CWDM8 MSA targets 400G data centre links at 2 km and 10 km

Leading vendors, including Accton, Barefoot Networks, Credo Semiconductor, Hisense, Innovium, Intel, MACOM, Mellanox, Neophotonics, and Rockley Photonics, have formed a new CWDM8 MSA (8-wavelength Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplexing Multi-Source Agreement) Group dedicated to defining optical specifications and promoting adoption of interoperable 2 km and 10 km 400 Gb/s interfaces over duplex single-mode fiber.

The goal is to develop optical link specifications that will enable cost-effective, low power consumption 400G duplex single-mode optics using 50G per wavelength optical NRZ modulation, all while maintaining full compatibility with standard 50G PAM4 electrical interfaces.

The group is targetting next-generation module form factors such as QSFP-DD, OSFP, and COBO, to handle the 400 Gb/s interface at distances of 2 km and 10km for intra data centre of campus data centre connectivity.

"There is currently no adequate solution in the market to meet our needs for cost effective and uncooled 400G optical interfaces for 2km and 10km reaches. We welcome the formation of the CWDM8 MSA, which offers proven 50G NRZ technology to enable compact and low power dissipation form factors for 400G," stated Yu Li, VP of Data Center Switching, Huawei.

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NeoPhotonics shows 64 Gbaud Coherent, enabling systems at 600 Gbps +

At this week's European Conference on Optical Communications (ECOC) in Gothenburg, Sweden, NeoPhotonics is showcasing a suite of 64 Gbaud optical components for coherent systems operating at 600G and above, effectively doubling the symbol rate over standard 100G (32 Gbaud) coherent systems

NeoPhotonics has just announced sampling of a 64 Gbaud Micro Modulator (Micro-MOD) with integrated drivers.  The company has also begun shipping its 64 Gbaud Micro Coherent Receiver (Micro-ICR) and it low-profile ultra-narrow line width tunable laser for 400G and 600G applications.

“Our 64 Gbaud symbol rate optical components for coherent transport provide system designers with the optical tools that match increases in DSP capability to enable higher spectral densities and longer reaches,” said Tim Jenks, Chairman and CEO of NeoPhotonics. “Each of these products is based on our hybrid photonic integration technology and leverages our existing proven design platforms, which allows us to ramp production rapidly to match customer demands while maintaining high quality and reliability.”

Some highlights of the suite.

• 64 Gbaud Micro-MOD (CDM): NeoPhotonics 64 GBaud, polarization multiplexed, quadrature micro-modulator is currently being sampled to major customers and features a co-packaged InP modulator with linear, high bandwidth, differential drivers in a compact package to operate in 400G and beyond pluggable modules that demand reduced size and power consumption.
• 64 Gbaud Micro-ICR: NeoPhotonics Class 40 High Bandwidth Micro-Intradyne Coherent Receiver is in volume production and is designed for 64 Gbaud symbol rates, doubling the RF bandwidth of standard 100G ICRs. The 64 Gbaud Micro-ICR supports higher order modulation such as 64 QAM.
• Low Profile Micro-TL: NeoPhotonics ultra-narrow linewidth external cavity tunable laser has been proven in volume production and is now configured in a smaller, lower profile package, which is designed to meet the stringent requirements for packaging density in pluggable modules, including at 400G and 600G data rates. The external cavity laser has a significantly narrower linewidth, which is advantageous for higher order modulation formats.

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Source Photonics and Credo demo Single Lambda 100G at 20km

A new generation of single wavelength 100G trancseivers is a step closer.

Whereas currently deployed 100G optical transceivers rely on 4x25G WDM technology, the next generation of transceivers will use higher order modulation techniques, such as PAM4, and higher data rate operation at 53Gbaud. This means that that one laser and one receiver could do the job that currently requires four lasers and four receivers. In addition to 100G-DR/FR/LR, Source Photonics plans to leverage this technology for 400G-DR4/FR4.

At this week's ECOC 2017 in Sweden, Source Photonics will be hosting a private demonstration of its internally packaged TOSA and ROSA sub-assemblies in an optical loopback configuration through 20km of single-mode fiber using a single 100G channel of Credo’s low power PAM4 IC technology.

