Driven by Demands for Higher-Bandwidth, Lower Power and Smaller Footprint
Acacia’s client optics portfolio is driven by key customer requirements for better power efficiency, higher performance, and smaller footprint from a proven high-volume supplier. Delivering these capabilities is a critical enabler for module vendors to design cutting-edge pluggable modules that can handle the compute intensive workloads generated by AI, cloud services, and video streaming. With more than a million 100G per lane optical engines shipped in the last 12 months, Acacia is already an established supplier for client optics components based on silicon photonics.

Introducing the 3nm 1.6T Kibo PAM4 DSP
At the heart of Acacia’s 200G per lane client optics portfolio is the 3nm 1.6T Kibo PAM4 DSP designed to power the optical interconnects inside the world’s cloud and AI data centers. It is expected to sample later in 2025.

Key features include:

• 3nm CMOS node for market leading power efficiency enabling more than 20% lower power compared to existing 1.6T module implementations
• Industry standard compliance enhanced by Acacia’s algorithms
• Transmit Retimed Optics (TRO) configurations with power-efficient support for diagnostic and loopback troubleshooting capabilities
• Support for gearbox and retimer applications
• Designed to support 1.6T DR8 and 2xFR4, as well as 800G DR4, DR8, FR4 and 2xFR4 modules in OSFP/QSFP-DD form factors

200G per Lane Optical Engine Family
Complementing the Kibo PAM4 DSP is a family of Optical Engine products designed to support 200G per lane that leverage Acacia’s silicon photonics expertise. Acacia’s Optical Engine products will be demonstrated at OFC 2025.

The family of Optical Engine products address a variety of applications with the following configurations:

• Separate transmit and receive components
• DR4, DR8 and 2xFR4 use cases
• Support for 100G/lane and 200G/lane
• Flexible driver configuration support
• Transimpedance Amplifier (TIA) integration in receiver circuit (RX)

“We expect the market for IC chipsets for optical communications to grow from 2025 through 2030 at a CAGR of 17% as hyperscalers look to meet the burgeoning demands that AI is placing on the entire infrastructure,” said Vladimir Kozlov, Founder and CEO at LightCounting. “Having a new supplier in this space, that also has the credibility that Acacia has amassed over more than a decade, will be key for continuing innovation.”

Leverages Acacia’s Proven Volume Manufacturing Capabilities
As an established leader in coherent DSP ASIC design-to-volume deployment, Acacia is a trusted supplier in the telecommunications industry. Acacia’s expanded client optics portfolio is also backed by Cisco’s full commitment to support the ongoing development, supply and customer service of Acacia’s existing and future products.

“Client optics has always represented an exciting opportunity to leverage our team’s expertise in DSP and silicon photonics,” said Benny Mikkelsen, SVP and General Manager, Acacia. “With AI driving tremendous demand for client optics and increased adoption of silicon photonics at 200G/lane, this is an ideal time for us to invest in scaling this part of our business.”

Come See us At OFC 2025
If you are attending OFC 2025 and want to discuss our new client optics offerings, we’d welcome the opportunity to meet with you. Click here to set up a meeting.

Figure 1. Acacia’s Wall of Patents.

A recent Gazettabyte article details how our co-founders carried out this mission, introducing improvements in performance and power consumption to legacy coherent technology, initially used for the most challenging optical transmission links. Looking through our history, it’s clear to see the trailblazing path Acacia helped to define with coherent optical modules, especially pluggable modules. Acacia has always been laser-focused on providing customers with continuous improvements in speed, capacity, performance, size, and power consumption to meet the ever-growing demand for bandwidth. This has been done by focusing on (1) silicon-based optical and electrical designs, (2) advanced digital signal processing (DSP), (3) high-speed RF expertise, and (4) volume manufacturable high-density packaging, with all these disciplines “under one roof.” As a result, Acacia is now a leading supplier of coherent modules with multiple product families to support speeds from 100G to 1.2T, including a broad portfolio of 400G and 800G pluggable products, to address the needs of network operators worldwide.

Pioneer of Coherent Pluggables
It is interesting to note that this year marks the 30th anniversary of a significant event in optical transceiver history. It was in 1995 when the first standards-based pluggable optical transceiver called the Gigabit Interface Convertor (GBIC) was first defined, with supported speeds up to ~1Gbps. It was ~20 years from this achievement that Acacia introduced the first optical coherent pluggable transceiver to support 100Gbps in the multi-source agreement (MSA) CFP form factor.

Figure 2. Industry standardized pluggable modules: From the early days of 1G GBICs to today’s coherent pluggables capable of 3000km+ 400G and 1000km+ 800G.

And today, Acacia’s latest generation of coherent pluggable modules powered by the Delphi DSP, our 9th generation DSP, has enabled extraordinary reaches using even smaller QSFP-DD and OSFP form-factor modules. Acacia’s 400G ultra long-haul modules support distances beyond 3000km, and 800G ZR+ enhanced performance modules support distances beyond 1000km.

