Inphi launches 7nm 50G PAM4 DSP

Inphi announced its Polaris Gen2 PAM4 platform, the industry’s first 50G, 28Gbaud PAM4 DSP solution based on low-power 7nm CMOS technology. 

The Polaris platform is the industry’s leading 28GBaud PAM4 DSP solution offering integrated driver options for EML and Silicon Photonics to address a broad range of optical interconnects scaling from 50G to 400G. The Polaris Gen2 PAM4 platform supports 400G optical transceiver modules in both QSFP-DD and OSFP form factors and 200G modules in the QSFP56 package, in line with the optical PMD’s specified in the IEEE standards.

Polaris Gen2 PAM4 DSP Key Features:

• Field-proven PAM4 DSPs qualified in multiple hyperscale cloud data centers
• Developed in 7 nm CMOS process technology
• Supports short-reach multi-mode <100m and long-reach SMF 500m-40km optical interconnects
• Supports 50G PAM4, 50Gbps breakout and 25G NRZ transmission
• Integrates EML and Silicon Photonics linear drivers

Polaris Linear Drivers:

The Inphi IN2814DV is a 28GBaud low power quad VCSEL linear driver for PAM4 optical modules or Active Optical Cables. The IN2814DV is optimized for routing with a channel pitch aligned to the VCSEL optics driving over Multi-Mode Fiber MMF.

The Inphi IN2821SD is a 28GBaud low power single channel DML linear driver for PAM4 optical modules. The IN2821SD is optimized to direct drive commercial DMLs for excellent PAM4 optical performance.

Polaris Linear TIA’s:

The Inphi IN2864TA TIA is a 28GBaud low power quad linear TIA for PAM4 optical modules. It features a wide dynamic range to meet the different performance and link requirements for optical applications and excellent signal integrity necessary for PAM4 modulation schemes.

The Inphi IN2865TA is a 28GBaud low power quad VCSEL linear TIA for PAM4 optical modules or AOCs. The IN2865TA is optimized for direct routing with a channel pitch aligned to the MMF optics.

“As a pioneer of PAM4 technology for high-speed interconnects, Inphi is again breaking new ground and continuing to lead the industry with a highly integrated next generation DSP platform based on 7nm CMOS process technology,” said Eric Hayes, Sr. VP, Networking Interconnect at Inphi. “Leveraging our experience achieved over the past years hardening our successful 16nm Polaris PAM4 DSP, TIA and driver solutions in high volume deployment, we’ve introduced the new Polaris Gen2 family to fulfill the strong market demand for 50G data center low power interconnects.”

https://www.inphi.com/

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Inphi samples 100G PAM4 DSP

Inphi introduced its new Alcor PAM4 DSP platform to accelerate the industry’s transition from 25G to 100G per wavelength. 

The new Alcor platform, which is based on Inphi’s Porrima PAM4 DSP platform, includes Inphi’s PAM4 DSP technology, Linear TIA and Driver to provide even higher levels of integration and lower power for high-performance hyperscale data center, cloud computing and emerging AI applications. It offers an enhanced feature set with integrated 56Gbaud laser drivers that enable less than 3.5W QSFP28, DSFP and SFP-DD optical modules. The new PAM4 DSP also offers integrated driver options to address a broad range of implementations for optical interconnects.

Alcor 100G PAM4 DSP Key Features:

• Low power consumption enables less than 3.5W 100G, 2x50G or 4x25G optical modules
• Integrated 56Gbaud laser drivers with direct-drive capability reduces module BOM cost
• Integrated oscillator minimizes BOM cost
• Advanced telemetry and diagnostics improve link performance and health monitoring
• Seamless firmware transition with compatible API software suite accelerates time to market

IN566x Linear TIA:

The IN5661TA is a 56GBaud low-power single/quad linear TIA for PAM4 optical modules used in data centers. Key features include:

• Wide dynamic range to meet varying performance and link requirements for optical applications
• Adjustable gain to optimize PAM4 system performance
• Excellent signal integrity necessary for PAM4 modulation schemes
• Low power and small form factor design

“Inphi’s execution and delivery of the Alcor PAM4 DSP with integrated driver, furthers our market leadership position, addressing an ever growing SAM, as NRZ based solutions accelerate migration to PAM4,” said Eric Hayes, senior VP, Networking Interconnect at Inphi. “The integration, low power, and advanced telemetry of Alcor will accelerate creation and adoption of PAM4 based 100G DR optical modules, continuing to grow Inphi’s already vast ecosystem to even more partners.”

https://www.inphi.com/

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100G Lambda MSA completes specs for longer reach 100 GbE over SMF

The 100G Lambda Multisource Agreement (MSA) Group released three enhanced 100 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) specifications, extending the reach to three distinct lengths of up to 20, 30 and 40 km over single-mode fiber. These specifications are based on 100 Gbps per wavelength PAM4 optical technology that the MSA was founded on and has been promoting. 

