I sat down with Argemiro Sousa, Chief Operations Officer for Equipment at Padtec, who shed some light on the development of this new product line and the company’s plans for the future. As Argemiro pointed out “The LightPad Max platform not only demonstrates our commitment to offer state-of-the-art innovative products, but it also furthers Padtec’s goal to extend our leadership in the Brazilian market while expanding our presence in the international market.”  This includes a focus on Latin America, the United States, Europe, and Africa.

Development Goals:  Performance, Time-to-Market, Form Factor and Robustness
As Argemiro explained, developing a new transponder is a long-cycle project and the transmission module is a key component for its success. Each year, coherent technology is improving its power consumption, advanced DSP algorithms and maximum GBaud rate. As the industry approaches the Shannon limit in fiber optics, these improvements are what make it possible to continue lowering the cost per bit in Padtec’s customers’ networks. Padtec chose Acacia’s CIM 8 because it enabled them to meet the following key requirements:

• Performance: Enabling channels with up to 140 GBaud is essential to continue reducing the cost per bit in DWDM networks. The minimum received OSNR required by the CIM 8 enabling rates of 400G and above, making these high rates feasible in ultra-long-haul and long-haul networks.
• Time to market: As an equipment manufacturer, Padtec starts developing its products before the optical modules are commercially available. “From previous experiences, we see Acacia as an aggressive player in getting to the market first and delivering cutting edge technology,” added Argemiro.
• Form factor: The CIM 8 is a module focused on performance and yet is pluggable. Since its transponder design considers two modules, Padtec can offer a pay-as-you-grow model to its customers.
• Robustness: Padtec needed a module that was highly reliable and had low rates of defect and they knew from experience that this was an Acacia strength.

Disaggregated Design Drives Cost Effectiveness in New LightPad Max Platform
Padtec’s goal with the LightPad Max was to repeat the success of its TM800G in Latin America by entering the Terabit era with a very competitive product that lowers total cost of ownership. Designed to optimize density and legacy compatibility, each line interface has 6 associated client interfaces capable of working both with 400GbE based on QSFP-DD and 100GbE QSFP-28 legacy interfaces, which are still prevalent in Padtec’s customers’ routers and switches.

One Product Family Spanning Multiple Markets
Targeting medium, long and ultra-long distances, the LightPad Max platform not only delivers scalability and cost effectiveness, but its disaggregated design also reduces space on customers’ infrastructure. And as a bonus, the standalone form factor makes the product more attractive to Alien Wavelength scenarios and the architecture is aligned to SDN technological trends.

Since the LightPad Max is a programmable transponder, operators can configure it with different rates and operational modes according to its needs. “This feature has great potential for the product to adapt to several network characteristics,” claimed Argemiro. “For instance, LightPad Max will make it possible to reach long haul and ultra long haul distances with 400G line rate, as well as higher rates of 1T or above in short distances such as data center interconnect scenarios.”

Padtec and Acacia’s Long-Standing Partnership
With the successful launch of the first LightPad Max family members, Padtec also plans to release future versions with advanced functionalities to be delivered by firmware updates throughout 2024 and 2025. The company already has agreements with some of its main customers to deploy in their networks.

At Acacia, we could not be more thrilled to see Padtec succeed on a global scale. We are also extremely proud of our long-term partnership, which dates back to 2016 when Padtec launched its 200G line cards based on Acacia’s CFP2-DCO.  Recently, these same line cards were adapted and qualified to use Acacia’s new generation 400G CPF2-DCO, based on the Greylock DSP.

Padtec was an early adopter of Acacia’s AC1200 module with its TM800G and TM1200G products, which Padtec has sold thousands of units of since 2020.  And we can’t forget our 400G pluggable family – the fastest growing coherent ramp-up of all time.  Padtec launched a disaggregated TMD400G standalone offering using Acacia’s 400G QSFP-DD OpenZR+ in 2023.

Lighting up the Future with Padtec Innovation and Customer Loyalty
Padtec ended 2023 with net revenue of R$ 368 million (US $70 million) which represented record gross profit and distribution of dividends. It was also the year the company saw a significant increase in its customer loyalty index, measured by survey based on the Net Promoter Score (NPS) methodology. Padtec achieved a NPS index of +77, a result that places it in the “Excellence zone.” This was a significant jump compared to 2022, when the company’s NPS was +55, and the highest historical level since the survey began in 2017.

As Argemiro explained, “The NPS survey showed that we are on the right path, by reinforcing our position of commitment to the success of our customers and investing increasingly in the technological evolution of our solutions and in expanding our service portfolio. The flexibility to meet customer needs, both from a commercial point of view and in the offering of products and services, is an important differentiator for Padtec that was recognized in this research. We are constantly seeking ways to expand and enhance our services, and as a result, we aim to serve our customers better with each passing day.”

Customer loyalty and technological innovation are clearly what drives Padtec day in and day out.  On behalf of the entire Acacia team, we look forward to seeing what the company achieves in the future and are excited to continue our trusted partnership to help them grow and succeed.