Leadership in Industry Standards
To ensure a thriving marketplace for coherent pluggable optics, many companies participate in MSA initiatives and/or in industry standards groups to agree on module product requirements to ensure a multi-vendor supply, interoperability, and economies of scale. Acacia has been a key driver and participant in many of these organizations. In the 400G pluggable generation, Acacia served as editor for the 400ZR Implementation Agreement in OIF. Acacia was also a founding member of the OpenZR+ MSA, which provided requirements for enhanced performance 400ZR+ with multi-vendor interoperability. Market adoption of 400ZR and OpenZR+ solutions has been the fastest of any coherent technology in history.

In the 800G pluggables generation, Acacia has continued its leadership in industry standards activities. As a key contributor along with other coherent suppliers, Acacia introduced the first standardized, interoperable probabilistic constellation shaping (PCS) mode for 800G ZR+ enhanced performance, enabling network operators to expand their 800G reaches beyond 1000km. The company is also playing a key role in driving 1600ZR/ZR+ industry agreements.

With the increasing demand for the current generations of 400G and 800G coherent pluggable modules, several companies have jumped on the bandwagon to participate in this optical renaissance. These 400G and 800G QSFP-DD and OSFP form-factor modules, capable of plugging directly into switch and router ports, have invigorated architectures using router-based coherent optics as a networking solution to reduce overall total cost of ownership.

Silicon-based Designs, Advanced DSPs, and High-Density Packaging
The key to Acacia becoming a market leader in coherent optics stems from our ongoing focus on core technology. For example, an important factor that provided many advantages in low power and high-density packaging was Acacia’s adoption of silicon photonics for high-speed coherent transmission. Silicon does not require temperature stabilization, which results in lower power implementation. In addition, silicon photonics can leverage high-volume CMOS packaging techniques to reduce overall cost. Our design and development approach has always been to utilize silicon photonics for both MSA pluggable modules as well as performance-optimized modules, providing design and operational efficiencies as well as rapid time to market. Following Acacia’s lead, we are now seeing multiple suppliers also embracing silicon photonics technology in their coherent pluggable modules because of the benefits it has delivered to the industry.

Another key technology advantage that sets Acacia apart is its coherent DSP design and capabilities. Innovation in this area has been critical for mitigating impairments such as dispersion and non-linear effects incurred during transmission over optical fiber. Acacia’s balanced and power-efficient approach to DSP development ensures robust algorithms while minimizing power consumption. As CMOS node sizes continue to shrink, relatively complex techniques for improving performance can be introduced into very compact MSA pluggable modules. The improved performance is enabling network operators to expand the types of architectures they can deploy using these pluggables, resulting in the ability to offer a wider range of network applications.

Driving innovation to meet increasing transmission baud rates meant having in-house cross-disciplinary teams to ensure the best designs. We were able to achieve this while also delivering a compact low power consumption device. Acacia’s 3D Siliconization enabled this high-density level of packaging with high signal integrity and allowed us to also leverage volume manufacturable processes used in the electronics industry. This approach enabled faster scaling of manufacturing and improved reliability.

15+ Years of Industry Firsts and Design Expertise
Technology leadership is a culmination of many factors, not just having the expertise in the technology itself. It is comprised of how the technology is developed and quickly brought to market with the capability of volume while maintaining quality, and with the goal of meeting customer requirements. Many factors have contributed to Acacia’s technology leadership, including an engineering approach based on in-house design expertise across key disciplines, leveraging years of experience, building on the successes of previous generations as well as adjacent industry innovations and manufacturing processes, and participating in industry standards. This powerful combination created many industry firsts over the last 15+ years since Acacia was founded.

Figure 3. Acacia has achieved many industry firsts for coherent pluggable modules since its founding.

Acacia has introduced coherent module products, including its recent Delphi-based pluggable modules, leveraging nine generations of DSP ASICs, and holds an industry leadership position when it comes to innovative design, quality, and manufacturability of coherent pluggable modules especially as baud rates increase while size and power consumption requirements decrease. Acacia continues to demonstrate its technology leadership as we move to higher bandwidth applications such as AI, as well as customer requirements for higher speed solutions such as 1600G MSA pluggable modules.

Market Adoption and Use Case Expansion
Coherent pluggables have seen remarkable market adoption, with 400G ZR/ZR+ coherent optics becoming the most widely adopted coherent technology in history. While some in the industry predicted early on that 400ZR pluggables would only be a small portion of the coherent market, Acacia has been laser focused on bringing these solutions to its customers to deliver the architectural change needed to transform networks to meet ever-growing bandwidth demands. As a result, Acacia is a market leader in shipments of 400G+ coherent pluggables.

During 2024, Acacia expanded this market-leading portfolio with the introduction of 800ZR and 800G ZR+ pluggables with Interoperable PCS in QSFP-DD and OSFP form factors. These solutions have already been proven in field trials, with Colt being the first provider to successfully trial enhanced performance 800G ZR+ coherent pluggable optics. These 800G router-based optics provide the capability to double Colt’s packet core capacity per link while reducing power per bit by 33.3%.

Acacia also introduced a 400G Ultra Long Haul QSFP-DD module for expanding 400G applications from DCI/metro to long haul applications. The 400G UHL has been proven in field trials, with Arelion announcing that it completed a live network field trial on its route from Chicago to Denver that demonstrated successful IP transmission at a spectrum of 112.5 gigahertz over 2,253 kilometers, with healthy margins, providing longer transmission distances and greater cost savings than currently deployed transponders. Acacia’s 400G ULH pluggables enable Arelion to reduce CAPEX by 35 percent and OPEX costs by 84 percent when expanding its network, providing wider reach with high capacities that support customers’ AI/ML and cloud applications.

