26 June 2018

Acacia launches ZR-class coherent CFP and CFP2 DCO pluggable modules

© Semiconductor Today Magazine / Juno PublishiPicture: Disco’s DAL7440 KABRA laser saw.

Acacia Communications Inc of Maynard, MA, USA has announced the general availability of two new high-speed coherent optical interconnect products for ZR applications. Enabled by Acacia’s low-power, highly integrated designs that leverage its proprietary digital signal processor (DSP) and silicon photonic technologies, the firm believes that its new 100G/200G CFP2-DCO ZR and next-generation low-power 100G CFP-DCO ZR will address demands for growing capacity in network access, edge and enterprise campus applications.

The new products support the requirements of unamplified applications beyond the 40km reaches standardized in the industry and extend to 80km and beyond. The CFP-DCO ZR module is capable of supporting the 18W power class that has been widely deployed for 10km client applications. Both modules also offer high-capacity and low-power-consumption solutions designed to reduce the complexity, power usage and cost of high-bandwidth interconnects.

“Based on our experience with network operators, we see increasing demand for 100G and above in access aggregation markets,” comments Jimmy Mizrahi, VP global portfolio at ECI Telecon Ltd. “Coherent 100G and 200G ZR solutions, in compact pluggable form factors, will be an attractive solution for network operators with requirements for reaches greater than 40km in applications such as 5G backhaul and cable access,” he believes.

“Traditionally, coherent optical transmission was primarily used for longer-reach applications, but traffic patterns are changing in ways that are leading to the need for high-capacity interconnects that target shorter reaches in a power-efficient and cost-effective manner. ZR optics address this need,” says Acacia’s senior director of marketing Tom Williams. “Acacia pioneered the coherent ZR offering with our industry-first CFP-DCO form factor and our vision is to continue to expand the use of coherent technology in shorter-reach applications.”

Shorter-reach applications are believed to be an emerging opportunity for coherent optical interconnects, and are receiving significant attention from industry standards organizations. Standards are under development for coherent ZR-class interfaces at 100G, 200G and 400G, adapting traditional 80km ZR requirements for coherent transmission. Applications ranging from the interconnection of hyper-scale data centers to the aggregation of residential access networks and 5G backhaul are driving converging requirements for these coherent interfaces.

See related items:

Oclaro and Acacia partner on 100/200G CFP2-DCO products

Tags: CFP CFP2

Visit: www.acacia-inc.com