Today, Acacia, now part of Cisco, is adding to its award-winning, comprehensive portfolio of 400G coherent pluggable solutions, based on its Greylock 7nm Digital Signal Processor (DSP), with the new Bright 400ZR+ and ER1 400G pluggable coherent optical modules.  Early adopters of Acacia’s 400G pluggable product family have been driving strong demand that has resulted in over 50,000 port shipments, with more than 20,000 shipped during Cisco’s second fiscal quarter for the period ending January 29, 2022. The aggressive ramp of these products has been faster than any previous coherent technology generation. Early demand has been largely driven by metro DCI use cases, but service providers are actively working to deploy this technology in a wide range of applications. With these new modules, Acacia has developed a portfolio of solutions that further address the varying needs of network operators, while driving economies of scale on a common technology platform.

The 400G coherent pluggable market is one of the most important developments today in optical networking.  Analysts such as Cignal AI have stated that sales of 400ZR and OpenZR+ are ramping rapidly, while Heavy Reading’s Sterling Perrin claims that “The advent of coherent pluggable optics at 400G is one of the key enablers that was needed to propel IP and optical integration into the mainstream.”

New Modules Expand 400G QSFP-DD Applications and Reduce Cost, Power Consumption and Network Complexity for Network Operators
The Bright 400ZR+ QSFP-DD pluggable coherent optical module with high optical performance is designed for seamless deployment in ROADM line systems.

For customers primarily targeting filtered (AWG-based DWDM) point-to-point applications, the 400ZR and OpenZR+ modules are an effective pluggable solution. Acacia’s Bright QSFP-DD module is designed to expand the applications for this technology by addressing a variety of ROADM architectures such as those with colorless multiplexing. With greater than 0dBm transmit optical power and high transmit OSNR, the Bright 400ZR+ gives network operators more flexibility to address a range of brownfield and greenfield applications utilizing the high-density QSFP-DD form factor.

“Colt has successfully deployed 400G ZR+ on our IQ Network packet router backbone. High launch power 400G ZR+ optics, would be an important step change for IPoDWDM deployments. This would enable IPoDWDM uses cases in meeting optical requirements of ROADM based optical solutions and brownfield deployments,” said Danny Pinto, Associate Director, Packet Networks Engineering at Colt.

The Bright 400ZR+ QSFP-DD module also supports OTN framing that can enable circuit emulation and pseudowire functionality over packet networks, offering even greater flexibility for network operators who want to deploy this pluggable technology.

“Products like Acacia’s high transmission power QSFP-DD modules and third-party vendor agnostic SDN could open the door for deeper packet and optical integration in Telco Networks,” says Juan Pedro Fernandez-Palacios, Head of Transport at Telefonica CTIO.

For Upgrading From 100G to 400G with 40 km Reach
The 400G ER1 QSFP-DD pluggable coherent optical module has a rich feature set including client multiplexing and interoperability based on both OIF and OpenZR+ protocols. Acacia’s ER1 400G module is a cost effective and flexible solution for unamplified 40 km point-to-point applications in access, campus and 5G network applications.

Leveraging Proven Expertise
To develop its new 400G QSFP-DD modules, Acacia leveraged its proven expertise in optical integration and packaging. Acacia’s expertise with high-performance silicon PICs and low power DSPs has helped to enable the introduction of 3D Siliconization. Acacia’s 3D Siliconization applies integration and 3D stacking techniques to enable a single device that includes all the high speed opto-electronic functions necessary for coherent communications. This device, which includes the DSP, photonic integrated circuitry, drivers and TIAs, is manufactured using standard electronics packaging processes. Advantages of 3D Siliconization include the reduction of electrical inter-connects while improving signal integrity, resulting in improvements in performance, cost, reliability, power, and size.

For more information on Acacia’s full line of 400G coherent pluggables, please visit our products page or contact us to schedule a meeting at OFC at this link.

MassTLC, the largest and most powerful technology association in the region, kicked off the Tech Compact for Social Justice on August 3^rd, 2020 with 60+ leading tech companies, including Acacia, making an aggregate of over 180 commitments across their organizations to affect change.

MassTLC is working to drive an agenda within tech and across the community to achieve greater diversity, inclusion and social justice in Massachusetts. It wants to let the world know that tech in Boston is becoming a place of opportunity and that Massachusetts Welcomes You regardless of the color of your skin, your gender, your sexual orientation, or where you are from.

