400G Pluggables and Terabit Era Optics
The 400G coherent pluggable market has been the fastest growing coherent technology to date and, according to CignalAI, as of 2022, Acacia’s comprehensive 400G ZR/ZR+ portfolio is leading the market with 60% market share.

Acacia’s  Bright 400ZR+ QSFP-DD pluggable coherent optical module with high-transmit power is in high demand with a steady stream of trials and deployments. Leading up to ECOC, we saw Bright deployments announced from Arelion and the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC) and earlier this year, Vodafone Turkey and Sipartech announced their own Bright field trials.

While pluggables or router-based DCOs (Digital Coherent Optics) are becoming popular for requirements in DCI, metro and some long-haul applications, transponder-based coherent solutions are still being used for long-haul, ultra-long haul and subsea. Acacia’s performance optimized multi-haul coherent solutions have proven to be extremely effective for these applications. Our single carrier pluggable 1.2T Coherent Interconnect Module 8 (CIM 8), shipping since late 2022, is leading the industry into the Terabit Era. To date, we have seen record-breaking CIM 8 field trial announcements from Nysernet, China Mobile and Windstream Wholesale.  The CIM 8 enables these network operators to achieve the highest capacity and reach today while maximizing transmission data rate across a wide range of multi-haul network applications.

Defining the Path to 800G Pluggables
Following the explosive growth of 400G pluggables, next-generation switch/router ASICs are being introduced with 800G I/O port speeds, creating the need for 800G optical interfaces for DCI. Like the 400G MSA pluggable cycle, multiple standardization bodies such as OIF, Open ROADM and the IEEE are working in parallel to provide industry standards for 800G optical transmission and 800 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE), helping to foster economies of scale. While module vendors are introducing the required technologies to enable low power 120+Gbaud solutions that would fit into small form-factor modules such as QSFP-DD and OSFP.

To meet customer needs and drive future adoption, it’s important for 800G coherent MSA pluggables to have several key features and capabilities including optical transmission, client traffic, low power consumption, and interoperable module management.  We believe the key functional requirements that operators are looking for to make this transition include:

• Support for OIF 800ZR and high-performance interoperable Probabilistic Constellation Shaping (PCS) modes
• Multi-haul capable
• High transmit (Tx) optical power option
• 800GbE client traffic support
• Multiplexing lower speed 100/200/400GbE electrical client traffic
• Low power consumption
• Coherent Common Management Interface Specification (C-CMIS) compliance

With the first 800G pluggable deployments expected in 2024, these future solutions can plug directly into switch/router ports to further drive adoption of IP-over-DWDM router-based optical network architectures.

Coherent Interoperability Participation:  OIF and OpenZR+ MSA
Continuing its commitment to building an industry-wide ecosystem, Acacia is excited to be participating in the OIF’s largest-ever multi-vendor interoperability event in booth #304 at ECOC. Come see our participation in the 400ZR+ optics and Common Management Interface Specification (CMIS) implementations interoperability demonstrations.

In addition, Acacia has continued to play a key role as a member of the OpenZR+ Multi-Source Agreement (MSA) Group. Leading up to ECOC, the group announced that it had published the OpenZR+ Rev 3.0 specification, which defines a higher performing 400G 8QAM mode as well as a higher transmit power mode. This new specification is designed to further expand the application space for OpenZR+ with new modes that can address longer reaches and a wider range of network architectures.

Come See Us!
If you are attending the show and want to connect, we’d welcome the opportunity to meet with you. Click here to set up a meeting. We hope to see you in Scotland.

The aggressive ramp of 400G coherent pluggables has been faster than any previous coherent technology generation. Acacia’s comprehensive 400G pluggable portfolio in QSFP-DD, OSFP and CFP-DCO form factors and including support for 400ZR, OpenZR+ and Open ROADM MSA has led to its more than 50% market share in this category.

Field trials are now underway with several network operators looking to leverage Acacia’s newest 400G pluggable, the Bright 400ZR+ QSFP-DD module with high-transmit power for 400G transmission over ROADM line systems. With announcements already from Arelion, Vodafone Turkey, and most recently Sipartech, the Bright 400ZR+ module with greater than +1 dBm transmit power is proving to help network operators meet bandwidth demands while driving economies of scale on a common technology platform.

