OIF Continues Commitment to Interoperability with Two New Implementation Agreements – Specifications for CFP2-DCO and HB-CDM now available

Fremont, Calif.—May 21, 2019 – OIF, the global industry forum accelerating market adoption of advanced interoperable optical networking solutions, has completed two new Implementation Agreements (IAs) — the CFP2-Digital Coherent Optics Module (CFP2-DCO) and High Bandwidth- Coherent Driver Modulator (HB-CDM).

“As a member-driven organization, OIF’s work is based on our members’ needs. The CFP2-DCO IA is in direct response to feedback from a network operator that needed an IA to fill an interoperability gap in their network,” said Karl Gass, OIF, PLL Working Group – Optical Vice Chair. “The HB-CDM IA addresses a performance need by creating a component that can be used for much higher performance links.”

CFP2-DCO

The CFP2-DCO IA defines the additional information needed in order to implement the DCO function in the CFP2 module. The CFP2-DCO module contains all the required functions to perform dual polarization coherent optical signaling. The module can also provide different bitrates such as 100G/200G/300G/400G and support more modulation formats.

HB-CDM

The IA for HB-CDM targets modulation and data-rate agnostic coherent applications having nominal symbol rates up to 64 Gbaud. It defines a small form factor electro-optic component that integrates the HB-Polarization Multiplexed-Quadrature (HB-PMQ) modulator plus the RF drive functions for the high baud-rate and low modem implementation penalty segment of the coherent market. Additionally, the IA identifies and specifies the common features and properties of coherent transmitters to enable them to broadly meet the needs of current and future coherent systems.

Check the status of OIF’s current work here.

 

About OIF
Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) is where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done. Celebrating 20 years of effecting progressive change in the industry, OIF represents the dynamic ecosystem of 100+ industry leading network operators, system vendors, component vendors and test equipment vendors, all collaborating to develop interoperable electrical, optical and control solutions that directly impact the industry’s ecosystem and facilitate global connectivity in the open network world. Connect with OIF at @OIForum, on LinkedIn and at https://www.oiforum.com/.

 

PR Contact:
Leah Wilkinson
Wilkinson + Associates for OIF
Email: leah@wilkinson.associates
Office: 703-907-0010

OIF’s Optical Masterclass Series at NGON to Include Updates on 400ZR, Common Electrical I/O, Flex Ethernet & SDN Projects

Fremont, Calif.—May 8, 2019 – At NGON, May 21-23, 2019, OIF experts will kick off the Optical Masterclass Series with a comprehensive update on its 400ZR, Common Electrical I/O (CEI)-112, Flex Ethernet (FlexE) and Software Defined Networking (SDN) projects.

“OIF’s interoperability solutions are vital to the global network and with many of the key network operators in attendance, NGON is the ideal platform to provide updates on OIF’s work in 400ZR, CEI, FlexE and SDN,” said Dave Brown, Nokia and OIF Director of Communications.

The “Optical Masterclass Series – The Optical Internetworking Forum” session is being held Tuesday, May 21, 2019 from 09:00 – 11:00 (NEW TIME AS OF 5/16). Brown and Karl Gass, OIF Physical & Link Layer Working Group Vice Chair, Optical, will discuss how OIF is assuring interoperability in open, agile, next-generation optical networks and provide updates on crucial industry projects.

400ZR

OIF’s 400ZR project is critical in facilitating the reduction of cost and complexity for high bandwidth data center interconnects and promoting interoperability among optical module manufacturers. This Implementation Agreement (IA) will specify an interoperable digital coherent 400ZR interface targeted at short reach (80 km or more) DWDM amplified noise limited links and unamplified loss limited links.

CEI

The CEI project update will include discussion of the multiple 112 Gb/s interfaces being defined by OIF including CEI-112G MCM, XSR, VSR, MR and LR. Applications of these 112 Gb/s interfaces include die-to-die, die-to-OE (optical engine) on package, chip-to-module, chip-to-chip and chip-to-chip long reach over backplane and cables.

FlexE

OIF continues to lead in FlexE aggregation architectures through its newest FlexE 2.1 project for FlexE over 50GbE PHY applications, an extension to its FlexE 2.0 Implementation Agreement (IA). FlexE 2.1 will specify a 50G FlexE frame and multiplexing format and will address FlexE applications with lower bandwidth needs and provide an implementation foundation for applications including the access layer of the future 5G mobile network.