The Tech Compact invites companies to join by committing to change in at least three areas that support diversity, inclusion and racial inequality.

Acacia has committed to the following three areas:

1. We commit to introducing or expanding educational programs and opportunities on diversity, inclusion, racial inequality, unconscious bias, managing diverse teams, and/or creating a judgement free culture.
2. We commit to providing increased resources to support employee learning and participation in activities related to racial social justice, anti-discrimination and/or volunteerism.
3. We commit to advocating for public policies and/or leading with corporate policies that support economic opportunities and help level the playing field for people of color.

If you would like more information about Acacia’s commitments, please contact us

This year’s OptiNet China Conference featured dedicated forums for data center interconnects, next-generation optical transport networks, FTTH and 5G.  The conference program was designed to address the most significant innovations and issues facing optical network operators and the industry.  Given the conference’s focus, it was the perfect place to discuss how the time is now right for coherent optics to take the next step and migrate to edge and access networks, particularly in view of the emergence of 5G and edge computing.

The Evolution of Coherent in Edge and Access
We believe coherent technology for fiber optical communications has reached a tipping point with a new generation of pluggable modules based on 7nm CMOS technology.  Much progress has been made over the past decade to reduce the size, power consumption and cost of coherent solutions to enable the transition of use from long-haul to metro networks. Acacia has developed advance packaging technology, which we call 3D Siliconization, that allows the high-speed optics to be produced using volume electronics manufacturing processes.  This can enable scalable and operationally flexible solutions to address service providers’ growing bandwidth demands and has the potential to open up new addressable markets for coherent solutions in the Edge and Access networks including 5G wireless and cable.

In his talk, Fenghai discussed how coherent is addressing these new markets to address growing bandwidth demands.  Acacia is enabling these applications with its recently announced product offering:  100G coherent pluggable solutions specifically designed for optimization in edge and access applications with unamplified links up to 120km.

Introducing Acacia’s 100G Point-to-Point (P2P) Edge and Access Solutions
Acacia has a history of driving coherent into new market applications by delivering the technology, scalability, feature set, and innovation designed to meet service provider needs to maintain and grow their networks over time.  With our newly announced 100G coherent P2P solutions, we have leveraged our 10 years of high-performance coherent transmission expertise to specifically address edge and access applications in terms of form factor, power consumption and cost.  Offered in a QSFP-DD form factor widely used for client-optics, Acacia’s new 100G coherent point-to-point (P2P) edge and access solutions are designed to provide network operators the ability to scale to higher data rates to meet growing bandwidth demands over some of the most challenging optical links, while also providing operational simplicity that may lead to overall network savings.

Compared to alternative direct-detect solutions, coherent P2P solutions are extremely tolerant to fiber types, chromatic dispersion, polarization mode dispersion (PMD), and back reflections, which simplifies operational deployment. Edge and access networks, particularly those offering 5G wireless and enterprise services, can benefit from coherent technology because it has ample optical margins designed to handle the condition and reaches of the access fiber plant resulting in shorter provisioning times. Coherent P2P solutions are user friendly in deployment and provisioning due to low laser emission, wide tolerance range and rich monitoring and diagnostic features.

To learn more about Acacia’s edge and access solutions, refer to our product page at this link.  If you have questions or would like to learn more, click here to set up a meeting.

This article looks at the work that has been done to bring 400G pluggables to market, starting with a historical perspective on the 400G standards that have been put in place including 400ZR, OpenZR+, and Open ROADM MSA. It also looks at the evolution of silicon photonics, which is now moving beyond proof of performance toward greater focus on advanced packaging technologies that fully leverage the benefits of silicon photonics. This combination offers the potential for improved performance, lower power, scalability, and reliability in small, cost effective form factors.

Historical View of 400G Standards

In late 2016, hyperscale network operators approached the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) and proposed a new project, known as 400ZR, targeting DCI edge applications up to 120km, with an objective to target power dissipation of less than 15W.

The primary 400ZR use case is to apply the technology to DCI edge networks in Data Center Networks.

A comparison of the power trade-offs between modulation format and baud rate led to the adoption of 16QAM at approximately 60Gbaud, and a concatenated (hard-decision + soft-decision) FEC, which supported low-power and sufficient coding gain for the edge application, was selected.