Cisco and Sipartech Successfully Test 400G Over 1,337 km to Deliver a More Efficient Transport Network for the Future
Cisco and Neutral European infrastructure carrier, Sipartech, announced the successful trial deployment of a 400G circuit using the Cisco NCS 5504 network convergence system together with the high transmit power Bright 400G ZR+ QSFP-DD optical module over 1,337 km.

For the trial, Sipartech used a Cisco chassis with the 400G QSFP-DD capable line cards over a third-party line system, with eight ROADMs, a typical ‘alien wave’ deployment for the Cisco Routed Optical Network. The routers were upgraded with the Bright 400G ZR+ QSFP-DD optics at both ends. The speed of the deployment was done within a few hours. This model negates a significant amount of physical hardware components, helping to reduce the carbon emissions associated with manufacturing the equipment.

The long-haul route used for this trial in the production network was from Paris to Clermont-Ferrand to Lyon, and back to Paris over mixed fiber. Sipartech has been deploying its own fiber and optical transmission networks in France and Europe since 2008, interconnecting major data centers to ensure high-quality services.

Following the trial’s success, Sipartech will use the Bright 400G ZR+ QSFP-DD high-power module to roll out 400G transponder-free services across its network footprint to connect more international businesses and ensure quality connections.

“With the interoperability of Cisco’s equipment, we can deploy our next generation 400G+ services with speed, simplicity, and flexibility to meet our customers’ needs, while optimizing energy expenditure and our carbon footprint as part of our global strategy,” said Julien Santina, Sipartech CEO.

Arelion Takes Next Step in Converging its IP and Optical Networking Layers
Arelion (formerly Telia Carrier) announced late last year that it was the first network operator to successfully demonstrate 400G coherent connections between Cisco 8000 and NCS 5700 router platforms over third-party open line system using Bright 400ZR+ QSFP-DD modules supporting high transmit power. On a live fiber route with existing ROADM infrastructure between Hamburg and Copenhagen, Arelion successfully leveraged the Bright 400ZR+ QSFP-DD between Cisco 8000 and NCS 5700 router platforms. The trial demonstrated the seamless integration of Routed Optical Networking with DWDM transponders carrying wavelength services.

“Multi-layer architecture has always been challenging to scale and operate due to decades of accumulated complexity. With this latest trial, Arelion demonstrated the possibility to simplify conversion and interoperability, bringing us closer to Routed Optical Networking that evolves cost structures, scalability and efficiency,” said Dariusz Solowiej, VP Network Technology & Customer Operations at Arelion. “400G coherent pluggables will help our customers secure high-performance connectivity at the lowest cost and help us grow our networks in scale as we continue to connect the world.”

Vodafone Turkey Provides Faster and More Reliable Services
Vodafone Turkey was the first operator in Turkey to test 400G speeds with multiple suppliers and network layers. In a trial conducted using the Bright 400ZR+ QSFP-DD modules and Cisco routers, a speed of 400G was achieved with optical routing between Vodafone’s data centers in Tuzla and Esenyurt.  According to Vodafone, this technology will enable them to provide faster and highly reliable services to its corporate and individual customers. It will also support the fight against global warming and climate change by increasing energy efficiency and reducing its carbon footprint.

Brightening ROADM Networks
With an optical transmitter power at least ten times greater than 400ZR, the Bright 400ZR+ QSFP-DD coherent module expands the applications that can be addressed by 400G coherent pluggable modules to include brownfield and greenfield metro/regional networks with reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer (ROADM) nodes. To learn more about the expanding use cases read this blog article.

For more information on the Bright 400ZR+ module or to discuss how any of Acacia’s 400G pluggables can meet the needs of your network, contact us.

The 400G OpenZR+ MSA expanded 400ZR reaches far beyond 120km by utilizing higher-gain forward error-correction coding (FEC) and increased compensation for chromatic and polarization mode dispersion. This enabled the use of 400G pluggables not only in hyperscale environments, but also in metro/regional service provider network environments. Service providers have thus been focusing on these “plus” versions of 400G modules for their network needs.