The specs address 100G-LR1-20 for 20 km reach, and 100G-ER1-30 and 100G-ER1-40 for 30 and 40 km reaches, respectively. 

“Single-wavelength 100G PAM4 optical technology has gained industry-wide adoption”, said Mark Nowell, 100G Lambda MSA co-chair. “These longer reach specifications will further accelerate broader industry acceptance of single-wavelength 100G solutions, especially for service providers and carriers who are in high demand of efficient and cost-effective optical solutions for next-generation wireline and wireless networks.”

“The MSA has its mission to promote 100G per wavelength PAM4 technology as part of optical networking roadmap”, said Jeffery Maki, 100G Lambda MSA co-chair. “These new specifications support roadmap evolution for extended reaches of up to 40km for today’s implementations and ready to migrate to higher electrical lane speed, smaller form factors, and lower power dissipation.”

The 100G Lambda MSA Group member companies are: II-VI, Alibaba, Applied OptoElectronics, Arista Networks, Broadcom, Cambridge Industries Group, China Unicom, Ciena, Cisco Systems, Color Chip, Credo, Delta, Eoptolink, Fujitsu Optical Components, HG Genuine, HiSense, HiSilicon, Innolight, Inphi, Intel, Juniper Networks, Keysight Technologies, Lightwave Logic, Lumentum, MACOM, Maxim, Maxlinear, Mellanox, Microsoft, Mitsubishi Electric, Molex, MultiLane, Neophotonics, Nokia, Panduit, Renesas, Rockley Photonics, Semtech, Sicoya, SiFotonics Technologies, Source Photonics, Sumitomo Electric, TE Connectivity, TFC Optical Communication, Tektronix and ZTE.

http://www.100glambda.com

100G Lambda MSA completes 400G spec for 2~10 km

Thursday, October 08, 2020    

The 100G Lambda Multisource Agreement (MSA) Group released a 400 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) specification up to 10 km based on 100 Gbps per wavelength PAM4 optical technology. 

The new 400GbE specification is designated as 400G-LR4-10 for duplex single-mode links up to 10 km and relies on multiplexing 4 wavelengths of 100 Gb/s PAM4 modulated optical signals.

The MSA members developed the 400GbE specification to fully address market requirements for 2 km to 10 km reaches over duplex single-mode for both 100GbE and 400GbE. The MSA believes that the 10 km reach specification will be fully interoperable with the 6 km version being developed by another industry standards group. The nomenclature use of “-10” in 400G-LR4-10 will inform users of the target reach.

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Acacia's 400G pluggable coherent wins ECOC award

Acacia’s family of 400G pluggable coherent solutions have won the optical integration (Silicon Photonics) category of the first-ever ECOC Exhibition Industry awards.

Utilizing Acacia’s 3D siliconization technology, Acacia’s 400G pluggable module family features an expansive list of interoperability solutions (400ZR, OpenZR+, Open ROADM MSA and CableLabs Coherent Optics Physical Layer Specification) in QSFP-DD, OSFP and CFP2-DCO pluggable form factors for cloud data center (DCI) interconnects and service provider networks. Acacia’s 400G pluggable coherent solutions were designed to enable network operators to address increasing bandwidth demand through a simplified network architecture, to help reduce both capital and operational expenditures.

Acacia samples 400ZR, OpenZR+, Open ROADM MSA

Thursday, March 05, 2020  400G, 400ZR, Acacia, Silicon Photonics  

Acacia Communications has begun sampling multiple variants in its family of 400G pluggable optical transceiver modules, including 400ZR, OpenZR+, and Open ROADM MSA. Volume production is expected in the second half of 2020.

Acacia’s 400G pluggable module family features an expansive list of interoperability solutions in QSFP-DD, OSFP and CFP2-DCO pluggable form factors for cloud data center interconnects (DCIs) and service provider networks. The modules are based on Acacia's Greylock 7nm DSP, its 3rd generation of coherent DSP. The company is pursuing a 3D Siliconization approach that allows for high volume manufacturing processes.

OpenZR represents the combination of 400ZR and the Open ROADM MSA. It targets metro regional DCI applications.