The Terabit Era is Going Strong
According to Cignal AI, in 2025, 1.2T+ performance optimized solutions will contribute significantly to bandwidth growth as those solutions continue to be introduced. Acacia’s 1.2T Coherent Interconnect Module 8 (CIM 8), powered by the Jannu DSP, has proven its outstanding performance with multiple record-breaking field trials across Metro, Long Haul and Subsea with Microsoft, Verizon, Windstream, and others. Acacia is also engaged with multiple webscale customers and expects CIM 8 to continue its ramp in 2025.

Looking Ahead…..Artificial Intelligence, 1600ZR/ZR+ and More!
AI certainly was a hot topic during OFC and ECOC in 2024 and Acacia believes it will continue to be in 2025. While a year ago, the industry was focused on single-site AI clusters, we will begin to hear more about methods for distributing AI training over different locations in 2025. And while there is still a lot of work to happen in this area, the optics industry is well positioned to be at the forefront of this evolution since higher speed optical interconnections will be necessary to mitigate bandwidth constraints within an AI networks. Read this recent blog for more information on future proofing your network for AI.

Router-based Coherent Optics
The proliferation of router-based coherent optics is paving the way to a converged IP+Optical network architecture. The benefits in 2024 were clear. Infrastructure provider Colt Technology Services reported a stunning 97% energy savings, and Arelion saved 64% in CapEx and 76% in OpEx. In 2025, we can expect to see more providers leveraging this architecture to achieve increased capacity, reduced energy consumption, and lowered network costs, complexity, and footprint.

1600ZR and 1600ZR+ Standards Agreement
The OIF launched efforts last year on 1.6T coherent optical interconnect solutions and is making progress towards interoperable 1600ZR and 1600ZR+ implementation agreements.  In 2025, the industry will be looking at ways to advance this migration using advanced technologies for high baud rate modulation and smaller CMOS nodes.

Looking to the Future
Acacia is looking forward to another year of industry-wide innovation. Helping to solve some of our customers’ most challenging problems has been part of our DNA since Acacia was founded in 2009 and as you can see from this historic timeline, we have continued to set new benchmarks for performance and efficiency. These innovations are not only addressing the current demands of high capacity networks, but are also paving the way for future growth and scalability. Key to this success has been listening to our customers and designing the products and features that they need to be successful. We look forward to continuing that tradition.

With the initial adoption of 400G coherent pluggables for IP-over-DWDM networks being driven by router interconnects, these pluggable modules based on coherent technology have been referred to as router-based coherent optics. There are now more than 200 network operators that have embraced this cost-saving paradigm.

Figure 1. Router-based coherent optics provide cost savings.

400G Coherent Modules and Open Line Systems Led the Way
As previously mentioned, the introduction of 400G interoperable coherent MSA modules that plug directly into router ports helped accelerate network operator adoption of router-based coherent optics, enabling high-capacity optical connections within a metro reach network without traditional transponder hardware. Two different mechanical form-factors for these 400G modules, QSFP-DD and OSFP, were introduced to the market, with the former being the primary form-factor being shipped today for 400G, matching the widely adopted host platform QSFP-DD slots.

The disaggregation of optical line systems has also helped progress the adoption of router-based coherent optics. These open line systems enable the insertion of wavelength transmission from router-based coherent MSA pluggable modules rather than from transponders sold by the same line system vendor. Many of the recently deployed networks utilizing router-based optical modules have been over these open line systems. In fact, approximately 70% of the above mentioned 200 end-users were utilizing an open line system.

In addition, the introduction of 400G coherent modules with high transmit optical power, such as Acacia’s Bright 400ZR+ module, helped accelerate service provider adoption because higher transmit power helps to avoid performance penalties when connecting to typical brownfield ROADM architectures. Modules such as the Bright 400ZR+ also include a transmitter tunable optical filter (TOF) to minimize adjacent channel interference that could impact performance, especially if colorless ROADMs are present in the network.

An ongoing challenge that the industry is making progress with is the ability for seamless management of coherent MSA modules. Industry groups such as the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) have made great progress to address this challenge, with the OIF driving the Common Management Interface Specification (CMIS). This effort continues to be an area of industry focus to further lower the adoption barrier of router-based optics.

Continuing the Momentum of Router-based Coherent Optics
To continue the adoption of router-based coherent optics, expanding interoperable MSA pluggable module capabilities were required to address network operator use cases such as long haul and ultra long haul reaches as well as a migration from 400G links to 800G links. Thanks to recent advances in coherent technology, these capabilities have been recently introduced.

400G ultra-long-haul (ULH) modules leveraging Class 3 (~120+ Gbaud data) rate technology enables the reach capability of 400G to extend from metro/regional reaches to ultra long-haul reaches, reducing the barrier for network operators to deploy router-based coherent optics in virtually any network application. Arelion recently announced a successful trial using Acacia’s Delphi-DSP based 400G ULH modules over 2,253km with margin, enabling a 35% reduction in CAPEX and 84% reduction in OPEX.

