Nokia Expands its 1830 Optical Portfolio

Nokia today announced an expansion of its flagship 1830 optical product family to help operators to scale their networks across premises access, metro aggregation and long haul data center interconnect (DCI).

Highlights of Nokia's new optical innovations include:

• The Nokia 1830 Photonic Service Demarcation (PSD) is a carrier-class network demarcation device supporting Ethernet and wavelength services. It cost effectively extends metro optical networks to the customer premise, enabling resilient, high-capacity access to cloud services while providing end-to-end service assurance.
• The  Nokia 1830 Photonic Service Interconnect (PSI) integrates the super coherent technology of the Photonic Service Engine 2 (PSE-2s) into a data center physical and operational form-factor, delivering the highest proven optical performance and flexibility available in a purpose-built DCI platform. Its unique modulation formats maximize spectral efficiency and distance for metro, long haul, and subsea networks.
• New 100G line cards for the 1830 Photonic Service Switch address the high-capacity, low latency aggregation required to connect cloud service consumers to metro colors and edge data centers. Powered by the PSE-2 Compact (PSE-2c) metro-optimized 100G digital signal processor, the new 100G OTN and packet cards efficiently transport packet and OTN services in a compact, cost-effective form factor.

All new capabilities will be available in the first half of 2017.

http://www.nokia.com

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ADVA Intros Direct Detect Open Optical Layer for DCI

ADVA Optical Networking introduced its direct detect open optical layer for Internet Content Providers and Cloud Network Providers who want to avoid the expense of traditional coherent solutions.

The new solution, which is a key expansion of the ADVA FSP 3000 CloudConnect platform, is available in two distinct formats. It can either be bought as an Open Line System (OLS) in a disaggregated manner or as a complete solution that includes the terminal and the line system.

ADVA Optical Networking said one compelling feature of its OLS is its SmartAmp technology that enables direct detect transmissions to be transported up to 100km. By disaggregating the terminal functions from the line system, customers are able to evolve and optimize each network layer separately. Not only does this lead to significant savings in regards to footprint and power, but it also means that wavelengths can be used with any terminal equipment, such as switch routers or classic transponders.

“Our FSP 3000 CloudConnect™ helped change the DCI market. It transformed people’s expectations. Since its launch, we’ve continually innovated and driven forward our vision for the OLS,” said Christoph Glingener, CTO, COO, ADVA Optical Networking.

http://www.advaoptical.com/

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EchoStar XXIII Blasts into Orbit in SpaceX's

The EchoStar XXIII successfully launched into geostationary transfer orbit from the historic Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

EchoStar XXIII is a highly flexible Ku-band satellite based on Space Systems Loral's 1300 platform with four main reflectors and multiple sub-reflectors supporting multiple mission profiles. Initial commercial deployment of EchoStar XXIII will be at 45° West, and the Satellite End of Life (EOL) Power is 20 kilowatts (kW).

“This is the third satellite built for EchoStar by SSL to be placed on orbit since last June,” said John Celli, president of SSL. I would like to thank EchoStar, SpaceX and our own engineers and technicians who all worked as a team to make this launch a success.”

http://www.echostar.com

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NeoPhotonics launches 1310nm Lasers for 100G QSFP28

NeoPhotonics has announced general availability of high power 1310 nm lasers and laser arrays qualified for applications in low-cost, non-hermetic packages for 100 Gbit/s silicon photonics-based QSFP28 modules targeting the data centre market.

NeoPhotonics stated that the new lasers and laser arrays are designed to address the need for custom high-power and non-hermetic lasers that provide the light source for silicon photonics-based transceivers providing 100 Gbit/s connectivity within the data centre. The company added that deployment of these transceivers delivered in standard MSA formats such as CWDM4, CLR4 and PSM4, typically in a QSFP28 form factor, is currently underway.

To support the emerging silicon photonics ecosystem, NeoPhotonics has developed and qualified according to the Telcordia GR-468-CORE Issue 2 standard, a range of high power, uncooled lasers and laser arrays for a number of major silicon photonics transceiver manufacturers.

NeoPhotonics' new lasers are designed to provide an efficient, high power light source that leverages a specific implementation of silicon-based high speed analogue and digital electronic devices and photonic components. The high power 1310 nm CW DFB lasers are qualified compliant with Telcordia GR-468-CORE Issue 2, which encompasses criteria including damp heat testing for powered non-hermetic devices. The products are production ready.

NeoPhotonics noted that its lasers are designed with a focus on three key customer requirements: the need for high optical power output, ranging from 40 to 7 0mW, for both NRZ and PAM4 modulation; proven reliability in non-hermetic packages to meet the volume and low cost requirements associated with mega-data centre applications; and custom features to allow the use of automated laser attach and alignment methods to help reduce assembly costs.