We sat down with PacketLight’s CEO, Koby Reshef, to find out the secret behind their success and discuss their newest product – a 400G per wavelength muxponder. He began by highlighting some of the key differentiators that have enabled PacketLight to become a leader in the industry today.

• Quality – Reshef says this is paramount to everything they do. “We always need to excel, and we do this through our ongoing commitment to quality and service.”
• Total Solutions – While other companies offer parts of the total solution, PacketLight has always focused on providing a complete system solution that includes the whole optical layer in one box. “With our products, customers get the key optical network elements needed for their transport solution, such as amplifiers, mux/demux and optical switch devices, as well as optional Layer-1 encryption functionality . These are all integrated and optimized in our 1U system and managed by PacketLight LightWatch NMS” said Reshef.
• Innovation – Being first-to-market with new innovations has always been important to PacketLight. That means getting access to leading edge technologies from companies such as Acacia so that PacketLight’s customers can be on the cutting edge of innovation. According to Reshef “PacketLight partnered with Acacia, who’s silicon photonics and DSP technology are mature and have industry leading performance and low power consumption.”

PacketLight’s New 400G Muxponder Lives up to its Reputation
In early February 2021, PacketLight announced its 400G per wavelength muxponders and once again the company delivered on innovation, quality, and total solution. The muxponders feature Acacia’s recently announced 400G pluggable coherent modules in both CFP2 and QSFP-DD form factors and are designed to speed implementation of new services or quickly and affordably increase network capacity for DCI, metro, and long-haul applications.

Image courtesy of PacketLight: PL-4000M 400G Muxponder

PacketLight’s PL-4000M 1U modular device delivers 400G capacity over a single wavelength cost-effectively, by aggregating any mix of 10/25/100GbE, 16/32G FC, and OTU2/2e/4 services into one 400G coherent uplink. Being able to transmit everything over a single wavelength reduces the total transport solution costs because it takes up minimal rack space and lowers the power consumption per transmitted bit. The device also offers high levels of security with embedded Layer-1 GCM-AES-256 optical encryption using elliptic curve Diffie-Hellman key exchange.

PacketLight’s PL-4000M provides full demarcation between the service and the OTN/DWDM uplink and offers complete interoperability with third-party switches and routers. The product delivers full visibility and performance monitoring of both the line OTN and service interfaces. It uses globally adopted, standards-based technology, which ensures an extended lifespan, eliminating vendor lock in, reducing long-term total cost of ownership (TCO), and speeding ROI. All optical modules are replaceable and pluggable from the front panel, which simplifies growth and maintenance. The PL-4000M also supports pluggable fan units and dual redundant hot-pluggable AC/DC power supply units.

An Early Adopter of 400G Pluggables
PacketLight is a long-term Acacia customer and it was this partnership that provided them access to the newest 400G pluggable technology used in its PL-4000M.  “We always try to be first in the market with new technology, and we are proud to be the first systems vendor to put a 400G pluggable coherent module to use,” said Reshef.  “We owe that to Acacia.”

Reshef believes 400G pluggables represent a key architectural change to the future of networking. “Because these modules can be plugged to the front panel, compared to the older bulky models used in today’s solutions, they are easier to maintain and you can grow as your capacity grows by adding more pluggable modules,” he said. “They also consume a third of the power compared to previous solutions, and are standards based so customers have no interoperability issues.”

Reshef sees a wide variety of applications for the PL-4000M including finance entities such as banking and insurance, utilities, and government entities. “These applications all need to support a mix of services such as Ethernet and Fibre Channel at different rates, running over the same fiber and they also need encryption which is supported by the Acacia module,” said Reshef.  As he explained, PacketLight’s encryption solution is certified and compliant with the leading standards. “Increasing the trust our customers have in the security of their network,” he stated.

Point-to-point Over Dark Fiber

One application example is an Alien wavelength over a ROADM/OTN network.  Alien wavelengths enable to drive more capacity over existing OTN/DWDM network infrastructure. The solution enables network providers to increase existing network capacity and offer additional private wavelength services such as encryption, without replacing existing infrastructure. This eliminates the need for large investments in infrastructure, as the wavelength is added to the network as needed, with clear ROI.

PacketLight Alien Wavelength ROADM/OTN Solution

PacketLight provides its customers with a solution designed to fit their requirements and applications. “For example, a customer that requires performance with encryption for a long-haul application, will need the CFP2 module,” said Reshef. “A customer that needs a short distance solution, will use the ZR+ module.”

The Future Looks Bright for PacketLight
PacketLight expects its PL-4000M to start shipping in May 2021 after going through its standard quality assurance and testing procedures. The PL-4000M will join the company’s portfolio of WDM and OTN products that support any mix of data, storage and video services such as 10/25/40/100Gb Ethernet and 4/8/10/16/32G FC over dark fiber, WDM and OTN.

According to Reshef, all of PacketLight’s devices are compact and simple to install, deploy and manage, using PacketLight’s NMS for the whole deployment lifecycle. In fact, PacketLight put together this short video below for their website showing how easy it is for a customer to work with them to build a DWDM network. 5 simple steps are all it takes between a customer and a working link.

