Tencent carries multiple 200G 8QAM signals with Acacia

Tencent carried multiple 200G 8QAM signals over 80 kilometers with its OPC-4 open line system (OLS) using Acacia’s CFP2-DCO modules on third-party switch platforms.

The lab demonstration was performed using Acacia’s CFP2-DCO modules with 50GHz channel spacing and 200G 8QAM modulation. Acacia said the demonstration showcases the ability to support transmission of up to 19.2T on a single fiber using Tencent’s 96 channel OPC-4 and Acacia’s CFP2-DCO modules.

In order to emulate the higher fiber loss in its metro networks, Tencent added additional 10 dB optical attenuators to the tested link, and was still able to achieve error-free operation in all the ports.

OPC-4, which was developed by Tencent, meets Tencent’s SDN requirements for a disaggregated transport network and is fully integrated into Tencent’s network controller. Tencent believes that this lab demonstration validates the deployment readiness of their IP over DWDM solution using OPC-4 in their metro DCI networks.

“This demonstration validated that Acacia’s CFP2-DCO product has been integrated into switch platforms in terms of mechanical, electrical, power and firmware interfaces. The switch platform was able to configure the CFP2-DCO and access advanced performance monitoring functionality for the module, as well as the link,” said Jengyi Geng, Senior Network Architect at Tencent. “With Acacia’s 200G CFP2-DCO, our switch platform can support 8 ports, for up to 1.6T per line card and our OPC-4 can support transmission of up to 19.2T over a single fiber for metro DCI applications. In addition, the CFP2-DCO form factor provides us with a pay-as-you-grow deployment model.”

“We are excited that our high-performance, low-power CFP2-DCO was able to address the performance required in Tencent’s metro DCI network, and were impressed by the level of integration in the switch platform and OPC-4 open line system,” said Tom Williams, Associate Vice President of Marketing at Acacia Communications. “We believe this lab demonstration underlines the importance of pluggable coherent modules in applications such as Tencent’s metro DCI network, potentially creating opportunities for our NEM customers to offer differentiated solutions in these applications.”

Acacia’s module is compliant with the OIF CFP2-DCO Implementation Agreement, which also includes support for next generation 400G solutions, further improving board density and fiber capacity. Based on its Meru DSP ASIC, Acacia’s CFP2-DCO module has been shipping in production since December 2017.