To take advantage of the latest generational increase in switch/router chip capacity resulting in I/O ports transitioning from 400G to 800G speeds, the same Class 3 generation coherent technology support 800G interoperable coherent MSA modules that plug directly into host platforms. This enables network operators who have already embraced an IP-over-DWDM architecture using router-based coherent optics at 400G to now migrate to 800G. For example, Colt recently announced that it is the first provider to successfully trial enhanced performance 800G ZR+ coherent pluggable optics, in their Cisco 8000 series router ports, in its production network. These 800G router-based coherent optics provide the capability to double Colt’s packet core capacity per link while reducing power per bit by 33.3%.

While the initial adoption of router-based coherent optics for deploying an IP-over-DWDM network were from hyperscalers and service providers, the momentum of adoption has expanded to research and education networks, enterprise networks, and many other network operators looking to optimize total cost of ownership. And the application is not limited to using coherent pluggable optics in routers, but also in network switches for fabric extension requiring an interconnect to a distant site.

Acacia’s Interoperable Modules Enabling the Future
Acacia is enabling the adoption of 400G and 800G IP-over-DWDM architectures with router-based coherent optics. The latest generation of MSA pluggable modules include 800ZR and 800G ZR+ variants as well as 400G ULH for ultra-long-haul reaches. These are all powered by Acacia’s 9th generation Delphi DSP ASIC and 130+Gbaud high-speed silicon photonic PIC technology enabling a low-power industry standard based solution. The 800G ZR+ module also includes the industry’s first standardized interoperable probability constellation shaped (PCS) mode. In addition, Acacia is a leading supplier of 400ZR and OpenZR+ compliant modules including high Tx power Bright modules for 400G based metro/regional IP-over-DWDM network.

Enabled by coherent pluggable modules, the adoption of IP-over-DWDM using router-based coherent optics continues to grow, providing significant reduction in TCO for network operators.

The Path Towards Robust, Interoperable 1600ZR/ZR+ Interfaces
With 200G per lane electrical PAM4 solutions recently introduced, network operators now have a path towards supporting 1600G host router I/O ports by using eight parallel electrical lanes (Figure 1). Similar to 400G and 800G generations, this is a key motivator in developing coherent pluggable modules to be plugged into these 1600G router ports for inter-data center optical links. However, along with the progress on the host interface side, there is still much work to be done to ensure a technically feasible and robust interoperable design for 1600ZR/ZR+ coherent pluggable modules.

Figure 1. Simple illustration of how advances in achieving 200G PAM4 can be leveraged for 1600ZR/ZR+ coherent optical transmission.

OIF Defining Both 1600ZR and 1600ZR+ Standards
Unlike previous coherent standardization efforts at 400G and 800G, in which enhanced “ZR+” performance links were defined outside of OIF, the OIF has launched initiatives to define both 1600ZR and 1600ZR+. Having both efforts occurring simultaneously enables the OIF to make decisions with both 1600ZR and 1600ZR+ in the same scope of discussions. This helps keep the two implementations as aligned as possible, which is beneficial for the industry considering the large investments of technology required. The focus of these investments includes advanced CMOS nodes to maintain low power consumption within the envelope of QSFP-DD and OSFP form-factor requirements, and advanced designs in high-speed RF/mixed-signal as the modulation approaches the Class 4 240Gbaud range (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Charting the course towards Class 4 baud rate standardization efforts.

As we saw in both the 400G and 800G generations, the foundation of 16QAM (4 bits/symbol) modulation was adopted and this is likely to also happen with the 1600G generation. For 1600G transmission, 16QAM modulation implies ~236+Gbaud data rate operation.

In addition to modulation order, the type of forward error correction (FEC) has also been a key parameter that required industry agreement. At 400G, the OIF adopted concatenated FEC (CFEC) as the 400ZR FEC and OpenZR+ MSA adopted oFEC (a high-performance FEC) for 400G ZR+. At 800G, the OIF decided to adopt oFEC for ZR, aligning it with ZR+ modes. To provide an enhanced performance mode beyond 800ZR, OpenROADM MSA defined an interoperable PCS for 800G ZR+ (Figure 3). It is likely that oFEC will be similarly adopted for both 1600ZR and combined with some interoperable PCS for 1600ZR+ modes.

Figure 3. 400G to 800G evolution of ZR vs. ZR+ implementations; how will 1600G ZR vs. ZR+ implementations be different?

What Will Be the Industry Consensus for 1600ZR/ZR+?
Every new generation of speeds-and-feeds encounters challenges around industry consensus and technology achievements that push the envelope – and 1600ZR/ZR+ is no different. There is currently great momentum driving these efforts forward, especially in anticipation of advances in generative AI that are pushing optical interconnect needs to higher bandwidths. Evidence of this momentum is apparent by other industry efforts beyond the OIF that are currently active. In addition to the OIF 1600ZR/ZR+ efforts, the IEEE has also begun working on 1.6TbE electrical and optical interface standards within the IEEE 802.3dj working group, anticipated to be ready by the second half of 2026.

In light of this progress, the question is “how does the industry reach consensus for 1600ZR/ZR+?” We eagerly await the outcome.