While 400ZR benefited from a well-defined target application, some carrier applications needed features that were excluded from the 400ZR standard, such as the ability to support multiple rates, multiplexing functionality and additional protocol types such as OTU4 DWDM. Carrier applications also have more stringent performance requirements than 400ZR with less focus on density. For these carrier applications the CFP2 form factor provides a good combination of performance, pluggability and density.

With these different priorities, the OpenROADM MSA defined a framing approach that supported line rates of 200G, 300G or 400G, greater host interface flexibility and chose a new high performance soft-decision FEC, called openFEC, which offered higher coding gain more comparable to proprietary implementations typically used in long-haul applications.

In the same timeframe, CableLabs developed a coherent interconnect standard to address the access aggregation requirements of the cable industry. The data rates targeted for this standard were 100G and 200G. This application has its own unique set of requirements but CableLabs recognized the benefit to align with standards activity taking place in the other bodies. It was decided that alignment with the 100G and 200G standards in OpenROADM offered the best combination of benefits for this application, including the high performance openFEC for 200G. The CableLabs standard utilizes a common protocol with OpenROADM, but defined optical specifications that address the specific requirements of the cable access aggregation application.

In late 2019, a new mode was introduced to combine the focus on ethernet traffic of 400ZR, the performance of the OpenROADM specification, and multi-vendor interoperability in order to provide network operators with an operationally efficient solution for DCI applications with reaches beyond 120km. This was known as OpenZR+. The OpenZR+ mode maintains the simpler ethernet-only host interface of 400ZR, but adds support for multi-rate Ethernet and multiplexing capabilities at 100G, 200G, 300G or 400G line interfaces with higher dispersion tolerance and higher coding gain using openFEC selected for standardization by the OpenROADM MSA and CableLabs. These enhanced modes allow an OpenZR+ module in a QSFP-DD or OSFP form factor to support reaches well beyond 400ZR.

Benefits of 400G Pluggable Modules

The use of coherent optics in switches and routers can simplify architectures, resulting in reductions in CapEx and OpEx. The volume driven by DCI applications, combined with higher performance standards, also has the potential to drive more traditional transport applications toward CFP2 solutions.

To address this market shift, Acacia is now sampling a comprehensive 400G pluggable portfolio, including 400ZR, OpenZR+, and Open ROADM MSA. Acacia’s 400G pluggable module family features an expansive list of interoperability solutions in QSFP-DD, OSFP and CFP2 pluggable form factors for cloud DCIs and service provider networks. These pluggable solutions were designed to enable network operators to address increasing bandwidth demand through a simplified network architecture, reducing both capital and operational expenditures.

Acacia’s new 400G pluggable modules are based on its Greylock 7nm DSP, which is Acacia’s 3rd generation of coherent DSP supporting low-power pluggable modules. These new modules were designed using Acacia’s 3D Siliconization approach, which leverages high volume electronics manufacturing processes, the maturity of Acacia’s silicon photonics technology and the company’s vertical integration strategy. With 3D Siliconization, RF electronics are tightly coupled to the silicon photonics, resulting in improved signal integrity for these higher baud rate applications.

Acacia’s 3D Siliconization technology designed to be highly scalable and reliable.

Acacia’s 400G pluggable modules fit into high-density switch and router client ports for optical interconnect links. A key application of this form-factor is high-capacity coherent optical transmission over data center interconnect (DCI) edge networks, as well as service provider network applications.

Ensuring Scalability and Yield

These solutions are targeting volume applications at cloud providers that are looking for solutions that can scale to meet their demands. By utilizing its 3D siliconization, Acacia has been able to move from traditional optics manufacturing, utilizing semiconductor processes to enable these pluggable modules to be made in volume. The company focused on developing advanced packaging technologies to leverage its proven silicon photonics technology. As a result, Acacia was able to take the DSP and optics and turn them into an opto-electronic component that can offer increased reliability and a volume-repeatable process.

Acacia’s new 400G pluggable module family builds upon the technology leadership that Acacia has demonstrated in the coherent module market. For example, the company has shipped more than 200,000 coherent silicon photonic integrated circuits since 2014.

As Acacia brings these new modules to production, it will continue to focus on operational scale, quality and reliability. Due to the industry standardization efforts discussed earlier, pluggable coherent architectures are expected to become more widespread in the future. Acacia was an early innovator in this space and plans to continue executing on the DSP, optics and packaging technology needed to enable these solutions, both from a performance and an operational perspective.