Source Photonics said its testing revealed that the bit-error-rate (BER) after 20km of fiber remains better than the KP4 FEC requirement and was around 5x10-5. The TOSA is based on Source Photonics’ EML laser technology which provides the necessary bandwidth to achieve a TDECQ value below 2.5dB. The room temperature link budget of 10dB provides considerable margin for the most significant link specifications under development in the industry, allowing production margin for performance variations.

“We are continuing to invest in next generation technology, such as Single Lambda 100G, as part of our commitment to providing leading edge solutions for data centers,” said Manish Mehta, EVP, PLM Source Photonics

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Source Photonics ramps up 100G QSFP28 transceiver line

Source Photonics, which began sampling its first generation of 100GBASE-LR4 in QSFP28 form factor in 2014, and which began full-scale QSFP28 production in 2015, is now ramping up for increased production volumes. The company reports that continuous investment into its InP fab as well as in transceiver production infrastructure will enable it to produce greater than half a million modules annually by early 2018.

The ramp up in 100GBASE-LR4 QSFP28 modules comes in response to the rapid adoption of 100G in data centers.

Source Photonics reports an expansion of its product portfolio to include modules with an OTU4 data rate. extended temperature operation of up to 85°C for 100GBASE-LR4 and 100G CWDM4 (2 km), as well as 4WDM-10 (10 km) modules. In addition, longer reach

Source Photonics is also planning a 100G 4WDM-40 MSA compliant module for 100G applications with up to a 40km reach. The companay anticipates sampling in Q4 2017 and full production in Q1 2018.

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NeoPhotonics presents data centre optoelectronics for CWDM4, CLR4, PSM-4 and PAM4

At this week's European Conference on Optical Communications (ECOC) in Gothenburg, Sweden, NeoPhotonics is presenting its portfolio of 100 Gbps to 400 Gbps optoelectronics for the data centre, including including CWDM4, CLR4, PSM-4 and PAM4.
The line-up includes NeoPhotonics'

• High power 1310 nm lasers and laser arrays, which are qualified for use with low-cost, non-hermetic packages for 100G silicon photonics based QSFP28 modules.  
• Low power consumption 28 GBaud externally modulated lasers (EML) with an integrated driver, which are designed for longer reach 4x25 NRZ 100G, 4x50 PAM4 200G, and 8x50 PAM4 400G data center applications.  
• A 56 Gbaud EML with an integrated driver, which is designed for use in 4x100 PAM4 configurations for 400G data center application
• A line of high power, uncooled 1310nm CW DFB lasers and laser arrays that are qualified to the Telcordia GR-468-CORE Issue 2 standard and which are designed for specific silicon-based high speed analog and digital electronic devices and related photonic components.
• A new 28 GBaud EML for longer reaches that integrates a driver, which utilizes NeoPhotonics low power linear GaAs amplifier technology, with NeoPhotonics 28 GBaud EML at the chip-on-carrier, or CoC, level. This is designed for 100Gbps QSFP28 and CFP4 form factors and it fits into a four channel transmitter optical sub-assembly, or Quad TOSA, eliminating the need for a separate driver on the board. NeoPhotonics is also targetting PAM4 in 200 Gbps to 400 Gbps applications. The integrated linear driver of the new CMOS-drivable 28 GBaud EML enables a simple and direct connection to the PAM4/CDR IC.   

“Our laser components are key elements for optical modules used inside the datacenter suppling the light for short reach Silicon Photonics based 100G transceivers and the modulated light for longer reach PAM4 based 100G and 400G transceivers,” said Tim Jenks, Chairman and CEO of NeoPhotonics.  “While the laser architectures are different, both are designed by us, manufactured in our internal fabs and utlize our hybrid photonic integration technology for high performance and high reliability”.

Dr. Winston Way, NeoPhotonics CTO, Systems, is also presenting a paper at ECOC entitled “Applications of 64 Gbaud Optical Components and Modules”.

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OE Solutions showcases its 25G SFP28 transceivers

OE Solutions, a global supplier of optical transceivers based in Gwangju, South Korea with R&D centres in the USA, the Netherlands as well as offices worldwide, has begun sampling a portfolio of 25G SFP28 optical transceivers for enterprise and access network applications.

The company will be demonstrating the portfolio at this week's ECOC 2017 in Gothenburg, Sweden.

