impacts and regulatory uncertainties to sort themselvesout. One analyst, though, stressed the strong track record and positive resultsthat II-VI has posted in recent quarters?and suggested that, in the rush tosell off II-VI shares, investors ?maybe throwing out the baby with the bathwater.?

Researchersdevelop optical fibre capable of over 1 petabit per second

Boffins claim new fibre can transmit12 times as much data as existing optic fibres.

By ChrisDuckett

A coupler created by Macquarie University in Australia, combined with afibre fabricated by Hokkaido University and equipment maker Fujikura, and atransmission system developed by the National Institute of Information andCommunications Technology in Japan, has led to transmission speeds in excess of1 petabit.

The new four-core, three-mode fibre was touted as being the same width asexisting standard fibre, but was capable of 12 times the data speed. MacquarieUniversity said the fibre was less prone to damage due to its narrowerdiameter, and could be used with existing equipment.

“The world’s insatiable demand for data means that we are approachinga ‘capacity crunch’ and need to find new ways to transport ever-largervolumes,” said Dr Simon Gross of the Macquarie Photonics Research Centre.

“This technology promises a solution to the bottleneck created byexisting optical fibres. For the first time, we have created a realistic anduseable-sized fibre which is resilient and can transport huge amounts ofdata.”

Uses of the fibre would be in backhaul networks, the university said,although it pointed out that the fibre’s capacity was “12 million timesquicker than the fastest NBN connection”.

In September, NBN announced that it had doubledthe capacity on its fibre-optic transit network to 19.2Tbps per fibre link.

The upgraded capacity kicked off in Sydney between Eastern Creekand Asquith, with the 3,600km route between Darwin and Brisbane to follow inDecember — to support growth on the Sky Muster satellite service — and willthen be switched on progressively across the nation.

Earlier in the year, Japanese giant NEC teamed up with Google to work out how to use artificialintelligence to boost the spectral efficiency across the FASTER subsea cablesystem to 6 bits per second per hertz for a capacity of more than 26 terabitsper second.