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On behalf of the Acacia team, we wish PacketLight continued success and look forward to helping them continue their legacy of quality, complete solutions and technology innovation.

Padtec Optical Communications
We recently had the opportunity to speak with Roberto Nakamura, Director of Technology at Padtec, to discuss the company’s LightPad platform in more detail and how they leverage Acacia products. According to Roberto, Padtec started working with Acacia three years ago, when it selected a variant of an Acacia’s module for an ultra-long-haul application supporting up to 5,000 kilometers. “The Acacia modules are very advanced and have enabled Padtec to deliver competitive products,” said Roberto. “This has enabled Padtec to become stronger in the market.”

Today, Padtec is the first and largest Latin American manufacturer of optical networking equipment, headquartered in Sao Paulo, Brazil, is growing its sales in Latin America and aiming at the US market in the future. Roberto says having access to advanced coherent technology has enabled Padtec to, not only, go after new markets, but to also secure new customers in its existing markets.

Roberto says that Padtec sees Acacia as a strategic partner. “Acacia’s technologies and advanced DSPs are very important to our company,” he said. “We’ve developed five line cards using Acacia coherent technology, including 100G, 200G, 400G and 600G.”

About the LightPad i6400G Platform

Image 1:  The Padtec LightPad i6400G Platform

The LightPad i6400G platform is a high-capacity multi-service optical transport solution based on DWDM. Built with an extremely flexible and modular architecture, the capacity of the platform can be expanded without service interruption until 128 channels at 10G, 40G or 100G, transmitting up to 12.8T on a single pair of fibers.  The new products that can use Acacia’s technology increases the transmission capacity of the platform to 38.4T on a fiber pair.

With support for terrestrial and submarine applications, ultra-long-haul, long-haul metro and corporate access networks, and DCI, the LightPad i6400G platform incorporates: DWDM, OTN, wavelength switching, optical amplification (EDF, distributed Raman and remote pump), optical and OTN protection switching. The platform also includes a network management system with SDN functionalities.

In line with international technology trends, Padtec has already deployed in some important customers networks its 1200G Muxponder, which allows the aggregation of client protocols of different types and granularities for up to two 600G optical channels using Acacia’s technology. Adapted to current market demands, the Padtec 1200G Muxponder is only 300 mm deep and 1RU high.

Image 2:  The Padtec 1200G Muxponder

Padtec’s wish for Acacia
Roberto had some kind words to share on our continued partnership. “I wish Acacia continued innovation, filled with new technology and products that help customers such as Padtec be successful in the market.”

On behalf of the entire team at Acacia, we thank you Padtec for trusting us to provide you with the coherent optical technologies you need to be successful. Thank you for being such a valued customer of Acacia’s for many years. We look forward to working with you in the future as well.

About Padtec
Padtec is a global manufacturer and solutions provider of turnkey optical solutions. The company offers products that span from corporate access, data center interconnection to long-haul terrestrial backbone.
Website:  https://www.padtec.com.br/en/

Figure 1: ADVA FSP 3000 TeraFlex terminal

According to ADVA, “By empowering communication service providers (CSPs) to boost capacity without major upgrades to the optical line system (OLS), the enhanced technology addresses the urgent need for more bandwidth despite significant space and cost constraints. The ADVA FSP 3000 TeraFlex is able to maximize bandwidth for any infrastructure using new fractional QAM capabilities. These support ultra-flexible bandwidth modulation for optimal performance across brownfield and subsea networks of all distances.”

Eric Fisher, Acacia’s Vice President of Global Sales, also commented on the announcement. “The ADVA FSP 3000 TeraFlex leverages Acacia’s AC1200 module, based on our Pico coherent DSP ASIC, to deliver a flexible transmission solution that was designed to address a wide range of multi-haul applications by leveraging 3D shaping features, including fractional QAM modulation and adaptive baud rate capabilities. For CSPs, we believe that translates into enhanced performance, as well as improved network and port efficiency, which helps to enable capex and opex savings. We are excited about the opportunity to collaborate with the ADVA team on the FSP 3000 TeraFlex and look forward to helping them to support CSPs with a differentiated solution.”

Figure 2: Acacia AC1200 coherent module based on the Pico DSP ASIC

According to ADVA, its FSP 3000 TeraFlex is a 1RU platform that enables super channels of up to 1200Gbit/s and a total capacity of 7.2Tbit/s. Its ultra-compact footprint and open API design offer unbeatable density and interoperability. And, with its new capabilities, it takes flexibility to a new level. According to ADVA, its FSP 3000 TeraFlex now optimizes all optical paths over every distance, ensuring the lowest cost per bit for any network. It achieves this through fractional QAM modulation, which switches between lower and higher schemes for maximum spectral efficiency, significantly boosting capacity or extending the reach of installed legacy infrastructure. ADVA believes this transforms existing carrier networks, with those designed for 10Gbit/s channels able to transport 30 times more traffic and outperforming upgrades based on 200Gbit/s by 50%.

A big thank you to ADVA for the opportunity to work together on the FSP 3000 TeraFlex. We are very pleased when our customers are successful and we look forward to seeing the great things you accomplish in the future.