Acacia said 400G pluggable modules represent a key architectural change in high-bandwidth data center interconnects because they can be plugged directly into switches and routers offering the same density for both coherent DWDM and client optics in the same chassis.

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II‐VI's pluggable optical line subsystem wins ECOC 2020 award

II‐VI's pluggable optical line subsystem (POLS) platform has won the ECOC 2020 Industry Award in the Data Center Innovation/Best Product category.

II-VI’s POLS platform, which was initially announced in March 2020, plugs directly into a datacenter interconnect (DCI) switch port and enables full-duplex multichannel 400ZR transport, including multiplexing, demultiplexing, and variable-gain amplification. The first product on the POLS platform, the OSFP-LS, supports up to 8 DWDM wavelengths, or 3.2 Tbps per fiber pair. The OSFP-LS, a disaggregated subsystem, can be incorporated into both branded OEM and white box solutions.

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Gluware advances intent-based network automation with SaaS model

Gluware announced major enhancements to its cloud-delivered intent-based network automation platform, including a new SaaS model with a free pricing tier for network discovery and inventory management.

Gluware automates multi-vendor, multi-domain networks with an abstraction layer that provides device management, configuration audit/drift, policy management, etc.

Gluware 4.0 introduces a number of new core capabilities and user benefits, including:

• 
  
• Expanded Network Vendor Support – Support for Aruba AOS-CX, AOS-Switch and ProVision; and Juniper Networks’ Junos OS for the EX, MX, QFX and SRX platforms help customers manage complex network configurations and deliver change at scale with the confidence of declarative automation.
• Multi-Cloud Network Automation – Integration with Terraform enables users to automate the configuration of public cloud infrastructure including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.
• EVPN-VXLAN Multi-vendor Reference Design Package – Config modeling application enables simple automation of advanced architecture with standards-based leaf-routed/ERB and Juniper spine-routed/CRB support.
• Gluware Dashboard – User-definable dashboards help customers quickly assimilate critical information in an actionable and fully integrated new design.
• Config Search – Search functionality across any or all device configurations aids in troubleshooting, building audits and automating network features.
• Ad-Hoc Query – The automated checking of each device configuration or state saves time when troubleshooting and performing assessments.
• Syslog Integration – Real-time multi-vendor change notifications enhance the management of increasingly frequent network changes.
• Enhanced OS Manager Engine – Expanded OS Manager capabilities improve the ability to successfully execute OS upgrades in complex deployments.
• Cisco License Inventory Report – Automatic network audits for Cisco licensing and smart licensing enable customers to perform their own audits to save time and money.
• Enhanced Audit Capabilities – Finer control of audit rules can help validate individual configurations independently, verify when order matters, and group commands into a single set, expanding audit use-cases and simplifying results.

As for the new SaaS model, Gluware 4.0 introduces two offerings:

• Gluware Pro is a cloud-delivered SaaS automation application suite powered by the Gluware Secure Gateway to achieve security and rapid onboarding in an easy to consume subscription model including a free-tier for network discovery and inventory. The Gluware Secure Gateway provides an onramp to Gluware running in AWS, encrypting the control messages from the cloud and performs multi-engine provisioning activities to each network device. Gluware Pro is packaged for up to 2,000 devices per customer.
• Gluware Enterprise, a robust application suite, is optimized for the largest and most complex enterprises, automating global networks with distributed Gluware Zone Engines in geographic or logical groups for high scalability and security. Gluware Zone Engines enable customers to distribute multiple Gluware provisioning engines in strategic geographical locations to achieve the scale and performance required for tens of thousands of devices per enterprise. Gluware Enterprise is customizable with multiple deployment options including on-premises, customer cloud (AWS or Azure), Azure Marketplace delivered or Gluware hosted on AWS.
  

“The networking demands of the enterprise are changing drastically as digital transformation and remote work adoption accelerate alongside the pandemic. Cloud-enabled network automation is a vital lifeline to those in I&O roles who need to mitigate the complexity of rapidly evolving enterprise networks,” said Jeff Gray, CEO and Co-founder, Gluware. “Gluware 4.0 is the industry’s first cloud-delivered intelligent automation platform for multi-domain, multi-vendor and multi-cloud networks that combines the intelligence, security and feature sets to transform enterprise networks from manually built and maintained, to fully automated and secure, so complexity is never an issue.”

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Vector Photonics announces 1310nm/25G PCSEL chip

Vector Photonics, a spin-out from the University of Glasgow, is showcasing the development of its PCSEL-based, 1310nm / 25G chip at the virtual ECOC exhibition.