SDN

In November 2018, OIF announced the launch of “Requirements for Integrated Packet Optical SDN.” The project outlines requirements for a multi-layer SDN reference architecture as a use case for packet optical transport networks. It will generate functional requirements, a reference architecture and use cases for packet/optical networks guided by the vision to enable agile, open network solutions that simplify operations and optimize resource utilization.

IC-TROSA

The session will also include an update on the Integrated Coherent Transmit-Receive Optical Sub Assembly (IC-TROSA) project that defines a standard optical component containing a complete coherent modem. The availability of highly integrated components accelerates the adoption of coherent transmission into additional markets.

Additionally, Gass will participate in Wednesday’s Plenary session, 09:30 – 10:10, “Present View: To the terabit & beyond – practicalities for coherent transmission.” Also on Wednesday, from 14:35 – 15:30, Brown will speak on the “Open Source Approach: Looking at disaggregation as a pathway for multi-vendor cooperation, interoperability and driving enhanced network interfaces” panel.

Check the status of OIF’s current work here.

About OIF
Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) is where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done. Celebrating 20 years of effecting progressive change in the industry, OIF represents the dynamic ecosystem of 100+ industry leading network operators, system vendors, component vendors and test equipment vendors, all collaborating to develop interoperable electrical, optical and control solutions that directly impact the industry’s ecosystem and facilitate global connectivity in the open network world. Connect with OIF at @OIForum, on LinkedIn and at https://www.oiforum.com/.

 

PR Contact:
Leah Wilkinson
Wilkinson + Associates for OIF
Email: leah@wilkinson.associates
Office: 703-907-0010

 

OIF and Ethernet Alliance Collaborate to Run Live FlexE Traffic over 400G Network at OFC 2019

SAN DIEGO – March 5, 2019 – Industry leading organizations, OIF and the Ethernet Alliance, today announced an interoperating 400 Gbps Ethernet (400 GbE) network demonstration at OFC in San Diego, CA, March 5-7, 2019. The joint demonstration will feature Flex Ethernet (FlexE) traffic sent over three bonded and subrated 100 GbE interfaces streaming over the Ethernet Alliance 400 GbE network with interconnection between the OIF and Ethernet Alliance booths on the show floor.

The demonstration is designed to showcase the Ethernet Alliance’s IEEE 802.3bs 400 Gbps network and OIF’s FlexE 2.0 Implementation Agreement (IA).

“The Ethernet Alliance’s 400 GbE network over the OFC exhibit floor is the perfect setting to illustrate the real-world features and capabilities of the OIF FlexE 2.0 IA that allows network operators to tailor their traffic while still leveraging Ethernet,” according to Nathan Tracy, OIF’s President and Technologist at TE Connectivity. “The Ethernet Alliance’s deployment of the 400 GbE network at OFC combined with OIF’s FlexE demonstration illustrates the coincident availability of these new technologies.”

The member companies participating in the OIF demo, booth #6215, include Amphenol, Cisco, Credo Semiconductor (HK) LTD, Finisar, Inphi, Juniper Networks, Keysight Technologies, Molex, Spirent Communications, TE Connectivity, VIAVI Solutions, Xilinx and YAMAICHI ELECTRONICS. For more info on OIF’s activities at OFC, please visit https://www.oiforum.com/meetings-events/oif-ofc-2019/

Happening in booth #4749, the Ethernet Alliance’s OFC 2019 demo incorporates equipment and solutions from 21 different companies: Amphenol Corporation; Anritsu Corporation; Arista Networks, Inc.; Cisco; Credo Semiconductor, Inc.; EXFO, Inc.; Finisar; Intel Corporation; Ixia / Keysight Technologies, Inc.; Juniper Networks, Inc.; Lumentum Holdings Inc.; Nexans S.A.; Panduit Corp.; Source Photonics Inc.; Spectra7 Microsystems Ltd.; Spirent Communications; TE Connectivity Ltd.; Tektronix, Inc.; Teledyne LeCroy, Inc.; VIAVI Solutions, Inc. and Xilinx, Inc.

About OIF
Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) is where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done. Celebrating 20 years of effecting progressive change in the industry, OIF represents the dynamic ecosystem of 100+ industry leading network operators, system vendors, component vendors and test equipment vendors, all collaborating to develop interoperable electrical, optical and control solutions that directly impact the industry’s ecosystem and facilitate global connectivity in the open network world. Connect with OIF at @OIForum, on LinkedIn and at https://www.oiforum.com/.

