Tower Semi to fab Innolight's 400G/800G transceivers

Tower Semiconductor and InnoLight Technology will develop multi-generation high-speed optical transceivers based on Tower’s Silicon Photonics process platform (PH18). Production is already underway.

Tower’s PH18M SiPho platform offers a portfolio of optical components, including ultra-high bandwidth modulators, photodetectors, low-loss waveguides, and light coupling solutions. The company says its silicon photonics platform delivers accurate model-to-silicon match that empowers designers to bring disruptive solutions to market on time and with minimal design iterations.

InnoLight has launched multiple 400G and 800G products based on the PH18M SiPho platform.  400G parts are currently in mass production while 800G parts are scheduled to be in volume production in Q4, 2023.  InnoLight also developed 400G COSA, which will be used in its 400G DCO coherent transceivers.

Osa Mok, the Chief Marketing Officer of InnoLight, commented on the partnership: “InnoLight has established itself as an industry leader by rapidly developing and delivering high-performance optical transceiver products to the market. Our well-established collaboration with Tower firmly demonstrates that we have found a foundry partner who not only possesses best-in-class silicon photonics technology but is also willing to collaborate closely with us to translate our innovations into silicon. We anticipate a successful journey together.”

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H3C tests its 64X800G data center CPO switch

H3C conducted a large-scale, high-density test of 64 ports of 800G Ethernet across its S9827 800G CPO silicon photonic switch.

This recent test leveraged the industry’s first high-density 800G OSFP and QSFP-DD test platform, the Spirent TestCenter 800G B2 Appliance. 

The H3C S9827 series is a new generation of 800G data center switches based on CPO silicon photonics technology, and test results showed a total switching capacity of up to 51.2T, with all 64 ports achieving 100 per cent line speed forwarding under different traffic. Each port transmission rate reached 800Gbps, and the integrated CPO silicon photonics technology fully met the high throughput demands for intelligent computing networking, ensuring its suitability for AIGC clusters and other high-performance data center core switching and related applications, which will help to unleash optimal computing power in the AIGC era.

“We were pleased to support H3C in verifying multiple breakthrough technology solutions for 800G Ethernet,” said Andrew Liu, VP of Sales for Spirent in Greater China. “We have developed a comprehensive, end-to-end 800G testing suite that leverages decades of experience in Ethernet testing. This latest positive 800G test validating the reliability and high performance of H3C S9827, H3C’s 800G CPO silicon photonic switch series, will help ensure successful deployments of this complex new technology and reliable high-speed networks to meet future demand.”

“The 800G high-performance switch, bolstered by CPO technology, will provide higher network capacity for cutting-edge applications such as AIGC and large-scale model training, paving the way for further improvement in the scale and computing power of computing clusters,” said Yutao Li, Vice President of Network Product Line and General Manager of Switch Product Line at H3C. “This joint test fully reflects H3C’s leading technical strength in the field of digital infrastructure. In the future, H3C will also help customers from various industries to comprehensively boost Ethernet performance, unleashing the full potential of computing power.”

https://www.h3c.com/en/d_202308/1913208_294554_0.htm

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IDC: Q2 Ethernet switch market up 38.4%, router market up 9.4%

 The worldwide Ethernet switch market grew revenues 38.4% year-over-year in the second quarter of 2023 (2Q23) to $11.8 billion, according to a newly published report from IDC. Meanwhile, the total worldwide enterprise and service provider (SP) router market recorded $4.6 billion in revenue in 2Q23, a 9.4% year-over-year increase.

"The Ethernet switch market's continued growth momentum is indicative of enterprises, hyperscalers, and services providers worldwide continuing to efficiently invest in higher-speed and feature-rich platforms to support new applications such as Generative AI workloads," said Vijay Bhagavath, research vice president, Cloud and Datacenter Networks at IDC. "Meanwhile, the component shortage issues continue to ease, allowing vendors across the Ethernet switching market to recognize revenues from backlogged orders and book new orders. The Ethernet switching market will continue to be dynamic in the quarters and years to come as supply chains normalize and high-performance network capacity continues to be built out."

Some highlights of the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Ethernet Switch and Router Trackers:

Ethernet switching

• With improved component availability, vendors are increasingly able to recognize revenues from fulfilling backlogged product orders, especially in the non-datacenter segment of the Ethernet switching market, where revenues grew 52.5% year over year in 2Q23, while port shipments rose 16.6%. Revenues in the datacenter portion of the market rose 21.7% year over year in 2Q23, while port shipments declined 2.4%.
• Market revenues for 200/400 GbE switches rose 61.9% year over year and 100GbE revenues increased 18.5% in 2Q23. 
• Revenues for the 25/50 GbE segment increased 54.2% year over year. 
• ODM (original device manufacturer) Direct sales continue to be an important part of the datacenter segment, rising 12.2% compared to 2Q22 to make up 12.6% of the datacenter segment's revenues.
• Revenues for 1GbE switches rose 53.1% year over year in 2Q23. 10GbE switches rose 18.1% year over year in the quarter. 
• 2.5/5GbE switch revenue – also known as multi-gigabit Ethernet switches – rose 157.5% year over year in 2Q23.