The semiconductor laser is based on PCSEL (Photonic Crystal Surface Emitting Lasers) technology.

Vector Photonics CEO, Neil Martin, said, “ECOC is Europe’s largest exhibition of fibre optic communications and photonics-related technologies. This makes it the ideal platform from which to announce our 1310nm / 25G PCSEL chip development and to state our intention to target datacentre applications as a priority. The datacentre market is rapidly growing, driven by the increasing use and demand for mobile devices, Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G. It is also a market where we can validate our technology against the IEEE 802.3 standard for datacoms chips, selling them through multiple, global, sales channels once successful.”

The data centre PCSEL project, known as LOCAL, has received a £280k, Innovate UK, Sustainable Innovation Fund government grant, in collaboration with the University of Glasgow.

https://www.vectorphotonics.co.uk/

Vector Photonics develops a new class of semiconductor lasers

Sunday, November 08, 2020    

Vector Photonics, a spin-out from the University of Glasgow, announced plans to commercialize a new class of Photonic Crystal Surface Emitting Lasers (PCSEL) technology for hyperscale data center applications. The technology uses a 2D grating structure to scatter light linearly and orthogonally.

Vector Photonics CEO, Neil Martin, said, “PCSELs are low cost, robust, have a broad wavelength range and high power. This combination of key characteristics gives them a huge advantage over most of the laser technologies used today. This includes VCSELs (Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers), which are robust, but compromise wavelength range and power, and EEL’s (Edge Emitting Lasers), which have broad wavelength range, but are expensive to make and are fragile to handle.

“PCSELs emit light from their top surface, like VCSELs, making them easy to package and incorporate into PCBs and electronic assemblies. They are also produced in a similar way to EELs, allowing us to draw on existing supply chain expertise and capacity as we grow.”

https://www.vectorphotonics.co.uk/

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ADVA and Advantech Open Remote Lab to Streamline uCPE Adoption

ADVA and Advantech launched a joint test-drive portal based on the ADVA Ensemble suite and Advantech edge appliances for remote evaluation of SD-WAN and security solutions on Universal CPE. 

The portal aims to streamline the evaluation process for network engineers and architects working remotely by providing them with free access to a wide range of pre-integrated SD-WAN uCPE platforms. 

The new uCPE test-drive portal is built on the ADVA Ensemble open virtualization suite, including carrier-class management and orchestration, and virtual network functions hosting capabilities. Lab users will be provided access to Advantech FWA-1112VC edge appliances hosting the ADVA Ensemble software and will be able to test Fortinet’s Secure SD-WAN solution that enables a Security-Driven Networking approach and the Silver Peak Unity EdgeConnect SD-WAN edge platform that provides automated integration with cloud-delivered security services. The Advantech FWA-1112VC platform features Intel Atom processors that have been cost optimized for volume deployment and provide flexible connectivity options including 5G, Wi-Fi 6 and 10 GbE. Encryption and compression acceleration improvements can be assessed using Intel QuickAssist with DPDK. Other partner virtual network functions and Advantech hardware platforms are available for evaluation under request.

http://adva.testdrive-advantech-nfv.com

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Dell'Oro: Strong demand for 25 Gbps Ethernet adapters

Strong demand for 25 Gbps Ethernet adapters propelled the market to the highest revenue of $638 million in 3Q 2020, according to a new report from Dell'Oro Group. Nvidia gained share on a one-time sale of Ethernet controllers and adapters sufficient to satisfy the multi-year demand of a Chinese OEM, presumed to be Huawei, ahead of its sourcing ban from US vendors.

“More than 3.3 million of 25 Gbps Ethernet controllers and adapters ports were shipped in 3Q20, surpassing the previous record set in the prior quarter, with strong demand from Tier 1 China-based Cloud SPs and Tier 1 server OEMs as they embraced the technology,” said Baron Fung, Research Director at Dell’Oro Group. “However, shipments of 50 Gbps Ethernet controller and adapter ports declined from the prior quarter as some of the Tier 1 Cloud service providers have entered a digestion cycle and reduced server deployments,” added Fung.

Additional highlights from the 3Q 2020 Ethernet Controller and Adapter report include:

• Total Ethernet controller and adapter port shipments increased 8 percent quarter-over-quarter.
• Shipments of 100 Gbps ports grew quarter-over-quarter to 425 K ports, an all-time-high, to support the growing demands of accelerated computing.
• Amazon commanded 73 percent revenue share of the Smart NIC market in 3Q 2020. Broadcom led the Ethernet adapter vendors in port shipments, followed by Marvell and Nvidia.

