Active Insight

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.

Our 3Q18 report showed coherent optical port pricing dropping at 26% per year. This report examines the stability of that trend over the last 12 months as new coherent systems entered the market.

Overview and analysis of Nokia’s fifth generation of coherent DSPs, the PSE-Vs, and PSE-Vc.

Acacia’s results are a bellwether to the industry. This report looks at the most recent results for the company and examines them in the context of historical trends.

Cignal AI updated the 2020 optical and packet transport hardware forecast with our best estimates of the impact of COVID-19.

Major optical transport equipment vendors did not present at OFC in March due to COVID-19 concerns, but that did not stop announcements of products and online updates to customers and analysts.

The Optical Fiber Communications Conference is the most significant industry trade and technical show for optical communications. In preparation for the event, Cignal AI has compiled a list of what to watch at OFC and what announcements to expect.

Cisco held a major launch event to communicate that the company is reorienting its focus to changing network architectures and customers. The deeper message was one of cultural changes at Cisco.

An update to October’s State of 5th Generation Optics report based on recent developments at Ciena and Infinera.