OFC was back in full force this year, and attendance was impressive at over 11,500 participants (2019: 15,400 pre-Covid). Due to visa challenges, Chinese presence was lighter than in the past, but anyone who could come did.
Cignal AI hit an all-time high in the number of meetings (50+) and each analyst participated in OFC presentations. Our apologies if one of us didn’t have time for an extended chat during this hectic time. There was so much to see, and for the first time in years, it feels like an exciting new batch of startups is rising in the industry.
No single blockbuster announcement dominated at OFC this year. We would characterize the multiple coherent Gen120P announcements for 1.2T/1.6Tbps coming from Ciena, Cisco, Fujitsu, Infinera, and Nokia as the show’s biggest news. Despite the rapid ramp and surging interest in pluggable coherent, multiple companies continue to invest in higher-performance embedded systems.
There was a lot of discussion around ongoing R&D for 800ZR and a few vendor announcements, including a strong hint from Marvell that devices were coming in 1Q24. There were also dozens of early technology demos of 200Gbps PAM-4 technology, the key enabler of 1.6Tbps client optics slated for commercial availability in 2025. Finally, OFC was filled with demonstrations and swirling debates of CPO vs. linear drive optics, further catalyzed by Arista’s Andy Bechtolsheim, whose presentations featured his trademark clarity and conciseness.
This year’s OFC was highly informative and engaging. We enjoyed seeing so many folks in the industry return to the show to share their passionate perspectives on the current market and its outlook. Let’s dive in!
- Business Sentiment
- Coherent Optics
- 1.2/1.6Tbps (Gen120P)
- Acacia CIM-8
- Nokia PSE-6s
- Infinera ICE7
- Fujitsu T900 / NEL ExaSPEED GAIA
- Ciena WaveLogic 6e
- 100ZR (Gen30C)
- 400ZRx (Gen60C)
- 800ZR/LR (Gen120C)
- 1.2/1.6Tbps (Gen120P)
- Client Optics
- 800GbE and 1.6TbE client optics
- PAM4 vs Coherent inside the datacenter
- Co-Packaged Optics (CPO)
- Linear Drive
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