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Dell'Oro: Campus switch revenue returned to growth in Q3

Worldwide campus switch revenue recovered after two consecutive quarters of high single-digit decline, according to a new report from Dell'Oro Group. Huawei, HPE, H3C, and Arista Networks drove most of the growth in 3Q 2020 and comprised more than 28 percent of the market sales, up nearly three percentage points year-over-year (Y/Y).

Additional highlights from the 3Q 2020 Ethernet Switch – Campus Report:

The revenue recovery was broad-based across all major regions: North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific, with the majority of the growth driven by North America.

5/5.0 Gbps port shipments were up 60 percent Y/Y, surpassing 1.5 M ports during the quarter as the pandemic is accelerating the adoption of higher speeds and new technologies.

“Government funding around the world and particularly in North America propelled growth in the market,” said Sameh Boujelbene, Senior Research Director at Dell’Oro Group. “Additionally, the market benefited from backlog fulfillment during the quarter as supply challenges improved from the first half of the year. While government funding may have benefited mostly the public sector and lower education verticals, we have started to see some signs of recovery in large and even some mid-size enterprises as they resumed spending on campus network upgrades,” added Boujelbene.

https://www.delloro.com/news/campus-switch-revenue-returned-to-year-over-year-growth-in-3q-2020/

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IDC: Worldwide server market revenue up 2.2% in Q3

Vendor revenue in the worldwide server market grew 2.2% year over year to $22.6 billion during the third quarter of 2020 (3Q20), according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Server Tracker. Worldwide server shipments declined 0.2% year over year to nearly 3.1 million units in 3Q20.

Volume server revenue was up 5.8% to $19.0 billion, while midrange server revenue declined 13.9% to $2.6 billion, and high-end servers declined by 12.6% to $937 million.

"Global demand for enterprise servers was a bit muted during the third quarter of 2020 although we did see areas of strong demand," said Paul Maguranis, senior research analyst, Infrastructure Platforms and Technologies at IDC. "From a regional perspective, server revenue within China grew 14.2% year over year. And worldwide revenues for servers running AMD CPUs were up 112.4% year over year while ARM-based servers grew revenues 430.5% year over year, albeit on a very small base of revenue."

• Dell Technologies and HPE/New H3C Group were tied for the top position in the 3Q20 worldwide server market with 16.7% and 15.9% revenue share respectively. 
• Inspur/Inspur Power Systems finished third with a 9.4% share of revenue. 
• Lenovo was fourth with a 5.9% share and Huawei was fifth with a 4.9% share. 
• The ODM Direct group of vendors accounted for 28.0% of total server revenue, up 8.4% year over year.

https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS47123620

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Nutanix names Rajiv Ramaswami as CEO

Nutanix named Rajiv Ramaswami as President and Chief Executive Officer, replacing co-founder Dheeraj Pandey, who previously announced his plans to retire as CEO of Nutanix upon the appointment of a successor.

Ramaswami most recently served as Chief Operating Officer of Products and Cloud Services at VMware. Prior to this role, Ramaswami led VMware’s Networking and Security business, one of the fastest-growing units in the company, as Executive Vice President and General Manager. Before joining VMware, Ramaswami served as Executive Vice President and General Manager, Infrastructure and Networking at Broadcom. 

“I’m thrilled to be joining Nutanix at this transformative time for the company and the industry,” said Ramaswami. “I have long admired Nutanix as a formidable competitor, a pioneer in hyperconverged infrastructure solutions and a leader in cloud software. Working closely with the Board, the management team, and the more than 6,000 talented Nutanix employees around the world, we will build on Nutanix’s strong foundation of continuous innovation, collaboration and customer delight. Together, we will capitalize on the significant opportunities ahead and deliver on the company’s next phase of growth and value creation.”

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OIF launches 800G Coherent and Co-Packaging Framework projects

OIF launched two new projects – 800G Coherent and Co-Packaging Framework, availability of a new FlexE for 400ZR white paper, newly elected board members/positions and working group representatives.