The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) kicked off the 400G MSA pluggable generation with development of the 400ZR implementation agreement enabling point-to-point amplified links up to 120km operating at 60+Gbaud data rates. Around the same timeframe, the OpenROADM MSA defined 400G interfaces for ROADM networks and extended reaches; the OpenZR+ MSA leveraged these higher performance interfaces to enable interoperable enhanced performance links for 400G pluggable modules (Figure 1).

The introduction of high-transmit optical power (>0dBm) ZR+ modules such as Acacia’s Bright 400ZR+ module further expanded the 400G MSA pluggable space to include brownfield ROADM network architectures (with existing transponder channels ~0dBm). Driven by increasing bandwidth demands from applications such as AI, network operators are now looking towards a new generation of MSA pluggable products that further expand applicable networking scenarios that operators can leverage to scale and meet these demands.

How Industry Standards Benefit MSA Pluggable Module Adoption
The latest array of MSA pluggable products introduces a new set of capabilities that network operators can utilize to increase capacity and extend reach. These products provide the ability to deploy 800G with ZR, ZR+, and high-transmit optical power capabilities, as well as extending the capabilities of existing 400G router interfaces to support ultra-long-haul (ULH) reach capabilities. This new generation of modules continues to leverage industry standardization while also borrowing capabilities from performance-optimized coherent solutions. These capabilities include high-baud rate transmission allowing for a doubling of baud rates from the previous Class 2 (~60+Gbaud range) generation to Class 3 (~120+Gbaud range) baud rates, the use of probabilistic constellation shaping (PCS) for enhanced transmission performance, and L-band support for spectrum range expansion.

Figure 1.  Interoperability approaches at 400G vs. 800G.

Industry standardization of coherent solutions plays a key role in enabling economies of scale. Users of 400G coherent MSA pluggable modules such as 400ZR/ZR+ have benefited from the efforts of OIF, OpenZR+ MSA, and OpenROADM MSA to provide industry agreements on module specifications resulting in a diverse supply base. We have seen similar efforts to garner industry standardization as users transition to 800G MSA pluggables. There are three main elements that differentiate 800G relative to 400G and are adapted from previously developed performance-optimized solutions.

1. Interop PCS for Enhanced Performance
   A key difference between 400G and 800G interoperability approaches for an enhanced performance “ZR+” is that instead of using enhanced performance forward error correction, oFEC, to provide improved 400G performance, 800G uses industry standard interoperable probabilistic constellation shaping (PCS) for enhancing performance. PCS is a transmission shaping technique that provides additional link performance beyond traditional transmission modes such as 16QAM. Industry standardization of an interoperable PCS transmission shaping function, once relegated to proprietary performance-optimized transponder platforms including those for submarine applications, is a tremendous leap forward in the progress of MSA pluggable module capabilities. Multi-vendor 800G module supply chain diversity from a DSP ASIC perspective is possible when the 800G ZR+ performance enhancement mode utilizes the industry standard interoperable PCS mode.
2. High Baud Rate Design
   PCS is not the only technology that has been adapted from performance-optimized solutions for MSA pluggables. 800G as well as a 400G ULH pluggable solutions require a high-baud rate design operating in the Class 3 ~120+ Gbaud data rate range. Acacia’s performance-optimized CIM 8 module capable of 140Gbaud speeds has already proven that its deployed technology far exceeds the requirement for the new generation of MSA pluggables. Operation at these high baud rates benefits heavily from the advanced integration and RF signal optimization techniques that Acacia introduced in our 400G MSA pluggable product family.

Figure 2.  Tightly integrated components enable 120+Gbaud data-rate capabilities.

3. C & L Band Support
A third element of the latest 800G MSA pluggable generation that is borrowed from performance-optimized designs is the capability to transmit in the L-band wavelength range, in addition to the traditional C-band DWDM range. By adding L-band supporting infrastructure to a network, the network capacity is approximately doubled. Network operators now have an option beyond utilizing a transponder platform if they wish to use L-band expansion to increase network capacity.

Figure 3.  New generation of coherent MSA pluggable modules to take advantage of L-Band transmission window, adding to existing C-Band support.

Pluggable Interoperable Interfaces are Driving Adoption of 800G Modules
Acacia’s latest family of coherent solutions are powered by its 9th generation DSP ASIC called Delphi. These modules include support for OIF 800ZR, interoperable 800G ZR+ using the OpenROADM interop PCS mode, and 400G ULH for ultra-long-haul reaches. These modules utilize Acacia’s 3D Siliconization providing a highly integrated design enabling high-baud rate modulation. With support for QSFP-DD and OSFP form factors, as well as >+1dBm transmit optical power and L-band support, Acacia’s Delphi generation of products leverage the deployment successes of our performance-optimized CIM 8 module to provide MSA pluggable products that offer increased capacity and longer reaches.

Figure 4.  Acacia’s latest generation of MSA pluggable 800G and 400G ULH modules.

Similar to the successful path we saw 400G pluggables experience, these modules are delivering the performance and interoperability that is critical for driving economies of scale and widespread adoption. With data center bandwidth continuing to grow rapidly, fueled by emerging new applications such as AI, these high-performance pluggable modules are on track to become an important tool for network operators to cost-efficiently scale their networks to meet this surging demand.

