As we head to OFC next month, we thought it would be a great opportunity to look back at some of the developments since last year’s show. It was a year of much activity in the optical coherent space.

There was an increased interest in pluggable coherent CFP2 in the marketplace, as evidenced by the numerous module and system product announcements at OFC 2018. In May of 2018, we announced our collaboration with Lumentum (formerly Oclaro) to enable a second source CFP2 based on our Meru DSP. We are proud to have been the first supplier to introduce CFP2 to the market back in late 2016, and we welcome the growing interest in this form-factor because of the density and power consumption benefits for 100G and 200G coherent pluggable links in the metro and access space.

600G Era is here

The past year was also when the industry saw the introduction of 600G era technology with numerous announcements of DSPs and systems capable of up to 600Gbps per wavelength transmission. For example, ECI unveiled a 1.2T (dual 600G channel) optical blade and Tencent trialed ADVA FSP 3000 TeraFlex 600G DCI technology over its open line system OPC-4.

Acacia’s AC1200 1.2Tbps coherent module, powered by Acacia’s Pico DSP ASIC, has been well received, with its high performance, high-baud rate 70+Gbaud capabilities, as well as its flexible 3D Shaping capabilities as explained in this video.

We have participated in a couple of trials including ADVA’s 300G submarine demo using the FSP 3000 TeraFlexplatform, and the first demonstration of 400G per wavelength transmission over the 6,600 km trans-Atlantic Marea submarine cable. The AC1200’s rich set of features was designed to provide benefits to submarine, long-haul, metro, and edge DCI applications for network optimization and cost-per-bit savings.

2018 was a busy year for Acacia’s thought leaders, who had the privilege to speak at numerous venues last year. Key topics included silicon photonics, optics, and DSP ASICs. You can learn more about the topics and presentations by reading the blog post on each event including OFC, NGON, CIOE, ECOC, Light Reading’s 5G Transport Event, and GFP2018 Group IV Photonics Conference.

Throughout the year, Acacia continued our support for industry efforts to standardize coherent interconnects within OIF, IEEE, Open ROADM, CableLabs and ITU. These efforts are expanding existing coherent standards to address higher data rates, as well as adoption of coherent in shorter reach access and DCI edge applications. In next generation Remote PHY and 5G applications, network operators are looking at coherent as an access aggregation technology. These access applications are also driving new environmental requirements for coherent interfaces.

2019 and beyond

According to the Cisco VNI report, annual global IP traffic is forecasted to increase threefold over the next five years, reaching 4.8 ZB per year by 2022. Growth is expected to be driven by connected technologies such as autonomous vehicles and the adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT). The optics industry faces the continued challenge to support this network expansion with technology innovation that drives more efficient network architectures.

Multi-haul Solutions

With the introduction of systems supporting higher baud rates, flexible modulation and advanced performance, network operators are leveraging common hardware for applications ranging from metro through submarine. Whether the benefits of these solutions are utilized for higher capacity, such as in DCI edge applications, or greater reach these solutions offer improvements in operational flexibility and efficiency. Our AC1200 customers are demonstrating the benefits of this new deployment model to network operators.

IP over DWDM

For many years, it has been desirable to place transport optics directly in switches and routers, eliminating the need for bookended transport solutions. Deployment of this architecture has been limited, though, by a couple drawbacks. First, transport optics have typically been larger form factors than client optics, which results in stranded switch capacity. The increased adoption of pluggable coherent optics, such as our CFP2 and the 400ZR modules are designed to address this concern. Second, closed line systems have meant that alien wavelengths have sacrificed performance compared to bookended solutions. Through many industry efforts, open line systems are closing the gap and in some cases can offer benefits by allowing for faster adoption of new technology.

Standardization

As mentioned earlier, the trend toward standardization of coherent interconnects for certain emerging applications has already started. This momentum behind these efforts continues to grow as it becomes clear that standardization of these technologies can be achieved. New applications and higher data rates are likely to continue this trend in 2019 and beyond.

