News

23 March 2010

 

Infinera, Juniper, Finisar and Opnext demo 100GbE optical module interoperability

At the Infinera Express mobile display unit at this week’s Optical Fiber Communication Conference & Exposition and National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference (OFC/NFOEC 2010) in San Diego, CA, USA (23–25 March), Silicon Valley-based firms Infinera Corp, Juniper Networks Inc, Finisar Corp and Opnext Inc have collaborated on a live demonstration of 100 Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) interoperability, showing the ability to pass 100GigE traffic between a router and an optical transport system using two different CFP optical transceivers implementing the IEEE 802.3ba 100GBASE-LR4 draft standard. The firms claim that the demonstration marks a significant step towards commercial availability of 100GigE services at economic cost levels.

The demonstration features a Juniper T1600 Core Router and an Infinera DTN optical system exchanging 100GigE traffic using 100Gb/s pluggable CFP optical transceiver modules from optical communications module and component makers Finisar and Opnext. The 100GigE signals are generated by test sets supplied by EXFO of Quebec City, Canada and Ixia of Calabasas, CA, USA. The demonstration also includes Reflex Photonics’ 100GBASE-SR10 CFP modules.

Use of interoperable pluggable modules marks an important step towards implementing the IEEE’s 802.3ba draft standard and the CFP multi-source agreement (CFP MSA), say the firms. The availability and interoperability of pluggable CFP modules from multiple vendors will be key to widespread deployment of 100 Gigabit Ethernet networking equipment such as routers, switches and optical transport gear. The firms believe that service providers will see an increasing need for 100GigE networks as bandwidth demand continues to grow, driven by trends such as video and cloud computing.

The Infinera DTN 100 Gigabit Ethernet tributary interface module and the Juniper 100 Gigabit Ethernet physical interface card used in the demonstration are the latest prototypes and are fully compliant with the most recent IEEE 802.3ba draft specification and CFP MSA. The Juniper T1600 is claimed to be the only core router on the market delivering 100Gb/s of slot capacity (necessary to support 100GigE). Similarly, the Infinera DTN is the only optical system currently deployed with 100Gb/s DWDM line modules, capable of delivering 100GigE transport services simply by inserting a 100GigE tributary interface module once it becomes available.

“Juniper’s vision for the new network calls for a highly scalable and cost-effective network infrastructure, and 100GigE will be key to improving the economics and user experience of the next generation of networking technology,” says Stefan Dyckerhoff, Juniper executive VP & general manager, Infrastructure Products Group. “Today’s demonstration is more evidence that 100GigE is moving rapidly toward production deployments,” he adds.   

“Infinera is focused on working with these industry-leading optics vendors so as to deliver a set of 100GigE system solutions with the right economics and performance to meet the needs of all our customers,” notes Infinera’s chief technology officer Drew Perkins. “Our leadership in large-scale photonic integration [using the firm’s indium phosphide chip technology] enabled us to begin shipping line cards with 100Gb/s of capacity back in 2004, and we believe that photonic integration, combined with our digital architecture, will enable us to deliver 100GigE services easily and efficiently over many different network infrastructures,” he adds.

“For Finisar, in particular, this demonstration of our CFP modules affirms that our vertical integration strategy makes it possible to be at the forefront of the 100GE market and that our volume manufacturing capability will ultimately enable large-scale deployments for our customers,” comments Joe Young, senior VP of R&D and operations at Finisar.

“The robust performance of our 100GigE module is built upon Opnext laser and photodiode technology,” adds Matt Traverso, Opnext’s director of strategic marketing and editor of the CFP MSA Hardware document.

Search: Infinera Juniper Finisar Opnext 100GbE optical module interoperability

Visit: www.infinera.com

Visit: www.juniper.net

Visit: www.finisar.com

Visit: www.opnext.com