About the Ethernet Alliance

The Ethernet Alliance is a global consortium that includes system and component vendors, industry experts, and university and government professionals who are committed to the continued success and expansion of Ethernet technology. The Ethernet Alliance takes Ethernet standards to market by supporting activities that span from incubation of new Ethernet technologies to interoperability demonstrations and education.

 

 

PR Contact:

Leah Wilkinson

Wilkinson + Associates for OIF

leah@wilkinson.associates

703-907-0010

 

 

OIF Members to Demonstrate Interoperability of Industry’s Hottest Technologies at OFC 2019

Multi-vendor live demos to feature 400ZR, CEI-112G and FlexE technology; OIF experts to lead panel discussions on hot topics, interoperability

Fremont, Calif.—February 20, 2019 – Demonstrating how interoperability works get done, 13 OIF member companies will participate in live interoperability demos of the industry’s hottest technologies – 400ZR, Common Electrical I/O (CEI)-112G  and Flex Ethernet (FlexE) – at OFC 2019 in San Diego, March 5-7, 2019.

Amphenol, Cisco Systems, Credo Semiconductor (HK) LTD, Finisar, Inphi, Juniper Networks, Keysight Technologies, Molex, Spirent Communications, TE Connectivity, VIAVI Solutions, Xilinx and YAMAICHI ELECTRONICS will demonstrate the interoperability of their products and technologies in OIF’s booth, #6215.

“400ZR, CEI-112G and FlexE are critical technologies in our industry so it’s no surprise these are the interoperability specifications our members are most focused on for OFC,” said Steve Sekel of Keysight and OIF’s Physical and Link Layer Interoperability Working Group Chair. “The live demos will demonstrate critical insight into how key technologies interoperate within the industry’s ecosystem.”

400ZR Demo

OIF’s 400ZR project is critical in facilitating the reduction of cost and complexity for high bandwidth data center interconnects and promoting interoperability among optical module manufacturers. Currently in progress, the project will result in an implementation agreement for 400G ZR and short-reach DWDM multi-vendor interoperability. The 400ZR demo consists of real-time Error Vector Magnitude measurements demonstrating the maturity of the methodology used for transmitter specifications. In addition, a hardware-based 400ZR installation will show how participants communicate a typical application case.

CEI-112G Demo

OIF is taking a lead role in moving the industry to the next generation with its development of electrical interface specifications for 112 Gbps per differential pair. Multiple live demonstrations featuring interoperability clearly prove the key role OIF provides. The CEI-112G demonstrations in the OIF booth will feature multi-party silicon supplier interoperability over mated compliance board channels and direct attach copper cable channels, all demonstrating the technical viability of 112 Gbps operation, along with multiple industry form factors including OSFP and QSFP-DD.

FlexE Demo

OIF continues to lead in FlexE aggregation architectures through its newest FlexE 2.1 project for FlexE over 50GbE PHY applications, an extension to its FlexE 2.0 Implementation Agreement (IA). The FlexE 2.0 demo will show off the bonding, subrating, and channelization features that allows FlexE-enabled hardware to support non-standard Ethernet rates over standard Ethernet optics. Realistic multi-vendor deployment scenarios, client rate reconfiguration, and in-band messaging features will be demonstrated on a network built from a variety of Ethernet optics and interconnecting the OIF and Ethernet Alliance booths.

OIF @ OFC 2019 Speaking Sessions

On Thursday, March 7, industry experts from OIF will lead panels focused on the latest update on 400ZR specifications and the drivers, needs, and challenges in the evolution to widescale adoption of open, interoperable optical networks.

OIF – 400ZR Specification Update

Thursday, 7 March, 10:15-11:15 – Theater II, Hall E

Moderator: Karl Gass, OIF PLL WG Vice Chair Optical

Speakers include: Josef Berger, Inphi; Mark Filer, Microsoft Azure; Marc Stiller, NeoPhotonics and Markus Weber, Acacia Communications

 

The Path to Open, Interoperable Optical Networking

Thursday, 7 March, 11:15-12:15 – Theater II, Hall E

Moderator: Dave Brown, OIF Director of Communications, Nokia

Speakers include: Victor Lopez, Telefónica gCTIO; Lyndon Ong, OIF MA&E Co-Chair – Networking, Ciena and Jonathan Sadler, OIF Networking Interoperability WG Chair, Infinera

 

Check the status of OIF’s current work here.