We’re excited to have a front row seat as the optical networking industry looks forward to the next set of challenges to be overcome in 2019 and beyond. We look forward to seeing you all next month at OFC!

In a few short days several members of the Acacia Communications team are scheduled to attend the annual European Conference on Optical Communication (ECOC) Conference and Exhibition at the Fiera Roma in Rome, Europe’s largest optical communications event. On the agenda for this year’s show are topics ranging from next-generation data centers to optics as an enabler for 5G. We are bringing a full team to talk to customers and partners and to learn more about the advancements our colleagues are making in optical communication technologies.

The 600G Era

We’re looking forward to discussing the progress of coherent optical technology and the industry transition to the 600G (per-wavelength) era which where capabilities, such as high-baud-rate optics, fine-tuned coherent transmission flexibility, and enhanced forward error correction (FEC) algorithms, are raising coherent performance to new levels.

In addition, today’s technology is designed to enable common coherent optical hardware to achieve the high-performance finesse of a long-distance link, the sheer raw capacity for shorter edge links, and scales to applications in between. This is the reason why some refer to the 600G era coherent technology as multi-haul technology since the same set of hardware can address long-haul, metro, and DCI-edge networks.

Learn more about the 600G era by reading “Fill Capacity Gaps in Your Optical Network” just published in the Autumn Edition of Optical Connections Magazine.

AC1200 600Gbps per Wavelength Coherent Transmission Demonstration

Acacia plans to show its AC1200 coherent module with dual-core design enabling 1.2 Tbps error-free transmission over fiber with 600 Gbps per wavelength coherent transmission. The AC1200 also features high-baud-rate high-performance capabilities as well as fine-tuning of the transmission using 3D Shaping which optimizes reach and capacity utilization. 600 Gbps performance requires DSP and optics technology with both high bandwidth and high performance. Acacia’s AC1200 module, which is based on its internally developed silicon photonics technology, uses advanced techniques to minimize implementation penalties and high-gain soft-decision forward error correction (FEC) to improve performance margin. Not only does this allow AC1200 to achieve high capacity 600 Gbps per wavelength transmission, with up to 1.2 Tbps, but it also results in improved performance at lower data rates, such as 200 Gbps and 400 Gbps, compared to existing solutions.

Plug coherent in edge and access

Also at the show, we expect to hear a lot of discussion around advances in coherent technology to help meet growing bandwidth demand beyond the core. Today, coherent is moving from metro core to access aggregation networks. The industry is working to standardize coherent solutions for even shorter reach interfaces including two new specifications recently announced by CableLabs that are the result of a focused effort to develop coherent optics technology for the access network and bring it to market quickly.

We look forward to discussing Acacia’s participation in the industry organizations such as Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF), IEEE, and Cable Labs and the trend towards using coherent solutions such as Acacia’s award-winning CFP2 for shorter distances.

Acacia Communications’ Thought Leaders to Present

In addition, Acacia Communications experts plan to lead discussions and share knowledge covering topics such as Digital Signal Processing (DSP), subsea communications, and lab automation. See below for a complete listing of who, when, where and what each plans to share with ECOC attendees:

Sunday, September 23, 2018

• 9:00-12:30 – Timo Pfau, principal DSP engineer, will present on “What can DSP bring to optical access” in the DSP for Next Generation Optical Access Workshop.
• 9:00-12:30 – Christian Rasmussen, founder and vice president of digital signal processing and optics, will share his thoughts on the “Future scaling and capabilities of DSP algorithms” in the Coherent DSP in Optical Communications Workshop.
• 9:00-12:30 – Hongbin Zhang, principal DSP engineer, will present on the “Future of transponders for submarine transmission” in the Submarine Systems Workshop.