Regarding the products, Tim Jenks, chairman and CEO of NeoPhotonics, said, "These uncooled, high power non-hermetic CW DFB lasers and laser arrays are a key component for… emerging 100, 200 or 400 Gbit/s silicon photonics-based transceivers for data centre switching applications… the new lasers illustrate the wide ranging applications for NeoPhotonics' advanced hybrid photonic integration technology, efficiently combining high power InP laser technology with partners' silicon photonics modulator technology".

https://www.neophotonics.com/press-releases/?newsId=2254102

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London Internet Exchange Picks Ciena for DCI

London Internet Exchange (LINX) has deployed Ciena’s Waveserver stackable data center interconnect (DCI) platform for connecting its data centers throughout London.

LINX has 11 points of presences (PoPs) across London, with more than 740 members connecting more than 70 different countries. LINX offers its members cost-effective and high-capacity links between its data centers to efficiently exchange traffic between a large number of diverse international peering partners.

Ciena said its Waveserver, LINX can provide multiple terabits of connectivity between its Harbour Exchange, Equinix LD5 and Interxion locations, enabled by the platform’s massive capacity and density—400 Gb/s of line capacity plus any mix of 10G, 40G or 100G of client Ethernet services up to 400 Gb/s, in a compact, one rack unit form factor.

http://www.ciena.com

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German service provider Exaring deploys ADVA FSP 3000 for 100G

ADVA Optical Networking announced that German digital service provider Exaring has deployed its technology in what is believed to be Germany's first fully integrated platform for the delivery of IP entertainment services.

Based on the ADVA FSP 3000 solution, Exaring's new national backbone network is designed to transmit high-quality, on-demand TV and gaming services to approximately 23 million households across the country. The 100 Gbit/s core transport infrastructure deployed for Exaring, which also features the FSP Network Manager to provide high service availability, has a total of over 12,000 km of fibre. ADVA noted that its long-term partner dacoso designed and installed the network.

Exaring's new 80-channel optical transport system provides high capacity and low latency performance and will be used solely for the transmission of IP entertainment applications, including new technologies such as UHD 8K TV.

ADVA noted that the dedicated, high-capacity DWDM network for on-demand streaming and multi-player gaming will help Exaring to bypass Internet bottlenecks and deliver delay-free services to its customers. The flexible architecture is additionally designed to enable Exaring to quickly integrate and roll-out new services.

In November 2016, ADVA announced today that New England-based fibre communications provider 186 Communications has deployed its FSP 3000 in the northeast U.S. to expand its fibre backbone and address growing demand from broadband providers and enterprise customers.

Last December, ADVA announced that Columbia College Chicago had deployed the FSP 3000 platform for a 100 Gbit/s optical transport network designed to eliminate reliance on managed services and to enable the college to offer e-learning classes. The DWDM network connected the college's ten campus sites and featured low-latency, Layer 1 traffic protection.

http://www.advaoptical.com

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Luxtera Partners with TSMC for Next Gen Silicon Photonics

Luxtera, a global provider of silicon photonics solutions, announced that it has partnered with TSMC for the manufacture of next generation silicon photonics solutions designed for future cloud, mobile infrastructure, enterprise and high-performance computing (HPC) platforms.

Under the agreement, Luxtera and TSMC are developing a new silicon photonics technology platform designed to provide more than double the optical link performance and four times the raw data throughput of competing silicon photonics solution on the market. The new silicon photonics platform will also enable full SoC integration of optical interconnect with the CMOS logic for applications such as network switch, storage or compute.

Luxtera stated that combined with TSMC silicon manufacturing capabilities and scale, its silicon photonic designs can enable optical interconnects that offer significantly higher performance at lower cost and power consumption to address the requirements of future data centres and 5G mobile networks.

Luxtera's latest platform will be used in a suite of next generation silicon photonics solutions to deliver 100 Gbit/s per lane optical interconnects, starting with 100GBase-DR and 400GBase-DR4 transceivers in 2018, and subsequently expanding to include other standards-based solutions for 25, 50, 100, 200, 400, 800 Gbit/s and 1 Tbit/s optical interconnects.

In addition, complementing the new silicon photonics technologies, Luxtera will leverage TSMC's 7 nm CMOS process to deliver high performance with low power across its product portfolio.

http://www.luxtera.com

• In September 2016, Luxtera announced it had shipped more than one million silicon photonics PSM4 transceiver products designed for applications in cloud computing data centres. The Luxtera 100 Gbit/s PSM4 optical transceivers include four independent transmitter and receiver channels integrating phase modulators, photodetectors, waveguides, grating couplers, electrical re-timers and control circuitry, powered by a single integrated laser.

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Mellanox: 100G Transceiver Shipments Ramp Up Quickly

Mellanox Technologies reported that it has shipped more than 200,000 VCSEL and silicon photonics transceiver modules to serve the growing demand of hyperscale Web 2.0, cloud, and enterprise 100Gb/s networks. The modules are delivered in the QSFP28 form factor as Active Optical Cables (AOCs) or as standalone pluggable transceivers.