Brightening ROADM Networks
The latest expansion of 400G pluggable applications is being enabled by QSFP-DD form-factor modules, such as Acacia’s Bright 400ZR+ QSFP-DD, which have an optical transmitter power at least ten times greater than 400ZR. The higher transmitter power expands the applications that can be addressed by 400G coherent pluggable modules to include brownfield and greenfield metro/regional networks with reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer (ROADM) nodes, shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1.  Recently introduced Bright 400ZR+ QSFP-DD modules expand applications of 400G coherent pluggables to brownfield and greenfield metro/regional networks with ROADM nodes.

ROADMs enable the ability to selectively add/drop wavelengths to/from the network, avoiding optical-electrical-optical (OEO) conversions on channels passing through the ROADM node. Enabled by wavelength selective switch (WSS) technology, ROADM-based architectures can provide operational advantages compared to fixed optical add/drop solutions that required manual intervention for reconfiguration.

These network elements operate in tandem with terminal DWDM equipment and amplified single-span or multi-span line systems. To ensure optimal aggregate optical SNR performance, a certain level of transmit optical power and uniformity is required across the entire DWDM wavelength band. Having a 400G coherent pluggable QSFP-DD solution with high transmit optical power would enable 400G router-based optics to be deployed in a ROADM network architecture with existing wavelength traffic.

Bright Applications
Figure 2 illustrates two general examples of how Bright 400ZR+ QSFP-DD modules can be used in ROADM networks for sites with or without existing DWDM transponder terminal equipment.

(a)

(b)

Figure 2. 400G QSFP-DD pluggables with high transmit optical power can be used at a network node in new deployments (a) or with (b) existing DWDM transport/transponder terminal equipment.

IP-over-DWDM over ROADM Infrastructure
While point-to-point IP-over-DWDM architectures can be fully supported using 400ZR or OpenZR+ modules, there may be instances in which IP-over-DWDM traffic may need to traverse over a legacy ROADM infrastructure (Figure 2a), perhaps as an overlay with existing sites populated with DWDM transport terminal equipment (Figure 2b). Figure 2b also illustrates an alien-wavelength example where a router-port wavelength is inserted into a line system of a different vendor.

While there are network designs that support the use of -10dBm 400ZR+ modules over a ROADM network, it becomes a challenge when the DWDM transmission from these modules are adjacent to multiple legacy higher optical power channels (Figure 3a) resulting in relatively lower received optical power and OSNR. Legacy transponder terminal equipment typically have a per-channel ingress optical power in the 0dBm range. One solution is to add an external optical amplifier per module to boost the optical transmit power to the 0dBm level into the line system ingress.

By taking advantage of highly integrated silicon photonics design and packaging technology, such as Acacia’s 3D Siliconization, it is possible to eliminate the need for an external amplifier by incorporating the optical amplification into the compact QSFP-DD form factor module. Utilizing a 400G coherent pluggable with a higher optical transmitter power of at least 0dBm ensures sufficient optical power, relative to other DWDM wavelengths, to traverse through legacy ROADM nodes, as shown in Figure 3b.
(a)
(b)

Figure 3.  (a) A standard 400ZR/ZR+ module with transmitter output power of -10dBm co-exists with legacy higher power channels, subject to lower received optical power and OSNR; (b) a Bright 400ZR+ wavelength ensures channel power uniformity in ROADM/line-system ingress when combined with other line-system traffic.

Transmitting in High Fidelity
Many ROADM architectures utilize colorless multiplexing. This type of ROADM has a passive optical combiner element (Colorless MUX in Figure 4) that takes individual fiber inputs from different transmission wavelengths and combines them together into a single fiber without any optical filtering, hence the name colorless. In wavelength-agile network designs, external control of the tunable wavelengths avoids any contention issues. To minimize wavelength crosstalk/noise through colorless ROADMs, the transmitter OSNR of each ingress wavelength needs to be maximized. One way to achieve this is to attenuate the laser amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise using a band-pass optical filter to minimize optical crosstalk/noise into nearby channels. And to accommodate wavelength-agile networks, a tunable optical filter (TOF) is utilized.