Routing

• The service provider segment, which includes both communications SPs and cloud SPs, accounted for 77.5% of the market's total revenues in 2Q23. 
• Revenues in the service provider segment increased 14.8% year over year while revenues in the enterprise segment declined 6.1% in the quarter. 
• From a regional perspective, the combined service provider and enterprise router market in the Americas rose 10.3%, while in the Asia/Pacific region the market rose 3.0% year over year. 
• In the Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) region, the market was up 18.3% year over year in 2Q23.

https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS51223523

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U.S. Senate confirms Anna Gomez to FCC

 The U.S. Senate voted 55-43 to confirm President Biden’s nominee, Anna Gomez, to the Federal Communications Commission, ending the 2-2 deadlock between Republicans and Democrats that has been in place for the past 3 years.

Gomez was confirmed for a term of five years from July 1, 2021, replacing Ajit Pai, whose term expired.

Gomez is a telecommunications attorney who currently serves as a Senior Advisor for International Information and Communications Policy in the Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy. Gomez served as the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Deputy Administrator from 2009 to 2013. She also served for 12 years in various positions at the Federal Communications Commission, including as Deputy Chief of the International Bureau and as Senior Legal Advisor to then-Chairman William E. Kennard. Gomez also was Vice president for Federal and State Government Affairs at Sprint Nextel and an Associate at Arnold and Porter.

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Digital Realty plans data center hub in Rome

Digital Realty announced its expansion into the Italian market following the acquisition and pre-development planning of land in Rome.

The first data center (ROM1) is designed as a tier four facility, as classified by the Uptime Institute. Construction is expected to commence in Q4 2023. The site, which covers 22 hectares of land (approximately 220,000 square meters) is located within 15 kilometers of the coast, making it an ideal interconnection point for future subsea cables that will land in Rome.

Digital Realty said the future facility will strengthen its position as the leading provider of digital infrastructure capacity in the Mediterranean region, building on its existing presence in Athens, Marseille, and Zagreb, as well as hubs currently under development in Barcelona, Crete, and Tel Aviv. 

Digital Realty's vision for the Italian capital as a key Mediterranean connectivity hub is aligned with that of NAMEX, Rome's Internet Exchange. "Digital Realty and NAMEX have a common goal of transforming Rome into a leading global interconnection hub," commented Maurizio Goretti, CEO, NAMEX. Goretti continued: "Digital Realty's pedigree in developing highly connected data communities in carrier-neutral connectivity hubs is a critical ingredient in the achievement of this goal."

Jan-Pieter Anten, Group Managing Director EMEA, Digital Realty said: "Developing our first data center in Rome is an important part of our integrated strategy across the Mediterranean and strengthens our leadership position in the region. It represents a significant expansion of PlatformDIGITAL®, Digital Realty's global data center platform, further supporting our customers as they rapidly deploy their critical infrastructure at the heart of a growing connected data community."

Alessandro Talotta, Managing Director, Digital Realty in Italy, added: "The delivery of a carrier-neutral facility in Rome will help enable the digital transformation strategies of local enterprises and global customers in the region. Our customers will greatly benefit from the facility being highly connected to both terrestrial and subsea cable networks."

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Cadence completes acquisition of PHY IP assets from Rambus

Cadence Design Systems completed its previously-announced acquisition of the Rambus SerDes and memory interface PHY IP business. The deal brings Cadence proven and experienced PHY engineering teams in the United States, India and Canada, further expanding Cadence’s domain-rich talent base. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Rambus retains its digital IP business, including memory and interface controllers and security IP. 

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Pure Fi intros HDMI 2.1 Active Optical Cable

Pure Fi introduced an HDMI 2.1 Active Optical Cable (AOC) for A/V professionals.

The modular design features detachable Tx and Rx modules, making it possible to fish the pure optical fiber cable through conduit and other narrow openings with ease before terminating at the desired endpoints. 

Key features of the new Pure Fi Pro HDMI 2.1 AOC include:

• CL3 Rated: Tested and certified to meet certain fire safety standards for safe in-wall installation, including the National Electrical Code (NEC) requirements for flame propagation and smoke generation.
• Long-Distance, High-Bandwidth Connectivity Without Interference: Throughput up to 48 Gbps, supporting 8K content at 60 Hz or 4K content at 120 Hz over distances of up to 1,000 feet with near-zero EMI.
• Lightweight, Flexible & Modular: Detachable Tx and Rx modules mean installers only need to fish cable that is less than .2 inch thin for easy in-wall and ceiling installation - no bulky HDMI connectors to get in the way. Once the cable is installed, future maintenance and upgrades are as simple as swapping out the head units without having to replace existing in-wall cabling.

“We set out to design an optical connectivity solution that offers the same blazing-fast performance our customers have come to expect from Pure Fi, but with a number of benefits sure to be appreciated by professionals in the A/V space,” said Bill Huang, CEO of Pure Fi. “Our new Pro HDMI AOC features a modular design that serves the dual purpose of streamlining in-wall installation, while future-proofing the AV investment, all thanks to detachable connectors that can be replaced and upgraded in the future without abandoning existing in-wall cabling.”

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NTT activates Global IP PoP in Phoenix

NTT has extended its tier-1 Global IP Network with a new Point-of-Presence (PoP) in Phoenix, Arizona, at phoenixNAP’s data center facility.

NTT’s clients at phoenixNAP’s facility will be able to connect to the Global IP Network AS2914.

“This new Point of Presence in Phoenix further supports the continued growth of our tier-1 Global IP Network across the world,” said Michael Wheeler, Executive Vice President of the Global IP Network division at NTT. “We are committed to increasing our ability to offer new interconnectivity options, including global reach to a greater number of Internet-centric businesses and organizations in the market.”

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