The first two devices in OE Solutions's 25G SFP28 portfolio are multi-rate transceivers for next generation datacom applications and wireless infrastructure. Specifically, the new 25G transceivers are:

• 25Gbps (25G Ethernet, 8G-FC, 16G-FC and 32G-FC) 1310nm Standard-Temperature SFP28 for distances up to 10km
• 25Gbps (25G Ethernet, CPRI-10) 1310nm Industrial-Temperature SFP28 for distances up to 10km

OE Solutions said it sees an opportunity for 25G both in data centre applications as well as in access networks, where IEEE work is underway to develop 25G Ethernet with eCPRI support for optical connectivity to 5G infrastructure.

• In March 2017, OE Solutions announced high-density transceivers, including 2x10Gbps Compact SFP+, 4x10Gbps QSFP+, and 25Gbps SFP28, for wireless fronthaul applications. The new industrial-temperature rated transceivers are designed for high port densities in radio access network equipment.
• Also in March 2017, OE Solutions began shipping Extended Reach 10Gbps CWDM SFP+ transceivers supporting 1GE and 10GE for Ethernet applications as well as CPRI-2 to CPRI-8 for wireless network applications. 

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NTT Com continues to develop its partnership strategy

NTT Communications continues to develop its partnership strategy by hosting its fourteenth "Arcstar Carrier Forum 2017" on September 13-14.

NTT Com's Arcstar enterprise VPN service reaches more than 190 countries. NTT Com partners participating in the Forum included:

Australia
Optus Pty Limited

Australia/Japan
Telstra Japan K.K.

Brazil
Neutrona Networks

China
China Telecommunications Corporation
China Unicom

France
Orange Business Services

Germany
Deutsche Telekom AG

Hong Kong
China Telecom Global Limited
Hutchison Global Communications Ltd.
PCCW Global Ltd.
WTT HK Limited

India
Tata Communications Ltd.

Indonesia
Biznet Networks
Indosat Ooredoo
PT. Telekomunikasi Indonesia International

Korea
KT Corporation

Malaysia
Telekom Malaysia Berhad
TIME dotCom Berhad

Philippines
PLDT Inc.

South Africa
Internet Solutions

Taiwan
Chunghwa Telecom International Business Group

Thailand
CAT Telecom Public Company Limited

UK
Colt Technology Services Co., Ltd.

Interoute Communications Limited

USA
Level 3 Communications

USA/Hong Kong/Japan
Verizon Hong Kong Limited/Verizon Japan Ltd.

Vietnam
VNPT International

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MACOM 12G crosspoint powers 4K and 8K video routing switcher

MACOM Technology Solutions Inc. (MACOM) has developed a 160x160 M21605G-12 crosspoint switch that combines multi-rate broadcast video routing and switching in a single device, with each switching path operating independently at any data rate of up to 12.8 Gbps.

The technology has now been licensed by FOR-A, a leading manufacturer broadcast and production equipment, to power a new routing switcher to 4K and 8K production flows. MACOM’s crosspoint is being used in FOR-A platform to enable single cable transfer of 4K video over 12G-SDI without complex cabling and utilizing fewer channels than traditional 3G-SDI systems.

"By leveraging MACOM’s ability to support 12G-SDI, we are able to build a system that simplifies implementation and provides greater flexibility in handling different SDI rates," said Hidefumi Hamaguchi, General Manager of SDR Development Department, FOR-A.

"As broadcast transitions to 4K, the need for higher density switching fabrics becomes critical,” said Gary Shah, Vice President and Business Line Manager, High-Performance Analog, at MACOM. “Our 160x160 port device enables system manufacturers to lower their total cost over a quad-link 3G architecture while simplifying their infrastructure with single link 12G-SDI."

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Toshiba's Cambridge Research Lab Sets Quantum Encryption record

Quantum cyptography is postulated to be unbreakable. However, the quantum key must be held by the receiving party for the encrypted message to be deciphered. Until now, the speed at which a quantum key can be distributed has been limited to 1.9 Mbps.

Toshiba Research Europe Limited’s Cambridge Research Laboratory in the UK has just announced a new data distribution speed record of 13.7 Mbps - seven times the previous record, which was also achieved by Toshiba last year. The transmission spanned 10km over an optical fiber.

The details of the new device will be announced at the QCrypt 2017 conference, which will be held at the University of Cambridge from September 18-22.

Toshiba says it is already applying quantum encrption to secure genomic data in Japan.

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