See Us at ECOC 2024!
Acacia is excited to be participating in the OIF interoperability demo at ECOC 2024 showcasing both its 400G and 800G pluggables; demos will take place in the OIF booth #B83. Acacia will also be demonstrating the Interoperable 800G ZR+ module in our meeting room at ECOC. Click here to set up a meeting.

We hope to see you in Frankfurt!

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.

With data center bandwidth growing rapidly, high-performance pluggable modules have become an important tool for network operators to scale their networks cost-efficiently. Acacia has worked closely with network operators to drive the industry’s first interoperable Probabilistic Constellation Shaped (PCS) interfaces. Acacia’s newest portfolio of silicon-based 800G coherent pluggables has been designed to double the connectivity speed from 400G to 800G to support data center interconnect (DCI) upgrades, taking advantage of next-generation routers with 800G I/O port speeds. When plugged into these routers, this family of 800G pluggables can replace traditional transport equipment across a greater range of infrastructure to meet demand for cloud and AI.

OIF Compliant 800ZR Modules
OIF compliant 400ZR has been a great success for the coherent pluggable industry with multiple suppliers and a tremendous volume of 400ZR QSFP-DD and OSFP modules deployed in metro DCI applications. With the switch and router 800G ports available, 800ZR will further reduce the cost, power, and space per 100G in the same applications. Acacia’s 800ZR pluggables support QSFP-DD and OSFP form factors fully compliant to OIF 800ZR with transmit power variants.

Acacia Delphi DSP-based coherent pluggable modules

800G ZR+ Modules with Interoperable PCS
Acacia’s 800G ZR+ modules are designed to support the recently released OpenROADM specifications that include interoperable PCS transmission capability. The 131Gbaud PCS provides an additional OSNR margin at 800G for longer reach suitable for regional DCI applications, linking multiple fiber spans and in-line amplification between data centers. Acacia 800G ZR+ pluggables support QSFP-DD and OSFP form factors with >1dBm transmit output power.

“The success of ZR+ at 400G was largely driven by its performance and interoperability, which enabled a multi-source environment to emerge,” said Scott Wilkinson, Lead Analyst for Optical Components at Cignal AI. “The interoperability now being proposed with 800G – not only in short distance applications (800ZR), but also in long distance (800G ZR+​) – expands the environment even further. Interoperable PCS will take the market for 800G pluggables beyond simple DCI into regional and even long-haul networks.”

400G QSFP-DD Module for Ultra Long-haul
Expanding Bright 400ZR+ module applications, Acacia has also added a new QSFP-DD for 400G ultra long-haul networks that include 400G QPSK and PCS with various baud rates to fit into different ROADM optical line systems. It is capable of >1dBm transmit power and high transmit OSNR over the entire C-band thanks to the integrated tunable optical filter for amplified spontaneous emission reduction.

Backed by Industry Leading Coherent Technology
Both the 800G pluggable portfolio and 400G ultra long haul pluggable are powered by Delphi, Acacia’s 9^th generation Digital Signal Processor (DSP) ASIC. Acacia boasts the broadest field-proven 400G MSA coherent pluggable portfolio in the industry with more than 250,000 ports shipped based on the Greylock DSP, including more than 10,000 Bright 400ZR+ ports. Acacia’s 800G and 400G pluggable portfolios benefit from Acacia’s 3D Siliconization approach, which applies integration and 3D stacking techniques to enable a single packaged device that includes all the high-speed optoelectronic functions necessary for coherent communications to provide benefits in cost, reliability, power, and size. These devices are manufactured using standard electronics packaging processes and result in improved signal integrity and performance through the reduction of electrical interconnects.

The Delphi DSP-based pluggable modules are planned to be available beginning in Q2 CY2024.

Additional Resources:

Blog: Key Challenges and Requirements for 800G MSA Pluggables

 Over the last 10 years, we’ve seen rapid increases in capacity per wavelength by increasing modulation order from QPSK to 16QAM to 64QAM, as well as increasing baud rate supported by opto-electronic devices. However, beyond the coherent modulation order of 64QAM, the achievable performance isn’t sufficient to address target applications due to the reduction in reach.  As a result, increasing baud rates has been looked to as the primary means of increasing capacity per wavelength.  This requires innovative and cost-effective implementations to provide higher baud rate solutions and packaging advancements.  Opto-electronic integration and co-packaging are techniques that were discussed by Acacia’s Founder and Chief Technology Officer Benny Mikkelsen in his OFC 2019 Plenary talk and continue to be critical to support the ever-increasing need for higher data rates and smaller, cost-effective optical interfaces for cloud, access, and transport applications.

Opto-Electronic Integration and Co-Packaging Explained
These techniques are used to reduce components in size and power while also increasing functionality and performance of the solution. Opto-electronic integration generally refers to the process of integrating a wide range of optical functions on a single chip, such as the large amount of optical and opto-electronic functions being achieved in a photonic integrated circuit (PIC). While co-packaging is the ability to combine multiple chips into a single package which can be further integrated into a transceiver module. The main benefit is that it can then be manufactured as if it’s a single component with even more functions.