 

About OIF
Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) is where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done. Celebrating 20 years of effecting progressive change in the industry, OIF represents the dynamic ecosystem of 100+ industry leading network operators, system vendors, component vendors and test equipment vendors, all collaborating to develop interoperable electrical, optical and control solutions that directly impact the industry’s ecosystem and facilitate global connectivity in the open network world. Connect with OIF at @OIForum, on LinkedIn and at https://www.oiforum.com/.

 

PR Contact:
Leah Wilkinson
Wilkinson + Associates for OIF
Email: leah@wilkinson.associates
Office: 703-907-0010

 

OIF Experts to Provide CEI-112G Project Update at DesignCon

Expert panel will provide an update on the multiple interfaces being defined by OIF including CEI-112G MCM, XSR, VSR, MR and LR for 112G

Fremont, Calif.—January 23, 2019 – A panel of OIF experts will present and discuss the ongoing, multi-faceted Common Electrical I/O (CEI)-112G interface effort at this year’s DesignCon being held in Santa Clara, CA January 29-31. “112-Gbps Electrical Interface: An OIF Update on CEI-112G,” is scheduled for Thursday, January 31 at 3:45 pm (local) and will provide an update on the multiple interfaces being defined by OIF including CEI-112G MCM, XSR, VSR, MR and LR. Applications of these 112 Gb/s interfaces include die-to-die, chip-to-module, chip-to-chip and long reach over backplane and cables.

Panel speakers include Brian Holden of Kandou Bus and OIF member; Cathy Liu of Broadcom Inc. and OIF Board Member; Steve Sekel of Keysight Technologies and OIF PLL Interoperability Working Group Chair and Nathan Tracy of TE Connectivity and OIF President.

Since 2000, OIF has defined Interoperability Agreements (IA)s for electrical interconnects known as CEI.  CEI is a clause-based document that defines implementation details for interoperable electrical channels initially issued for 6 Gbps, then 11, 28, and 56 and includes definitions for multiple channel implementation topologies and will soon include 112 Gbps clauses. In August of 2016, OIF announced the first CEI-112G project in an overall effort that has now expanded to five projects.

“Previous CEI development has been highly influential and has been adopted, influenced or adapted by many other high-speed interconnect specifications throughout the industry,” said Tracy. “Given that the CEI-112G generation of high-speed transmitters, receivers and channels will be challenging to define, implement and measure, this panel will provide guidance to where the industry is headed and what the key challenge points are likely to be.”

The CEI-112G IA effort is challenging in signal integrity, implementation complexity and measurement terms. The signals are increasingly vulnerable to channel discontinuities, leading to signal impairment and crosstalk. The switching speed and the density of the available SerDes transistors have not kept pace with other silicon functions, resulting in architectural challenges. Finally, the ability to probe and repeatably capture measurements at these rates with sufficient accuracy and precision is challenging.

Check the status of OIF’s current work in CEI-112G here.

About OIF
OIF is where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done. Celebrating 20 years of effecting progressive change in the industry, OIF represents the dynamic ecosystem of 100+ industry leading network operators, system vendors, component vendors and test equipment vendors, all collaborating to develop interoperable electrical, optical and control solutions that directly impact the industry’s ecosystem and facilitate global connectivity in the open network world. Connect with OIF at @OIForum, on LinkedIn and at http://www.oiforum.com.

 

PR Contact:
Leah Wilkinson
Wilkinson + Associates for OIF
Email: leah@wilkinson.associates
Office: 703-907-0010

 

OIF Launches Flexe 2.1 Project and Elects new Board Positions and Working Group Representatives

This work continues OIF’s lead in FlexE aggregation architectures by keeping current with industry PHY rates

Fremont, Calif.—December 4, 2018 – OIF, the global industry forum accelerating market adoption of advanced interoperable optical networking solutions, today announced the launch of the FlexE 2.1 project and newly elected board members and working group chairs. The new project initiation and elections took place at the Q418 Technical and MA&E Committee meetings held October 29-November 2, 2018 in Sydney, Australia.

The new FlexE 2.1 project is for FlexE over 50Gbe PHY applications and an extension to the recently released FlexE 2.0 Interoperability Agreement (IA). FlexE 2.1 will specify a 50G FlexE frame and multiplexing format and will address Flex Ethernet (FlexE) applications with lower bandwidth needs and provide an implementation foundation for applications including the access layer of the future 5G mobile network. This new 50GbE support will extend the existing support for 100, 200 and 400GE in the just published FlexE 2.0 IA.