Figure 4.   Illustration highlighting the benefits of a TOF inside a coherent module with internal optical amplification when multiple channels pass through a colorless multiplexer; comparison between (a) modules without TOF vs. (b) modules with TOF.

Figure 4 illustrates how multiple wavelengths are combined using a colorless MUX. In figure 4a, the noise from multiple modules without a TOF impacts nearby transmission channels through a colorless MUX. By using a TOF, not only does is transmit OSNR improved, but also the noise affecting adjacent channels is minimized. The Figure 4 inset illustrates how a TOF suppresses noise resulting in an optimal situation of a module wavelength insertion surrounded by legacy wavelength transmissions, shown in Figure 4b.

Higher Density DWDM Footprint
For network operators continuing to leverage an optical transport layer, the higher optical power QSFP-DD modules enable a higher density design for DWDM transponder terminal equipment. While high transmit optical power has been available in the CFP2 form factor for 400G, advanced integration and design has resulted in this capability in the smaller QSFP-DD housing.

The Acacia Bright Solution
Acacia recently introduced its Bright 400ZR+ coherent pluggable QSFP-DD module that transmits at least +1dBm of optical power to expand 400G coherent pluggable applications with brownfield and greenfield ROADM network architectures. This module leverages 3D siliconization to provide a highly integrated design enabling the silicon photonics integrated circuit (including TOF), coherent DSP, high-speed components, and optical amplifier to fit entirely into a compact QSFP-DD pluggable form-factor module. In addition to supporting interoperable OpenZR+ and Open ROADM modes, the Bright 400ZR+ QSFP-DD module can aggregate 4x100GbE client traffic and also utilize FlexO mapping for OTN transport applications.

Bright 400ZR+ Expands Applications for 400G Pluggables
High transmit power 400G pluggables, such as Acacia’s Bright 400ZR+ module, surpass the market applications served by 400ZR module by enabling an optical transmit power that is at least ten times greater (i.e., brighter). This is another significant milestone because it enables service providers and hyperscalers to take advantage of 400G pluggables in brownfield and greenfield ROADM based optical network architectures.

Additional Resources:

• Bright 400ZR+ coherent pluggable QSFP-DD module Product Page
• Arelion completes first multi-vendor, multi-layer field trial using Acacia Bright 400ZR+ modules and Cisco Routers

Acacia is excited to be participating once again in person!  We expect a number of hot topics to be front and center at the show – from the path to coherent lite, interoperable 400ZR/ZR+ pluggables ramping, and of course high-performance multi-haul solutions.

Coherent Lite

Over the last year, the industry has been abuzz around a new effort called “coherent lite,” which is a simpler implementation of coherent transmission that is designed for use in short reach campus and intra-DC applications. It essentially removes the features required for traditional transport DWDM applications.

Coherent lite pluggables can provide a competitive cost structure at 800G and beyond, utilizing fewer lasers, while meeting campus and intra-DC requirements. This solution can be a candidate for applications typically addressed by IM-DD solutions. We believe this will be a hot topic at the show.

The Rise of Standardized 400G Pluggables

The 400G coherent pluggable market is one of the most important developments in optical networking today. According to Cignal AI’s 4Q21 Transport Applications Report, shipments of 400ZR/ZR+ modules are expected to triple in 2022 as cloud operators such as Microsoft, Amazon, and Google are joined by traditional network operators such as AT&T, Windstream, and COLT rolling out high volume deployments.  Similarly, LightCounting’s Market Forecast from April 2022 estimates that the opportunity for pluggables based on 400ZR and 800ZR technology will surpass $2.8 billion by 2027.

Clearly, interoperable standards have played a key role in the rapid growth of pluggables. Standardization helps carriers by providing simplicity, interoperability and volume-driven cost. This has helped increase demand. The aggressive ramp of these products has been faster than any previous coherent technology generation. Several OIF members including Acacia are set to showcase multivendor interoperability for critical networking technologies at ECOC 2022.

OIF’s 400ZR project is proving successful in facilitating new and simplified architectures for high bandwidth inter-data center interconnects and promoting interoperability among coherent optical module manufacturers including Acacia’s 400ZR QSFP-DD. This 400ZR interop demo shows a full implementation across an 80km DWDM ecosystem using multiple form-factor pluggable modules, 400GbE routers, a 75 GHz C-band open line system, and test equipment solutions from multiple vendors. The demo provides evidence of widescale 400ZR deployment readiness based on a broad ecosystem of interoperable solutions.