“The 100Gb/s optical transceivers market has ramped very quickly and we have ramped our optical manufacturing capabilities with it, and are shipping multiple product families in high volume,” said Amir Prescher, senior vice president of business development and general manager of the interconnect business at Mellanox. “Multi-mode optics are the most cost effective solution on the market today to connect 25G and 100G Ethernet servers and switches over shorter data center reaches. For longer reaches, customers selected our silicon photonics-based PSM4 transceivers as the most cost effective, highest configurable, single-mode transceiver available.”

Recently, Mellanox announced that is has shipped over 100,000 Direct Attach Copper (DAC) cables for 100Gb/s networks. DAC are used to link servers and storage to Top-of-Rack switches; typically less than 3 meters in length. Transceivers and AOCs offer lengths up to 2km.

http://www.mellanox.com

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OE Solutions Unveils 10G CWDM SFP+, 10/25G Transceivers

South Korea-based OE Solutions, a supplier of optical transceivers for communications applications, has announced the release of extended reach 10 Gbit/s CWDM SFP+ transceivers and high-density transceivers, including 2 x 10 Gbit/s compact SFP+, 4 x 10 Gbit/s QSFP+ and 25 Gbit/s SFP28, for wireless fronthaul applications.

CWDM transceivers

OE Solutions' new CWDM SFP+ transceivers which offer support for 1 and 10 Gigabit Ethernet, as well as CPRI-2 to CPRI-8 for wireless network applications, utilise cooled DFB laser diodes combined with wide dynamic range APD detectors and proprietary circuitry to enable reach of up to 20 km for wavelengths up to 1611 nm.

The industrial temperature grade, extended reach transceivers are available for CWDM wavelengths from 1471 up to 1611 nm and complement the company's standard line of DFB-based 10 Gbit/s CWDM transceivers for wavelengths from 1271 to 1451 nm to provide a total of 18 channels.

The company noted that extended reach transceivers with directly modulated DFB lasers offer a cost effective alternative to EMLs for access network applications such as for wireless fronthaul and Ethernet service delivery.

The OE Solutions extended reach 10 Gbit/s CWDM SFP+ transceivers are currently sampling, with volume production scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2017.

New high-density transceivers

The industrial temperature grade high density transceivers are designed to enable high port densities in radio access network equipment to support the roll-out of next generation wireless infrastructures.

OE Solutions noted that in 2017 it is estimated that the number of 10 Gbit/s CPRI ports deployed will increase rapidly and exceed the total of all lower rate ports installed. In addition, the use of 25 Gbit/s transceivers is expected to significantly raise wireless fronthaul capacity over the next 12-18 months. Both of these developments are driving demand for physically denser solutions, which can be cost effectively addressed by increasing the number of wavelengths per transceiver cage and the bit rate per wavelength.

The new high-density transceivers being introduced by OE Solutions are as follows:

1. A 2 x 10 Gbit/s multi-rate (1270 and 1330 nm) bidirectional compact-SFP+ solution for distances up to 20 km.

2. A 4 x 10 Gbit/s multi-rate 850 nm QSFP+ device offering reach of up to 300 metres.

3. A 25 Gbit/s 1310 nm SFP28 solution with multiple rate and protocol options for distances up to 10 km.

The new high-density transceivers are currently sampling, with volume production due to commence in the second quarter of the year.

http://www.oesolutions.com

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Arvizio Targets Augmented Reality Software

Arvizio of Ottawa, Canada, a developer of software solutions enabling augmented and mixed reality experiences, has announces the launch of the company and the completion of an initial funding round and opened its global headquarters in Ottawa.

Arvizio offers what is believed to be the first enterprise-class mixed reality server platform designed to enable real time collaboration and 3D visualisation across locations utilising platforms such as Microsoft HoloLens and other mixed reality devices.

Arvizio was co-founded in Ottawa in 2016 by Jonathan Reeves, current CEO, Alex Berlin, the company's president and COO, and Borys Vorobyov, current CTO. Mr. Reeves previously served at CloudLink Technologies (acquired by EMC), founded Mangrove Systems (acquired by Carrier Access), Sirocco Systems (acquired by Sycamore Networks) and Sahara Networks (acquired by Cascade communications).

Previously, Mr. Berlin was a founder and served as CEO of CloudLink Technologies, was co-founder and CEO of AFORE Solutions (acquired by Kuatro/Jabil) and chairman of Ambercore Software. Mr. Vorobyov previously founded SightPower, a company focused on large scale spatial data analysis and 3D visualisation, and co-founded Ambercore Software.

Arvizio has a team of experienced technology professionals with expertise in the areas of 3D spatial data processing, secure network communications, IoT and artificial intelligence (AI) and is applying this expertise to create advanced mixed reality solutions. By combining collaboration and 3D visualisation techniques, the company offers solutions that target a range of industry verticals, including healthcare, industrial, enterprise and education.

https://www.arvizio.io/

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