800G Coherent

In scope for the 800G Coherent project is to define interoperable 800G coherent line specifications for campus and DCI applications. The resulting Implementation Agreement (IA) will:

• Define single-lambda 800G coherent line interfaces for two applications
• Amplified, single span, DWDM links up to 80-120km
• Unamplified, fixed wavelength links of 2-10km
• Support Ethernet client(s) (minimum 100GE) up to 800G aggregate bandwidth

“The next standardized coherent rate beyond 400ZR will be technically challenging with many factors to be considered,” said Tad Hofmeister, Technical Lead, Optical Networking Technologies at Google and OIF Vice President. “With the 800G Coherent IA, OIF is in a unique position to take a leadership role in defining interoperable 800G coherent line interfaces for various applications.”

Co-Packaging Framework IA

The Co-Packaging Framework IA, announced on November 10, 2020, will study the application spaces and relevant technology considerations for co-packaging of communication interfaces with one or more ASICs. A primary objective of this specification is to identify new opportunities for interoperability standards for possible future work at the OIF or other standards organizations. Upon completion, the work will be summarized in a Framework IA.

White Paper

A new OIF white paper addressing 400ZR applications requiring multiplexing of lower rate Ethernet signals (e.g. 100GE) and how to leverage FlexE for this service multiplexing is now available.

The OIF 400ZR IA includes mapping of 400G Ethernet signals as defined in IEEE 802.3, but not lower rate services such as 100G Ethernet. This white paper describes utilizing the OIF FlexE Implementation Agreement multiplexing of lower service rates, such as 100G and 200G Ethernet to a 400G frame that can be carried by 400ZR devices. Example profiles are provided to guide interoperability in common scenarios.

Election Results

Board of Directors:

• Ian Betty, Ciena, continues to serve on the Board and was appointed as President
• Mark Filer, Microsoft, was elected to the Board (two-year term)
• Tad Hofmeister, Google, continues to serve on the Board and was re-appointed as Vice President
• Mike Li, Intel, was re-elected to the Board (one-year term)
• Jeffery Maki, Juniper Networks, was elected to the Board (one-year term)
• Gary Nicholl, Cisco, was re-elected to the Board (two-year term) and appointed as Secretary/Treasurer
• Nathan Tracy, TE Connectivity, was re-elected to the Board (two-year term) and appointed as VP of Marketing

Officers:

• Klaus-Holger Otto, Nokia, was elected as Technical Committee Chair
• Karl Bois, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, was elected as Technical Committee Vice Chair
• Lyndon Ong, Ciena, was re-elected as Market Awareness & Education Committee Co-Chair, Networking
• Richard Ward, Intel, was elected as Market Awareness & Education Committee Co-Chair, Physical and Link Layer
• Dave Brown, Nokia, continues to serve as Director of Communications

Technical Committee:

• Michael Klempa, Amphenol, was elected as Physical and Link Layer Interoperability Working Group Chair (two-year term)
• Jeffery Maki, Juniper Networks, was re-elected as Physical Layer User Group Working Group Chair (two-year term)

“I’m looking forward to serving OIF members as president of this vital organization and thank all those who have served and continue to serve,” said Ian Betty, Ciena and new OIF president. “OIF’s role continues to be critical in making great strides in interoperability solutions for today’s and tomorrow’s challenges. Congratulations to the entire board and those appointed to leadership positions – your role is integral to OIF’s continued success.”

http://www.oiforum.com

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Arm perspective on Next-Gen Edge: Portability is Key

As we think about moving computing from the core data centers to the edge, portability will be key to building out edge infrastructure. In this video, Chris Bergey, SVP/GM Infrastructure Line of Business at Arm, talks about the concept of portability as illustrated in Arm's Project Cassini which brings cloud-native technologies to the edge to enable a secure and portable computing environment.

https://youtu.be/LUY1zJvYQqI

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Marvell debuts O-RAN solution based on Octeon DPU

Marvell introduced a 5G O-RAN portfolio consisting of silicon, software and hardware reference designs spanning the radio unit (RU), distributed unit (DU) and centralized unit (CU) with Ethernet connectivity between these network elements.

Marvell’s O-RAN platform includes its OCTEON Fusion baseband processor family that is currently shipping in volume to tier 1 OEMs. Marvell’s newly announced OCTEON Fusion-O processors maintain the full capabilities of the OCTEON Fusion family including 15 Gbps capacity and support for 200MHz channelization, while adding specific O-RAN functions such as eCPRI compression/decompression and split 7.2 interfaces with integrated fronthaul. Additionally, the platform includes key reference software, allowing OEMs, ODMs and network operators to rapidly bring O-RAN compatible products to market.

mMIMO RU

A 32T32R, 8 DL layer, 100MHz channel radio unit.