Acacia’s newest entrant to the pluggable module category is the high transmit power 400G pluggable, which we are calling our “Bright” module.  We recently introduced the Bright 400ZR+ QSFP-DD pluggable coherent optical module with high optical performance designed for seamless deployment in ROADM line systems. These modules are designed to expand the applications for this technology by addressing a variety of ROADM architectures such as those with colorless multiplexing. With greater than +1 dBm transmit optical power and high transmit OSNR, Acacia’s Bright 400ZR+ gives network operators more flexibility to address a range of brownfield and greenfield applications utilizing the high-density QSFP-DD form factor.

High-Performance Multi-Haul Solutions

While pluggables are becoming extremely popular for router-based solutions in DCI, metro and some long-haul applications, transponder-based solutions are still required for long-haul, ultra-long haul and subsea. Transponders that include multi-haul high-performance modules can help network operators maximize their fiber investment, reduce power, simplify operations, and decrease costs.

The industry has shifted its focus to increasing the baud rate per carrier, while also introducing performance-improving innovations, to enable end-users to achieve cost-efficiencies as bandwidth demand continues to grow. As an example, newly introduced Class 3 120+Gbaud solutions based on silicon photonics offer a path to cost-effectively double capacity over a single carrier compared to earlier implementations.

Acacia’s performance optimized multi-haul coherent solutions have proven to be extremely effective at helping service providers meet these challenges.  Earlier this year, Acacia announced it had shipped more than 100,000 ports of its Pico DSP which powers the company’s highly successful AC1200 1.2TB module.

Building on this success, Acacia introduced its Coherent Interconnect Module 8 (CIM8), which is based on the company’s newest DSP technology, the 8^th generation Jannu 5nm DSP, and includes second generation 3D Shaping and continuous baud rate adjustment of up to 140Gbaud.  This new module achieves several industry firsts:

• The first single-carrier 1.2TB multi-haul pluggable module
• The first coherent module to support 140Gbaud
• The first 5nm multi-haul DSP

Acacia successfully demonstrated 140Gbaud performance with our high-performance silicon photonics at this year’s OFC 2022.

Speaking Sessions

To hear more about the topics discussed in this article, don’t miss our speaking sessions.

• Workshop: Adaptive everything! Do optical networks really need more flexibility?
  • Presentation title: 400ZR and OpenZR+: Enabling New Network Architecture Optimization
  • Speaker: Lorenzo Ghioni
  • Date/time:  Sunday September 18^that 9:15-9:25 am
• Market Focus Panel: Modules/Sub-Systems/Connectors/Line-Cards
  • Presentation title: Next Generation Coherent Interfaces: Standardized Pluggable vs Proprietary Multi-haul
  • Speaker: Tom Williams
  • Date/time: Tuesday September 20^that 10:00-10:25 am

Come See Us!
If you are attending the show and want to connect, we’d welcome the opportunity to meet with you. Click here to set up a meeting. We hope to see you in Switzerland!

The Growth of 400G Pluggables
LightCounting’s Market Forecast from October 2021 estimates that the opportunity for pluggables based on 400ZR and 800ZR technology will surpass $2.3 billion by 2026. Acacia is experiencing strong demand for its 400G products and is ramping quickly.

This is being driven by growing bandwidth demand that is putting pressure on cloud providers to increase the data center interconnects (DCI) that link their facilities around the globe. 400G pluggable modules represent a key architectural change in high-bandwidth data center interconnects because they can be plugged directly into switches and routers offering the same density for both coherent DWDM and client optics in the same chassis. Much has been written about how this architectural change helps network operators support their growing bandwidth demands in a more cost-efficient manner.

Service providers are embracing the same technology to address applications with greater reaches and more complex network architectures. Acacia is continuing to introduce product configurations that offer maximum flexibility for service providers to leverage common technology to scale their network capacity.

We believe 400G pluggable solutions including “coherent gray optics” will continue to expand and allow customers to address a wide range of applications for cloud DCI and service provider networks with interoperability support for 400ZR, OpenZR+, Open ROADM, and CableLabs.

