Active Insight

Key technology takeaways from OFC 2022.

Slides available

Here is a sneak peek of the hot topics of discussion at OFC 2022

How will the adoption of 400ZR and ZR+ pluggable coherent modules impact Metro WDM equipment spending?

Cignal AI’s observations on the proposed merger.

The historical classification of coherent optical technology (Gen1, Gen2, etc.) is no longer sufficient. Therefore, Cignal AI will now recognize and classify coherent DSP technology by its maximum baud rate and whether the DSP is optimized for Performance or Compact applications.

Development moves past 90+ GBaud directly to 120+

Nearly 5 years after the project’s inception, AT&T disclosed it has deployed OpenROADM-based networks across a dozen US metros.

After years of anticipation, 400G pluggable digital coherent optics (DCO) will finally achieve general availability and initial deployment in 2021.

Quick thoughts on equipment spending trends as well as a current view on the role of pluggable coherent modules.

Several vendors are shipping 800Gbps capable coherent optical solutions, and now the industry must consider the next steps in development.

Co-packaged optics (CPO) moved from hero experiments to discussions of commercial roadmaps this year. In this update from OFC21, we cover the key points about CPO discussed at the show.

Cignal AI continues to track announcements of 5th generation (800Gbps-capable, 90+ GBaud) optical trials and deployments.

Infinera provided new details on ICE6, XR Optics, Groove Compact Modular, and opportunities to displace Huawei.

TeliaCarrier’s plans for deploying 400ZR and growing its network post-COVID

Chinese webscale operator Tencent has been developing its own white box for optical transport. In this report we provide more details of Tencent’s work, including its adoption of CFP2 400Gbps optics.

Compact Modular sales (and hence disaggregation) have historically lagged in APAC versus the rest of the world, so APAC’s sudden and extraordinary growth over the past few quarters means that something has changed and deserves a closer look.

Windstream announced it performed a field trial of Acacia 400ZR+ modules in Cisco compact modular equipment. This is a notable event because it is the first public trial of extended reach 4th gen pluggable coherent 400ZR+ modules and the first demonstration of 400ZR+ modules using the larger CFP2 format.

This report provides a summary of Cignal AI’s current outlook for the year. Creating forecasts for 2020 was uniquely challenging and forecasting the expected return to normal by the end of 2021 is also very complex.

The diverse requirements of 5G require both the radios and the network supporting the radios to be updated. This report covers advances in 5G packet fronthaul and includes an overview of existing vendor solutions.