Is traffic aggregation the next role for coherent?

Ciena and Infinera have each demonstrated the transmission of 800-gigabit wavelengths over near-1,000km distances, continuing coherent's marked progress. But what next for coherent now that high-end optical transmission is approaching the theoretical limit? Can coherent compete over shorter spans and will it find new uses?

The first of several articles addressing what next for coherent.

Part 1: XR Optics

“I’m going to be a bit of a historian here,” says Dave Welch, when asked about the future of coherent.

Interest in coherent started with the idea of using electronics rather than optics to tackle dispersion in fibre. Using electronics for dispersion compensation made optical link engineering simpler.

Dave Welch

Coherent then evolved as a way to improve spectral efficiency and reduce the cost of sending traffic, measured in gigabit-per-dollar.

“By moving up the QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) scale, you got both these benefits,” says Welch, the chief innovation officer at Infinera.

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Windstream to add ICE6 as it stirs its optical network

• Windstream has used Infinera’s latest optical equipment to send an 800-gigabit signal over 730km.

• The operator wants to reduce the cost of sending bits and slash the time taken to fulfil wholesale orders.

Windstream has sent an 800-gigabit optical signal between the US cities of Phoenix and San Diego.

The operator used Infinera’s Groove modular chassis fitted with its latest ICE6 infinite capacity engine for the trial.

Infinera reported in March sending an 800-gigabit signal 950km with another operator but this is the first time a customer, Windstream, is openly discussing a trial and the technology.

Art Nichols

The bulk of Windstream’s traffic is sent using 100-gigabit wavelengths. Moving to 800-gigabit will reduce its optical transport costs.

Windstream will also be able to cram more digital traffic down its fibre. It sends 12 terabits and that could grow to 40 terabits.

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Infinera’s ICE6 sends 800 gigabits over a 950km link

Infinera has demonstrated the coherent transmission of an 800-gigabit signal across a 950km span of an operational network.

Robert ShoreInfinera used its Infinite Capacity Engine 6 (ICE6), comprising an indium-phosphide photonic integrated circuit (PIC) and its FlexCoherent 6 coherent digital signal processor (DSP). 

The ICE6 supports 1.6 terabits of traffic: two channels, each supporting up to 800-gigabit of data. 

The trial, conducted over an unnamed operator’s network in North America, sent the 800-gigabit signal as an alien wavelength over a third-party line-system carrying live traffic.

“We have proved not only the state of our 800-gigabit with ICE6 but also the distances it can achieve,” says Robert Shore, senior vice president of marketing at Infinera.

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Infinera rethinks aggregation with slices of light

An optical architecture for traffic aggregation that promises to deliver networking benefits and cost savings was unveiled by Infinera at this week’s ECOC show, held in Dublin.

Traffic aggregation is used widely in the network for applications such as fixed broadband, cellular networks, fibre-deep cable networks and business services. 

Dave Welch

Infinera has developed a class of optics, dubbed XR optics, that fits into pluggable modules for traffic aggregation. And while the company is focussing on network edge applications such as 5G, the technology could be used in thedata centre. 

Optics is inherently a point-to-point communications technology. Yet optics is applied to traffic aggregation, a point-to-multipoint architecture, resulting in inefficiencies, says Infinera.  

“The breakthrough here is that, for the first time in optics’history, we have been able to make optics work to match the needs of an aggregation network,” says Dave Welch, founder and chief innovation officer at Infinera. 

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Infinera prepares for first ICE6 coherent DSP samples

Infinera has taped out its 7nm CMOS FlexCoherent 6 digital signal processor (DSP) and expects samples of the coherent chip in the next fortnight.

“We are ready to start fabricating prototype modules,” says Robert Shore, senior vice president of marketing at Infinera (pictured).

The DSP, along with Infinera’s photonic integrated circuit (PIC) that was demonstrated at the OFC show held in March, will be integrated into a module that supports two wavelengths, each capable of supporting up to 800 gigabits of data. 

The company expects to have a prototype of the 1.6-terabit Infinite Coherent Engine 6 (ICE6) module by year-end, while the first ICE6-based products are scheduled for the second half of 2020.

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Access drives a need for 10G compact aggregation boxes

Infinera has unveiled a platform to aggregate multiple 10-gigabit traffic streams originating in the access network. 

The 1.6-terabit HDEA 1600G platform is designed to aggregate 80, 10-gigabit wavelengths. The use of ten-gigabit wavelengths in access continues to grow with the advent of 5G mobile backhaul and developments in cable and passive optical networking (PON).

A distributed access architecture being embraced by cable operators. Shown are the remote PHY device (RPD) or remote MAC-PHY device (RMD), functionality moved out of the secondary hub and closer to the end user. Also shown is how DWDM technology is moved closer to the edge of the network. Source: Infinera.

Infinera has adopted a novel mechanical design for its 1 rack unit (1RU) HDEA 1600G that uses the sides of the platform to fit 80 SFP+ optical modules. 

The platform also features an Ethernet switch chip that aggregates the traffic from the 10-gigabit streams to fill 100-gigabit wavelengths that are passed to other switching or transport platforms for transmission into the network.

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Infinera buying Coriant will bring welcome consolidation

Infinera is to purchase privately-held Coriant for $430 million. The deal will effectively double Infinera’s revenues, add 100 new customers and expand the systems vendor’s product portfolio.

Infinera's CEO, Tom FallonBut industry analysts, while welcoming the consolidation among optical systems suppliers, highlight the challenges Infinera faces making the Coriant acquisition a success.   

“The low price reflects that this isn't the best asset on the market,” says Sterling Perrin, principal analyst, optical networking and transport at Heavy Reading. “They are buying $1 of revenue for 50 cents; the price reflects the challenges.”   

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