Acacia experts are presenting in a few sessions on this topic if you’d like to hear more:

Show Floor Program: Deployment of 400ZR and the Ongoing OIF Work to Define 800ZR/LR
Date/Time: Wednesday, March 9, 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Acacia Speaker: Tom Williams, Sr. Director of Marketing

Show Floor Program: OpenZR+: Enabling High-performance Router-based Optics
Date/Time: Thursday, March 10, 11:30 – 12:30 pm
Acacia Speaker: Tom Williams, Sr. Director of Marketing

Market Watch Panel V: Evolution of Coherent Transceiver Architectures for Specific Applications
Date/Time: Thursday, March 10, 10:30 – 12:00 pm
Acacia Speaker: Anuj Malik, Director of Product and Strategy

Performance Optimized Multi-Haul Solutions
Another hot topic continues to be ultra-high-performance multi-haul solutions.  The discussions around the importance of Silicon Photonics and roadmap alignment with industry trends continue.

Coherent technology innovations are helping service providers evolve their optical networks, optimize performance and lower cost per bit. To continue to advance, these providers need high-performance solutions that maximize their fiber investment, reduce power, simplify operations, and decrease costs.

To meet these needs, Acacia’s multi-haul coherent optical solutions work across multiple applications to help cost-effectively meet bandwidth needs. Acacia’s latest innovation, the Coherent Interconnect Module 8 (CIM 8) solution, is the industry’s first 1.2T pluggable coherent module designed to enable network operators to maximize transmission data rate across a wide range of multi-haul network applications including DCI, metro, long-haul, and subsea. In fact, the CIM 8 just received a 5.0 rating in the annual Lightwave Innovation Reviews.

If you’d like to learn more about the advancements in this area, we have several Acacia speakers sharing their expertise at these OFC sessions:

Workshop: Single-Carrier Versus Multi-Carrier for >800G Coherent Optics: A Revived Debate After a Decade
Date/Time: Sunday, March 6, 4:00 – 6:30 pm
Acacia Speaker: Ian Dedic, Distinguished Engineer

Workshop: How will 200G (and beyond) per Lambda IM/DD Compete with Coherent Technology for Intra-DC Applications
Date/Time: Sunday, March 6, 4:00 – 6:30 pm
Acacia Speaker: Mark Heimbuch, Principal Engineer

Panel: What are the Parallelization Technologies for Cost and Energy Efficient 1.6Tb Links?
Date/Time: Tuesday, March 8, 2:00 – 4:00 pm
Acacia Speaker: Long Chen, Director of Engineering

Panel: 1.6T SiPh Coherent Solution for Intra data Center Interconnection
Date/Time:  Tuesday, March 8, 2:00 – 4:00 pm
Acacia Speaker:  Hongbin Zhang, Principal Engineer 

Acacia Participating in First-Ever Public Multivendor 400ZR Interop Demo
Acacia’s 400ZR QSFP-DD and 400G CFP2 Pluggable Coherent Optical Modules will be used in the Optical Internetworking Forum Interoperability Demonstration to showcase progress on 400ZR.   OIF’s 400ZR project is critical in facilitating the reduction of cost and complexity for high bandwidth data center interconnects and promoting interoperability among optical module manufacturers. This is the first-ever public multivendor 400ZR interop demo. The demo consists of a full implementation of 400GE across an 80km, DWDM ecosystem using multiple modules, router, open line systems, and test equipment vendors, demonstrating the project achieved its interoperability goals.  You can see the demo at OIF’s booth, #5101.

Come See Us!
If you are attending the show and want to connect in person or virtually, we’d welcome the opportunity to meet with you. Click here to set up a meeting.  We hope to see you in San Diego!

At a fraction of the size of comparable network electronics currently in use, these multi-MSA (Multi-Source Agreement) compliant pluggables allow for deployment models and cost savings that were not feasible with previous generations of long-reach optics.