Tuesday, September 25, 2018

• 1:30 – 3:00 p.m. – BinBin Guan, optical engineer, will lead the Lab Automation Hackathon in which there will be eight demonstrations for various common lab automation tasks.

Wednesday, September 25, 2018

• 1:30 p.m. – Timo Pfau will present his invited paper titled, “High performance coherent ASIC” as part of the SC3 – Digital Signal Handling Techniques for Optical Communication Systems session.

Our team of experts is available to discuss Acacia Communications’ latest innovations in optical interconnect solutions. If you’d like to meet with Acacia at ECOC, contact us. We’d love your feedback!

Last week, Acacia introduced coherent ZR Optics solutions for CFP and CFP2 Pluggable Modules. Let’s take a look at why these solutions have evolved to address the need for growing capacity in network access and edge applications.

It should come as no surprise that rising commercial and consumer bandwidth demands linking the end user to core networks have created the need to increase the capacity within the access portion of the network infrastructure. Today, deployed fiber-optic access networks typically utilize 10Gbps optical links, transporting either Ethernet or SONET/SDH protocol traffic with Ethernet being a dominant protocol. Direct-detect optical transceivers adhering to IEEE 10GBASE-ER Ethernet specifications enabled 40km link distances without requiring any optical amplification. To fulfill network demands that required reaches beyond 40km in the access network, transceivers meeting 10Gbps “ZR” requirements entered the market. IEEE actually never formally created a 10GBASE-ZR specification. Instead, ZR became a market de facto standard, typically understood to meet 80km reach requirements based on SONET/SDH optical specifications.

In today’s environment, cloud services, broadband and 5G applications are imposing significant bandwidth demand in access/edge networks. And the need to upgrade from 10Gbps to 100Gbps and beyond over the same distance is becoming increasingly important. We have, in a previous blog post, discussed how coherent technology has progressed from long-haul network applications to shorter reach applications (access, DCI/edge, campus). Because of its inherent intradyne detection and digital signal processing, a coherent transceiver solution fits well in these access/edge network environments that require ≥100G links to overcome high dispersion and high loss conditions. Also, designing coherent ZR transceivers with the same form factors as similar low-power consumption pluggables (such as CFP and CFP2) enable the access equipment to support different distances by simply swapping transceivers.

Figure 1. Acacia’s CFP-DCO ZR and CFP2 ZR pluggable modules

With this as a backdrop, to meet the need for growing capacity in network access and edge apps, Acacia introduced ZR coherent optics solutions to support unamplified applications beyond 40km reaches, extending to 80km and beyond. The introduced CFP-DCO ZR and CFP2 ZR coherent optical interconnect products are capable of supporting the 18W power class that was widely deployed for 10km client applications.

Both Acacia’s CFP-DCO ZR and CFP2 ZR modules have the ability to provide greater than 80km of equivalent loss budget and dispersion budget, over single mode fiber. Acacia’s CFP2 can also support 200G over these types of links. We also expect to see industry support for 400G in the CFP2 form-factor as well. These coherent ZR plug-and-play modules do not require external dispersion compensation or external optical amplification for 80km point-to-point distances.

Evolving Nomenclature

Some may recall during the rise of 10G Ethernet, there was a period of time when terms like “SR” and “LR” meant different reaches whether one came from the “telecom world” versus the “datacom world”. To a telecom person, “SR” could mean SONET OC-192 “SR-1”, a ~10km single mode reach. Whereas, to a datacom person “SR” meant IEEE Ethernet 10GBASE-SR, a 300m multimode reach. “LR” to the telecom person could mean “LR-2”, an 80km single mode link. Whereas, to the datacom person, “LR” referred to a 10GBASE-LR 10km single mode link.

As stated in the beginning of this blog, “ZR” at 10Gbps refers to an 80km-reach optical link. The good news is that the current standardization efforts to define coherent “ZR”, primarily within Optical Internetworking Forum’s 400ZR implementation agreement efforts, also include 80km reach, with the current understanding is that the “ZR” generally refers to a coherent DWDM optical reach from 40km to 80km and beyond. Stay tuned to this blog for future posts on 400ZR developments.

