The Metaverse and the network

CTO interviews part 1: Stephen Alexander

"The inability to precisely predict how we'll use it [the Metaverse], and how it will change our daily life, is not a flaw. Rather, it is a prerequisite for the Metaverse's disruptive force."

The Metaverse: And How it Will Revolutionize Everything by Matthew Ball, 2022.

CTO Interview 

Stephen Alexander's trusty 20-year-old dishwasher finally stopped working during the pandemic.

Unfortunately, getting spare parts shipped to the US was impossible, so Alexander, the CTO of Ciena (pictured), resorted to 'how-to' YouTube videos and got bits from eBay.

It highlighted the power of the online experience, something set to ramp significantly with the advent of the Metaverse.

Click to read more ...

ECOC '22 Reflections - Part 2

Gazettabyte is asking industry and academic figures for their thoughts after attending ECOC 2022, held in Basel, Switzerland. In particular, what developments and trends they noted, what they learned, and what, if anything, surprised them. 

maytikka, Shutterstock.com

In Part 2, Broadcom‘s Rajiv Pancholy, optical communications advisor, Chris Cole, LightCouting’s Vladimir Kozlov, Ciena’s Helen Xenos, and Synopsys’ Twan Korthorst share their thoughts.

Click to read more ...

Ciena's multi-format 400G coherent QSFP-DD pluggable

Ciena showcased a working 400-gigabit Universal coherent pluggable module at the ECOC 2022 conference and exhibition in Basel, Switzerland.

Ciena is using its WaveLogic 5 Nano coherent digital signal processor (DSP) for the Universal QSFP-DD coherent pluggable module.

"We call it universal because it supports many transmission modes - interoperable and high performance; the most in the industry," says Helen Xenos, senior director of portfolio marketing at Ciena. 

A look inside Ciena's 400-gigabit Universal coherent pluggable module. TOF is the tunable optical filter. Source: Ciena

The pluggable has custom extended-performance modes and supports three industry formats: the 400ZR interoperable standard, the 400ZR+ multi-source agreement (MSA), and the OpenROADM MSA. (See tables below).

Click to read more ...

Hyperscalers' needs drive a new class of coherent DSP

Coherent digital signal processors (DSPs) companies have supported two families of coherent chips for some time. That's because no single coherent DSP can meet all the market's requirements.

The coherent DSP used for highest-performance optical transmissions must include advanced coding techniques, forward error correction, and a high symbol rate to send as much data as possible on a single wavelength and maximise reach.

Helen Xenos at NGON & DCI World

In contrast, a DSP for coherent pluggable modules needs to be power-efficient and compact to meet the optical module's power envelope and size constraints; a 400ZR QSFP-DD and a CFP2-DCO 400ZR+ being examples.

According to Ciena, now there is a need for a third category of coherent DSP for 1.6 terabit-per-second (Tbps) and 3.2Tbps transmissions over short distances for next-generation switch routers.

Click to read more ...

Books read in 2021: Part 2

In Part II, two more industry figures pick their reads of the year: Sara Gabba of II-VI and Ciena’s Joe Marsella.

Sara Gabba, Strategic Marketing, II-VI

I’ve always read a lot. I cannot fall asleep without the sweet or the exciting company of a good book!

In the last year, I’ve spent many evenings reading fairy tales to my young daughter and, on top of the traditional ones from Andersen or the Grimm brothers, I’ve surprisingly discovered that she really likes the Greek myths (in an adaptation for children), which are the archetypes of most of the ‘modern’ tales. Love, mystery, jealousy, fear, talent, heroism: all the instincts and passions of humankind are there and able to capture every reader.

Click to read more ...

Ciena builds its IP edge

Part II: IP Routing: Ciena's Vyatta acquisition 

Ciena’s acquisition of AT&T’s Vyatta team is a further step in its campaign to bolster its internet protocol (IP) expertise.

Ciena will gain 60 IP engineers with expertise in network operating systems (NOS).

“If you believe that IP-optical convergence is a trend, and Ciena does, then you need expertise in both areas,” says Joe Marsella, vice president, product line management, routing and switching at Ciena.

Joe Marsella

Ciena has been growing its IP expertise for the last five years. “We are competing against companies that have been doing this for 30 years,” says Marsella. “The more experience we can bring in, the more it helps us.”

Ciena says the deal emerged gradually. ”I can’t say it was a Ciena or an AT&T idea; it was a mutual discussion over time that finally resulted in an acquisition,” says Marsella.

Ciena will also gain its first R&D centre in Europe. The deal is expected to be completed before the year-end.

Click to read more ...

The Blue Planet platform's ongoing automation journey

Vodafone UK is one operator that has recently chosen Ciena's Blue Planet for the management of its optical and IP networks. An interview with Ciena to understand what the Blue Planet network automation tool does.

Having some knowledge of a telco's operations helps in understanding the role of a network automation platform. So says Kevin Wade, senior director and product marketing team leader at Ciena Blue Planet.

Source: Ciena

Service providers, like any business, have an operational infrastructure that begins with business processes. For a service provider, the process starts with a connectivity service request. The business processes capture the customer's order and deliver the requested service.

Once up and running, the service must be monitored and managed to ensure the service level agreement is upheld.

"Today, these processes are highly manual," says Wade. "Automation is being looked at and deployed more extensively to simplify these processes."

Click to read more ...