According to ACG Research paper, The Economic Benefits of IP Transport at 400G, 400G IP transport networks will be more operationally cost effective than typical router bypass networks. In addition, IP transport networks have 46% TCO savings, 57% OPEX savings, and 35% CAPEX savings over router bypass networks because of increased router capacity, lower price  per Gbps and significant reductions in OPEX by simplifying the optical layer.

400G Pluggables – Not Just for DCI Anymore
While the first 400G pluggable application was 400ZR targeting point-to-point data center interconnect (DCI) primarily for hyperscalers, carriers are now seeing the benefits in other applications including metro/regional and long-haul.  For example, some carriers might have data centers to offer as a service to enterprise customers or to host their own content (e.g., entertainment). Others may want to build an infrastructure to offer wholesale pipes as a service to large bandwidth customers such as hyperscalers.

Windstream Wholesale and Telia Carrier both made recent announcements highlighting the use of 400G pluggables in a carrier network environment.

Windstream Wholesale Sets Two Industry Records
Windstream Wholesale announced last month that it had completed a live network trial that successfully deployed 400G single-wavelength transmission over 1,027 kilometers. The trial, which was deployed on Windstream’s long-haul network between Phoenix and Los Angeles, set an industry-leading real-world benchmark of 400G using Acacia Communications’ digital coherent optics technology.  Also, during these trials, Windstream set another industry record by looping back the signal to achieve 300G transmission over 2,054 kilometers.

The optical performance results of the Windstream trial marked a milestone in optical networking by demonstrating that pluggable modules can be used for regional and long-haul reaches.

Windstream Wholesale said that it expects to begin deploying ZR+ coherent pluggable modules in the second half of 2021, and claims the technology has applicability in as many as 80% of its existing links.

Telia Carrier Simplifies its Network with 400G Pluggables
In December 2020, Telia Carrier announced that it was preparing to converge their IP and optical networking layers to simplify their networks. In preparation for this new solution, Telia Carrier claimed it had already deployed open line systems and terminal equipment that could support new 400G pluggable technology.

As an early adopter of this new architecture, Telia Carrier is one of the first network operators to perform full end-to-end validation of the solution. The testing leveraged Acacia’s 400G QSFP-DD coherent modules with OIF 400ZR and OpenZR+ operating modes, enabling Telia to support data rates from 100G to 400G depending on the desired reach. The modules also support client n x 100GbE multiplexing functionality as well as 400GbE transport.

Moving to 400G coherent optical transceiver modules enables Telia Carrier to migrate to a more converged network architecture capable of enabling OpEx and CapEx savings, as well as a pay as you grow business model.

Interoperability with Multi-MSA Compliance
Standardization of optical networking technology helps carriers by providing simplicity, interoperability and volume-driven cost. In the 400G pluggable market, standardization started with 400ZR and quickly evolved as carriers demanded higher performance. This led to the creation of both the Open ROADM and OpenZR+ MSAs.

Open ROADM MSA  – The Open ROADM MSA defines interoperability specifications for Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexers (ROADM) networks. Included are the ROADM switch as well as transponders and pluggable optics. Specifications consist of both Optical interoperability as well as YANG data models. The Open ROADM MSA defines a framing approach that supports line rates of 200G, 300G or 400G, greater host interface flexibility and supports a high performance soft-decision FEC, called openFEC, which offers higher coding gain more comparable to proprietary implementations typically used in long-haul applications.

OpenZR+ MSA  – OpenZR+ modules maintain the simpler ethernet-only host interface of 400ZR, and add support for multi-rate Ethernet and multiplexing capabilities at 100G, 200G, 300G or 400G line interfaces. OpenZR+ modules enable reaches beyond 400ZR with higher dispersion tolerance and higher coding gain using openFEC, which has been 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 a wide range of ethernet applications.

Higher Performance and Longer Distances

It’s exciting to see Windstream and Telia investing in plans to deploy 400G for metro/regional and long-haul applications to leverage the pay as you grow and operational benefits that 400G pluggable coherent optics has to offer.

Watch this video to learn more about Acacia’s 400G pluggable portfolio supporting 400ZR, OpenZR+ MSA, and Open ROADM MSA in QSFP-DD, OSFP and CFP2 pluggable form factors. Please contact us if you’d like to discuss 400G solutions for your network.

Here are a few notable accomplishments from the past year.