At the end of last year, we announced general availability of our CFP2 module, which Cignal AI analyst Andrew Schmitt called “the darling device of 2H17.” Acacia designed this module to help cloud and telecommunications providers reduce operational and capital expenses, increase reach and accelerate time-to-market of high-capacity solutions.

These pluggable modules are suitable for a wide range of network applications, including data center interconnect, metro access, metro core, and long-haul, as well as emerging applications including remote PHY and client optical interfaces up to 80 km.Acacia CFP2 Coherent Module

Yesterday, Oclaro and Acacia announced that the companies are teaming up to enable a multi-vendor environment of fully interoperable CFP2 modules based on Acacia’s Meru DSP. I talked with John LoMedico, VP of Corporate Development, who worked with Oclaro to ink the deal to find out more.

John LoMedico, VP of Corporate Development, Acacia Communications

Q: What exactly are Acacia and Oclaro announcing?

Until now, Acacia has been the only provider of production CFP2 modules, having announced general availability back in December of 2017. Now, the supply chain will have a second source — Oclaro and Acacia have entered into an agreement that allows Oclaro to launch a new CFP2 module based on the Acacia Meru DSP that will feature plug-and-play compatibility with the Acacia CFP2 module.

Acacia Meru DSP

Q: What does this mean for customers?

It means that customers will be able to buy fully interoperable CFP2 modules from two prominent coherent optical module companies, thereby providing a more robust supply chain with two sources, which customers’ desire.

With this agreement, we believe we have addressed a significant adoption hurdle for those Tier 1 network operators who require multiple sources. Acacia and Oclaro believe that this collaboration will increase the pace of adoption and degree of penetration of the Meru-based CFP2 format worldwide, thereby enabling Acacia to accelerate the adoption of the CFP2 DCO form factor at 100G/200G.

Q: Will the Oclaro and Acacia modules have common specifications?

The companies are working closely together to ensure that the specifications are interoperable with common specifications.  The modules will be plug-in replacements for each other.

Q: Will modules from other companies interoperate with Oclaro or Acacia modules?

To ensure interoperability at the higher performing proprietary 200G mode, it is necessary to use the same Acacia DSP leveraging SD-FEC.

Q: What about at 100G mode? Are there no interoperable modes available for other companies using lower performance industry standard FEC?

Interoperability is possible in the lower-performing 100G mode using HD-FEC. However, we believe the majority of use cases for CFP2 modules will require the highest performance possible for metro and regional networks thereby demanding the use of SD-FEC. As such, interoperability at the higher performing and proprietary 200G mode is only supported between Oclaro and Acacia Meru-based CFP2 modules.

Q: Does this signal a transition of the Acacia model toward merchant chip sales?

Acacia has always selectively engaged in chip sales where we feel it is strategically beneficial. While sales to an interoperable module vendor is a new model for us, we entered into this agreement with Oclaro based on our determination that this should be an opportunity for us to grow our sales. In the short and mid-term, we don’t believe there will be a significant impact to our historical mix of module and component sales. Over time, if the collaboration meets our expectations, we could see an increase in the volume of DSP sales through the relationship. We have also talked about our standalone PIC sales potentially impacting the mix of modules and components over time, as well.

Q: Do you think this will open up new markets?

We have been hearing from network operators that they would be more likely to deploy a CFP2 solution, in metro core and regional applications as well as emerging cable access and 5G applications, if there were a second source. We also know that larger NEM customers tend to prefer a multi-sourced ecosystem.

With a multi-vendor environment, customers will be able to buy fully interoperable CFP2 modules from Acacia and Oclaro. We see this as an exciting opportunity for Acacia and we believe a multi-vendor environment will help accelerate the adoption of the Meru-based CFP2 modules.