• Hardware reference design in partnership with Analog Devices
• Reference lower L1 and beamforming software
• O-RAN management plane software
• O-RAN fronthaul interface
• Analog Devices Transceivers and DFE software

vDU and DU

The OCTEON Fusion-O DU hardware reference designs are available as either a virtualized DU (vDU) PCIe-based offload accelerator or an integrated DU. 

• Dual mode 5G and LTE
• Integrated fronthaul for 7.2 split
• 16DL/8UL layer support
• Reference LTE and 5G L1 software

CU

In addition to support for vDU server configurations, the Marvell O-RAN platform also provides support for our industry-leading L2/L3 OCTEON processors supporting a fully integrated standalone CU implementation.

• Dedicated L2/L3 silicon
• Virtualized L2/L3 support
• Partnership protocol stack ports from industry leaders

https://www.marvell.com/

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Marvell ships its next gen access and metro Ethernet switching silicon

Marvell is now shipping its latest generation Prestera DX 7300 series of Ethernet switches for 5G carrier access and metro networks. Significantly, the new switches incorporate accurate time-sensitive features, integrated MACsec and advanced processing functionality, and support for 400G coherent optics.

Key features of the Prestera DX 7300 series 

• ITU-T G.8273.2 Class C PTP/SyncE, Time Sensitive Networking (802.1CM) compliance for precise 5G timing
• Advanced security with secure boot and integrated 802.1ae 256b MACsec engines for Layer2 data encryption
• Segment Routing (SRV6) for advanced traffic engineering and service chaining
• Enhanced network telemetry and intelligence for actionable metadata exports
• 56Gbps PAM4 SerDes supporting port speeds up to 400Gbps
• Flexible I/O speeds 1G/2.5/5/10/25/50/100/400G

Marvell notes that to support the new RAN deployment models for radio access fronthaul applications, its Prestera DX 7300 family integrates highly accurate time synchronization, 802.1CM Time-Sensitive-Network (TSN) for fronthaul, network slicing and native eCPRI-aware processing. The switches are part of Marvell's open radio access network (open RAN) and virtualized radio access network (vRAN) platform solutions, also announced today.

The Prestera DX 7300 series of switches integrate 56Gbps SerDes, high-capacity MACsec and advanced processing that can be matched with pluggable 400G-ZR optical modules. This functionality enables system manufacturers to develop solutions for multi-access edge computing (MEC) and data center interconnect (DCI) applications that benefit from traffic efficiency, openness and the optimized cost structure of packet Ethernet networks.

"As 5G brings rigorous data protection and performance demands to the transport network, the infrastructure has to meet the requirements for secured communications at higher speeds and data rates to support emerging use cases," said Guy Azrad, general manager and senior vice president of Switching at Marvell. "Our newest Prestera family offers the most secured switching solution with the high-speed interfaces needed to fulfill 5G potential at the industry's lowest power and footprint available today."

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MACOM showcases transimpedance amplifiers for 400ZR, PAM 100G to 800G

At this week's ECOC 2020 Virtual Conference, MACOM is showcasing the following products 

Flip-Chip Quad Channel Driver and Transimpedance Amplifier (TIA) for 400G ZR:  MACOM's linear modulator driver and TIA are high-performance quad-channel flip-chip devices for operation at symbols rates up to 64GBaud. These products offer the low power consumption and the flexibility required to enable next generation 400G ZR modules.

PAM4 100G to 800G Transimpedance Amplifiers: MACOM's portfolio includes a 4x28GBaud TIA and a 1x28GBaud TIA for 53Gbps applications. These products are aimed at high density optical interconnect solutions and are intended for 50G, 100G, 200G, 400G and 800G receivers using multilevel modulation such as PAM4.

https://www.macom.com/

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InnoLight samples OSFP 2xFR4 and DR8+ optics

InnoLight Technology (Suzhou) is introducing a line of 800G OSFP and QSFP-DD800 optics. OSFP 2xFR4 and DR8+ are currently available for early customer evaluation, with QSFP-DD800 DR8+ available in January 2021. Other 800G parts as listed below will be ready for evaluation in 1H 2021. Volume production is currently planned for either Q4, 2021 or Q1 2022 depending upon product type. 

• 800G OSFP 8x100G DR8 & AOC
• 800G OSFP DR8+
• 800G OSFP 2x400G FR4
• 800G OSFP 1x800G LR8
• QSFP-DD800 8x100G DR8 & AOC
• QSFP-DD800 DR8+
• QSFP-DD800 2x400G FR4
• QSFP-DD800 8x100G LR

In addition to the above mentioned 800G products, InnoLight is developing innovative optics to enable 800G transmission in the legacy 4X fiber structure in either multimode OM3/OM4 or single mode fiber plant. These innovative optics will help customers to increase bandwidth to 800G using the existing SR4 or DR4 fiber layouts for point to point or breakout applications. Availability is planned in 2H 2021.