What exactly is OpenZR+?
OpenZR+ maintains the simple Ethernet-only host interface of 400ZR while adding support for enhanced capabilities that make it possible to develop a QSFP-DD or OSFP module designed to utilize OpenZR+, supporting reaches well beyond the 120km supported by 400ZR. As depicted in the image below, key features in OpenZR+ include:

• Higher coding gain using oFEC from the OpenROADM standard, which extends the reach capability;
• Multi-rate Ethernet, which enables the multiplexing of 100GbE and 200GbE clients over the line-side link, providing optimization options for the switch/router equipment to channelize the traffic over the transport link;
• Adjustable 100G, 200G, 300G or 400G line-side transport links (using QPSK, 8QAM, or 16QAM modulation), which enables reach/capacity optimization over various fiber links; and
• Higher dispersion tolerance.

Growing Industry Support
OpenZR+ has already been publicly supported by numerous industry leaders. At ECOC, Optical Connections Magazine published a contributed article on this new mode co-authored by Acacia, Fujitsu Optical Components America, Juniper Networks, Lumentum, and NTT Electronics America.

Also at the show, Acacia and NTT announced that they had successfully completed testing to demonstrate interoperability between coherent DSPs supporting OpenZR+ by exchanging test vectors. When asked about the significance of this announcement, Tom Williams, Acacia’s Vice President of Marketing, said “We believe that the availability of merchant DSP solutions supporting OpenZR+ will be a significant milestone by helping to expand the use cases for interoperable coherent pluggable modules in a QSFP-DD or OSFP form factor. OpenZR+ was designed to combine the focus on ethernet traffic of 400ZR, the performance of the OpenROADM specification, and multi-vendor interoperability in order to provide network operators with an operationally efficient solution for DCI applications with reaches beyond 120km.”

How to Participate
Multiple vendors are currently evaluating the next steps with OpenZR+, such as the creation of an OpenZR+ multi-source agreement (MSA). For more information on OpenZR+, including an historical look at how standardization efforts around 400ZR and OpenROADM led to this new mode, refer to this white paper from Acacia, “OpenZR+ Advances Coherent Interoperability.”

If you’re a vendor interested in OpenZR+ implementation details contact us.

The group, including Acacia Communications, has been developing solutions to disaggregate network infrastructures and provide more flexibility to build and operate telecom networks.

This week, at TIP Summit 2018, TIP announced some of the remarkable progress and accomplishments made by the group in the last year:

1. Software, system and component vendors create and contribute TAI: The Transponder Abstraction Interface – Inspired by the success and wide adoption of Switch Abstraction Interfaces (SAI) from the Open Compute Project (OCP), TAI brings together disparate parties from optical network systems developers, Network Operating System (NOS) vendors, and optical subsystem/module manufacturers by providing an abstract software interface for quicker integration. NTT and Cumulus Networks have been collaborating with Acacia Communications, Fujitsu Optical Components, IP Infusion, and Oclaro in contributing the interface definitions and executing the first implementation.

The ecosystem partners are demonstrating TAI at the TIP Summit this week. The demonstration using Edgecore’s Cassini open packet transponder, which includes the Acacia CFP2 pluggable coherent module, will show TAI enabling the integration of coherent optical interfaces based on merchant DSPs running on Cassini, a hardware platform designed and contributed to TIP by Edgecore Networks.

2. Operators disaggregate the cell site gateway with “Odyssey” – Four major global mobile operators have collaborated to define the next-generation of a critical device within the mobile network which connects the equipment that serves people’s phones to the rest of the operator network, the Disaggregated Cell Site Gateway.

3. Voyager becomes commercially available – Also at TIP Summit, ADVA announced the industry-first open and disaggregated converged packet/optical transponder, which includes the Acacia AC400 coherent module. The Voyager packet optical terminal essentially combines optical transport with packet switching and routing in one extremely compact device. This final milestone is a true testament of how effectively contributors in the OOPT group have collaborated.

We’re proud to be a part of the progress and accomplishments made by the OOPT group in 2018. The group has clear focus on solving real issues and driving results by combining valuable experience of global operators and supplier partners. The Telecom Infra Project invites other partners to join this initiative and work together on the exciting future of optical networking.