The Rise of 400G Pluggables
Bandwidth demands have continued to grow, putting pressure on cloud providers to increase the data center interconnects (DCI) that link their facilities around the globe. This has helped to drive the emergence of new architectures that could support coherent transport in the same form factors as client optics, to satisfy those demands in a cost-effective and operationally efficient way. 400G pluggables were designed to be plugged directly into switches and routers, offering the same density for both coherent DWDM and client optics in the same chassis.

Utilizing our 3D siliconization technology, Acacia introduced a family of 400G pluggable solutions featuring an expansive list of interoperability modes (400ZR, OpenZR+, Open ROADM MSA and CableLabs Coherent Optics Physical Layer Specification). These solutions were designed to enable DCI and service provider network operators to address increasing bandwidth demand through a simplified network architecture, helping to reduce both capital and operational expenditures.

Modules based on multi-sourced 400ZR DSPs are now being validated for readiness in DCI applications and network operators are evaluating OpenZR+ solutions with enhanced functionality.  For example, Acacia and Inphi recently demonstrated interoperability of 400ZR over 120km. In addition, Acacia and NTT Electronics announced successful interoperability testing of 400ZR and OpenZR+. At Acacia, we believe we will see system vendors and network operators announcing trials in the near future.

Coherent Moves to Edge and Access
The benefits of coherent have already been demonstrated in the metro, long-haul and submarine markets, and with the coming of 5G and edge computing, the time is right for coherent optics to take the next step and migrate to edge and access networks. We believe this market can benefit from the scalability, operational simplicity and improved total cost of ownership that coherent has to offer.

To address the wide variety of requirements in the edge and access market, Acacia recently announced a portfolio of products, including a coherent bi-directional pluggable optical module for cable and 5G wireless X-haul applications, a 100G coherent point-to-point edge and access solution for 5G Wireless X-haul and Enterprise Services, and a 100G coherent DWDM module for cable/fiber deep and 5G wireless X-haul applications.

Multi-Haul Coherent Solutions Take Off
With bandwidth demands continuing to rise, network operators have been looking for solutions that improve efficiency and maximize capacity utilizing while reducing network cost.  Multi-haul solutions have emerged to meet the needs of many markets including cloud, metro, long-haul and submarine network applications by providing the high performance and flexibility features required to address meet these demanding applications.

Acacia’s AC1200 product family offers customers a multi-haul solution designed to cost-effectively improve network utilization in a wide range of network architectures. Supporting transmission speeds of up to 1.2 Tbps, the AC1200 utilizes Acacia’s 3D shaping technology designed to optimize fiber capacity and reach by filling gaps in margin and spectrum. In addition to its higher capacity and density, Acacia’s AC1200 product family, when embedded inside a number of our network equipment manufacturer partners’ products, provides features designed to enable network operators to improve efficiency while reducing network costs.

Here are a few examples.

Long-haul Terrestrial Applications
ADVA announced that the FSP3000 TeraFlex broke multiple industry records in live network trial. ADVA also announced that FUNET trialed ADVA FSP 3000 TeraFlex to dramatically expand network capacity and Serverius, one of the Netherlands’ largest data center service suppliers, is leveraging its FSP 3000 TeraFlex terminal to massively increase the capacity of its deployed infrastructure.

Submarine Applications
Cisco is making waves in the subsea market having demonstrated the benefits of the NCS 1004 over a subsea cable in production achieving record results. Cisco and Superloop announced two deployments of up to 400G for 4600km on the INDIGO West cable from Singapore to Australia, and the INDIGO Central cable from Perth to Sydney, featuring a two-fibre pair ‘open cable’ design with new spectrum sharing technology.

Oh What a Year – But the Show Must Go On
As NGON & DCI World and ECOC go virtual this year, I am looking forward to presenting in the following two panels. I hope to see many of you online and from all of us at Acacia…stay safe and healthy and have a great rest of the year.

• NGON & DCI World on Dec 1 at 9:00 am ET: “Next Generation Optics for Increased Capacity”
• ECOC Market Focus on Dec 7 at 17:00 CET: “A Path to Next Generation Coherent”

Contact us if you would like to schedule a meeting with myself or one of my colleagues.