"InnoLight's 800G transceivers continue InnoLight's leadership in high performance pluggable optics, doubling bandwidth capacity without disruption of existing data center infrastructure. With our industry leading 400G deployments, InnoLight is uniquely positioned in driving 800G implementation and to deliver the best price performance optics in the industry. Our new innovative 800G optics to support existing 4x fiber plants are especially suited for Hyperscale DC operators." said Osa Mok, Chief Marketing Officer of InnoLight.

InnoLight is showcasing video demos of 800G pluggable OSFP 2xFR4, 800G OSFP DR8+ and QSFP-DD800 DR8+ at the ECOC 2020 virtual event.

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FCC's C-Band spectrum auction gets underway

 The FCC kicked off its auction of 280 megahertz of prime mid-band spectrum in the 3.7-3.98 GHz band—a portion of the C-band.  This is the FCC’s largest mid-band 5G spectrum auction to date.

“This is a big day for American consumers and U.S. leadership in 5G,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.  “By freeing up this wide swath of critical mid-band spectrum, the FCC is paving the way for Americans to receive fast 5G wireless services.  Together with the recent success of our 3.5 GHz band auction, our work to auction the 2.5 GHz and 3.45 GHz bands in 2021, and the other ground-breaking spectrum auctions we’ve held since 2017, our 5G FAST Plan is in full swing.  American consumers and businesses will benefit from this FCC’s efforts for years to come.” 

Chairman Pai proposed and instituted a plan to repurpose the C-band quickly.  As a result, this mid-band spectrum will be available to deliver next-generation connectivity to American consumers and businesses years ahead of schedule.  The FCC successfully secured commitments from fixed satellite companies to move quickly out of the 3.7-3.98 GHz band and into the upper portion of the C-band, which will free up this crucial mid-band spectrum for 5G wireless services. 

The first round of the clock phase of the auction started on December 8th at 10 a.m. ET.  This auction will offer 5,684 new flexible-use overlay licenses based on Partial Economic Areas (PEAs) for spectrum in the 3.7–3.98 GHz band.  This spectrum holds the potential to be prime spectrum for 5G services given its combination of geographic coverage and capacity, and the FCC’s auction procedures will ensure the assignment to auction winners of contiguous spectrum blocks allowing wide channel bandwidths that support 5G deployment. 

Satellite operators currently using the C-Band have agreed to repack their operations out of the band’s lower 300 megahertz (3.7-4.0 GHz) into the upper 200 megahertz (4.0-4.2 GHz).  The first phase of this transition—the clearing of 120 megahertz of spectrum from 3.7-3.82 GHz in 46 of the nation’s top 50 PEAs—will conclude by December 5, 2021.  The second phase—clearing the lower 120 megahertz of spectrum in the remaining PEAs, plus an additional 180 megahertz from 3.82-4.0 GHz nationwide—will conclude by December 5, 2023.  

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Optoscribe develops glass chip for low-loss coupling to silicon photonics

Optoscribe Ltd. introduced glass chip for low-loss coupling to silicon photonics (SiPh) grating couplers.

The new OptoCplrLT is designed to overcome fiber-to-SiPh photonic integrated circuit (PIC) coupling challenges to enable high volume automated assembly and help drive down costs. 

The device was created using Optoscribe’s proprietary high-speed laser writing technique. It features low-loss light turning curved mirrors, which are uniquely formed in the glass, to direct the light to or from SiPh grating couplers. This prevents the need for bend-tolerant fiber solutions, which are often expensive, challenging and have some significant limitations in size and profile.

To help address footprint challenges, OptoCplrLT has a low-profile interface of less than 1.5mm in height, which allows compact interface layouts that alleviate packaging constraints. It is also compatible with industry-standard materials and processes; for example, the glass chip has a coefficient of thermal expansion matched to the silicon chip, helping to maximise performance.

Russell Childs, CEO of Optoscribe, said: “With data center operators and transceiver manufacturers seeking innovative solutions to help address fiber-to-SiPh PIC coupling challenges, we are pleased to introduce OptoCplrLT™ to help meet market demands of performance, cost and volume, as well as helping to overcome such hurdles including SiPh transceiver packaging and integration.”

  

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