Opto-electronic integration, particularly through silicon photonics, enables the miniaturization of coherent transceivers. The benefits of opto-electronic integration can be seen in the below graphic, which shows how the size of a coherent transceiver was reduced significantly over a few product generations.  By leveraging these techniques, each new generation was able to raise the bar to increase capacity while reducing power and size.

Figure 1. Opto-electronic integration and co-packaging have enabled coherent transceivers to become significantly smaller over the last decade.

Three Main Benefits of Opto-electronic Integration and Co-Packaging

1. Reduced Power

It takes a massive amount of power to operate data centers, which is why sustainability ranks top on data center operator’s agendas. Opto-electronic integration and advanced packaging helps lower the power consumption of the coherent modules used for moving data across networks.

The benefit of having multiple devices packaged into one compact component means fewer interfaces and the ability to support higher speeds per lane. Electrical compensation of PCB routed high-speed signals, which consumes power, is essentially eliminated.  As an example, by co-design and co-packaging the trans-impedance amplifier (TIA) and driver chips with the silicon photonics-based PIC on the same substrate as the digital signal processor (DSP) ASIC, the DAC termination can be eliminated and can result in a 35 percent DAC power reduction.

Figure 2. Co-design and co-packaging of the TIA and driver chips with the silicon photonics-based PIC on the same substrate as the DSP ASIC eliminates the DAC termination and can result in a 35% DAC power reduction.

2. Reduced Size

Silicon Photonics
Using silicon as an optical medium and leveraging CMOS fabrication processing technology, silicon photonics allows tighter monolithic integration of many optical functions within a single device. While traditional optics systems used many discrete devices, silicon photonics allows all those devices to fit onto a single silicon chip reducing the size.  Silicon photonics has been a key enabler for achieving the tremendous size reduction in Figure 1.

Component Stacking
In component stacking, the DSP and PIC are tightly co-packaged on the same substrate, and the high-speed modulator driver and TIA components are stacked on the PIC which also reduces the size.  Component stacking is a process widely adopted in the electronics manufacturing process that is now being applied to opto-electronic technology manufacturing.

Co-packaging and Integrated Control IC
Size reductions are achieved by integrating functions and the control IC through co-packaging techniques. Smaller devices can translate into either more functionality within the same form factor and power consumption footprint or a smaller form factor with the same functionality and power consumption as the previous generation. For example, in the Acacia CFP2 form factor, the integration of multiple discrete control ICs into one integrated device led to a 500 percent reduction in board footprint.

3. Increased Capacity

Enhancing DSP and Increasing Baud Rate
With network capacity demands increasing, network operators are challenged with an ongoing need to deploy solutions that can keep up with these capacity demands while being power, size and cost efficient. High speed opto-electronic integration and advanced packaging can deliver high-capacity transport from the state-of-art DSP.

Increasing baud rate has always been an efficient way to enable more cost-effective optical networks by reducing the number of optics required to support a given transmission capacity. By doubling baud rate over previous generations, we can support twice the capacity per carrier over greater reaches than prior generations. This approach provides a simple, scalable path that supports higher capacity per carrier over the reaches needed for existing and new network architectures.

Acacia’s Implementation: 3D Siliconization
Acacia’s approach to co-packaging is called 3D Siliconization technology. This process utilizes highly scalable and reliable volume electronics manufacturing processes which applies 3D stacking packaging techniques to enable a single device to include all the high speed opto-electronic functions necessary for coherent transceivers. With 3D Siliconization, the high-speed RF interfaces are tightly coupled together, resulting in improved signal integrity for high baud rate signals.

Figure 3.  3D Siliconization improves signal integrity and performance via the reduction of electrical inter-connects, in addition to the benefits in cost, reliability, power, and size.

This device decreases footprint by including the DSP, PIC, drivers, and TIAs, and is manufactured using standard CMOS packaging processes that leverage the same reliability, cost, and volume scaling advantages.  This approach is utilized by Acacia’s 400G pluggable family and the 1.2T 140Gbaud Coherent Interconnect Module 8 (CIM 8).

As generational gains in spectral efficiency, size and power become less significant, increasing baud rate is proving to be effective at significantly decreasing power per bit.

Performance Matters for Verizon as They Plan to Use Both Embedded and Pluggable Optics
Glenn Wellbrock, Director Optical Transport Planning for Verizon, talked about pluggables versus performance optimized (a.k.a. embedded) coherent modules, and how it’s important to leverage the volume that the hyperscalers are using to drive lower cost and power consumption. Glenn commented that the performance of the pluggable modules they’ve tested has exceeded their expectations. While they still plan to use performance optimized optics, they also plan to take advantage of pluggables anywhere they can because of the benefits they can provide in lower cost and power consumption.

Embedded Optics Used Primarily in Ultra Long-Haul Routes Operating Above 400G
On the performance optimized side, Glenn explained how it’s all about getting high performance, which by default usually means higher cost and proprietary implementations. He then went on to describe a field trial that Verizon completed where they were running embedded optics at maximum data rate for metro distances. They tested the same system at lower speeds for a long-haul route from New York to Chicago, demonstrating the benefits of a multi-haul solution. This proved that they could run 400G pretty much anywhere in the country.  Glenn also shared that on their long-haul networks, 80% is at or below 1,500km and 600G should be sufficient.

Verizon Plans to Continue Using Performance Optimized Embedded Optics for Ultra Long Haul
In the future, Glenn believes that both performance optimized optics and pluggables will continue to go up in performance. Today, the majority of Verizon’s new Ultra Long Haul (ULH) routes in its network are operating above 400G with embedded optics. According to Glenn, even if the next generation of optics gave Verizon 800G anywhere in the country with great performance, they would still want to know if they could get up to a Terabit or even 1.2T.  “If that will work on a lot of Verizon paths in a ULH environment, that is where Verizon is going to gravitate towards and it’s looking like that is going to happen with embedded optics,” added Glenn.

Acacia Sees Trends Influencing How Coherent Interfaces Should Be Developed
Tom Williams, Acacia’s Senior Director of Marketing, highlighted some of the key trends in the industry, starting with coherent moving to shorter reaches. This migration drives higher volumes as well as a need for more standardization because operators want the operational efficiency of interoperability and standards.

400ZR/ZR+ is exceeding expectations and is the fastest coherent product ramp ever displacing both proprietary coherent and direct detect solutions.

Tom recapped how 400ZR/ZR+ has exceeded expectations by being the fastest growing coherent ramp of all time. “We are seeing the core applications that drove the initial OIF 400ZR in the DCI use case and in many of those cases we saw MSA pluggables displacing performance optimized coherent and in others it replaced direct detect,” said Tom. “This has resulted in standardized pluggable optics taking up a higher portion of the coherent market.”

Tom also pointed out that during that same timeframe, the performance of embedded optics has scaled to the point where the industry is approaching the Shannon limit. As a result, component makers are now only seeing incremental improvements in spectral efficiency and operators are not getting significant improvement in capacity on the fiber. That has created a critical need to move to higher baud rates and higher data rates because they provide better economics and better power efficiency from optics. The most efficient way to do this is to develop high performance solutions that align with the investment that is already taking place in the shorter reaches in the pluggable space.

To illustrate the importance of taking the right steps with coherent development, Tom then described the path Acacia has taken. At each class, the company has developed both MSA pluggables and performance optimized solutions. Tom emphasized that, “The benefit that Acacia gets is that we make a big investment in each of these nodes, and we’ve been able to double the baud rate each time. We’ve seen the standards doing this and we’ve aligned our performance optimized solution with those standardized efforts.”  As an example, Acacia took the proven optics from the AC1200 operating at 70Gbaud and brought them into the company’s 400ZR/ZR+ products. Using the same platform allowed Acacia to then focus on advancing its packaging technology to take advantage of the efficiencies and have a scalable approach. And today, that same packaging technology is now feeding into the Coherent Interconnect Module (CIM) 8 module, which is enabling a pluggable performance optimized solution operating at 140Gbaud. It’s expected that the next generation will also have a doubling of the baud rates (as shown below) which would adhere to where the standards are expected to align.

Leveraging common development based on standards for both performance optimized, and pluggable solutions leads to higher data rates.

As Tom explained, the reason advancements in packaging have been so important is because the high-speed electrical interconnects are often the problem in the RF path when you start going to higher baud rates. By eliminating most of those interconnects, Acacia has been able to significantly extend the bandwidth of the RF chain and still get all the benefits of silicon and standards CMOS processes. Based on the Jannu DSP, the CIM 8 started shipping at the end of 2022 and has already been used in field trials with NYSERNet, China Mobile and Windstream Wholesale.

Nokia Looks to Lower Cost Per Bit with New Techniques
Serge Melle, Director Optical Product Marketing at Nokia, focused on what performance optimized solutions provide from a network applications standpoint. This started with a look at the trends that Nokia sees, and which are driving the key requirements for operators, which include bandwidth growth, faster internet speeds from IP routing platforms, and the need to lower network power consumption to achieve sustainability objectives.

As Serge stated, “This is really where this new generation of 5nm, 120Gbaud+ technology can address all of these things at the same time with the same technology evolution.” By being able to go to 1.2T wavelengths, operators can leverage the technology to achieve 2.4T in a single line card. That enables network operators to get much more scale in deployment of the bandwidth and reduce total cost of ownership, while also providing an effective means of transporting high speed services such as 400 Gigabit Ethernet and 800 Gigabit Ethernet. In addition, the performance improvement of this new generation of technology enables operators to triple the reach at 800G speeds – thereby going from several hundreds of kilometers to 2,000km distances at 800G per wavelengths.  Added Serge, “This is a very effective way to transport high-speed services across all network applications and can drive a significant reduction in the number of coherent optics needed in the network, which in turns leads to cost savings.  This technology can also provide significant network power savings because it can lower network power consumption by up to 60 percent.”

Like the prior speakers, Serge also stressed the importance of driving down the power per bit. “Every coherent generation has been able to achieve that and this latest generation of 1.2T technology continues the trend by leveraging 5nm silicon, silicon photonics and closer integration,” he said.

Finally, Serge shared how this latest generation of technology can be leveraged across a broad range of applications including metro DCI, long-haul and subsea networks.

Watch the replay
Click here to watch the replay. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us via this contact form.