With market demand and possible large volume applications for channelization (5Gb/s granularity for minimum 10G clients) and bonding of 50GE PHYs in the future access layer/metro edge (based on IPRAN/PTN) of the 5G mobile backhaul network, FlexE implementation logic will be critical.

“There is continued demand by data center and network operators for a solution for flexible deployment and provisioning of Ethernet bandwidth,” said Dave Ofelt, Juniper Networks and OIF Physical and Link Layer (PLL) Working Group – Protocol Vice Chair. “Building on OIF’s great work for FlexE and FlexE 2.0, this new FlexE 2.1 project will ultimately result in a single IA that adds n×50Gb/s support to FlexE 2.0, along with other possible feature enhancements.”

Election Results

  • Board of Directors:
    • Nathan Tracy, TE Connectivity, was re-elected to the Board and appointed as President
    • Tad Hofmeister, Google, was appointed as Vice President
    • Martin Bouda, Fujitsu, was re-elected to the Board and appointed as Secretary/Treasurer
    • Mike Li, Intel, was newly elected to the Board
    • Cathy Liu, Broadcom Inc., was re-elected to the Board
    • Gary Nicholl, Cisco, was newly elected to the Board
    • Ian Betty, Ciena, continues to serve on the Board
  • Officers:
    • Klaus-Holger Otto, Nokia, was re-elected as Technical Committee Chair
    • Ed Frlan, Semtech, was re-elected as Technical Committee Vice Chair
    • Tom Issenhuth, Huawei Technologies, was newly elected Market Awareness & Education Committee Co-Chair, Physical and Link Layer (PLL)
    • Lyndon Ong, Ciena, was re-elected as Market Awareness & Education Committee Co-Chair, Networking
    • Dave Brown, Nokia, was appointed as Communications Director, having termed out as a Board member and Board President
  • Technical Committee – Working Groups:
    • Jia He, Huawei Technologies, was newly elected as Network & Operations Working Group Chair
    • Jeff Maki, Juniper Networks, was re-elected as Physical Layer User Group Working Group Chair

“I am thrilled and honored to serve as president of the OIF for the coming year,” said Nathan Tracy, TE Connectivity and new OIF president. “This is an exciting time in the industry and OIF has an important role to play with the interoperability solutions that are both in-process and yet to come. I congratulate all the other members who are newly elected to the board of directors and other leadership positions.”

About OIF
OIF is where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done. Celebrating 20 years of effecting progressive change in the industry, OIF represents the dynamic ecosystem of 100+ industry leading network operators, system vendors, component vendors and test equipment vendors, all collaborating to develop interoperable electrical, optical and control solutions that directly impact the industry’s ecosystem and facilitate global connectivity in the open network world. Connect with OIF at @OIForum, on LinkedIn and at http://www.oiforum.com.

PR Contact:
Leah Wilkinson
Wilkinson + Associates for OIF
Email: leah@wilkinson.associates
Office: 703-907-0010

OIF Work Continues to Advance SDN Commercialization Through New Project – “Requirements for Integrated Packet Optical SDN”

Webinar in partnership with Lightwave to feature OIF global multi-vendor interop demonstration results for SDN T-API use cases Fremont, Calif.—November 15, 2018 – Reinforcing its work to speed the implementation and commercialization of software-defined networking (SDN), OIF announced the launch of its newest project — “Requirements for Integrated Packet Optical SDN.” The project outlines requirements for a multi-layer SDN reference architecture as a use case for packet optical transport networks.

This work continues OIF’s lead in FlexE aggregation architectures by keeping current with industry PHY rates Fremont, Calif.—December 4, 2018 – OIF, the global industry forum accelerating market adoption of advanced interoperable optical networking solutions, today announced the launch of the FlexE 2.1 project and newly elected board members and working group chairs. The new project initiation and elections took place at the Q418 Technical and MA&E Committee meetings held October 29-November 2, 2018 in Sydney, Australia. This work continues OIF’s lead in FlexE aggregation architectures by keeping current with industry PHY rates Fremont, Calif.—December 4, 2018 – OIF, the global industry forum accelerating market adoption of advanced interoperable optical networking solutions, today announced the launch of the FlexE 2.1 project and newly elected board members and working group chairs. The new project initiation and elections took place at the Q418 Technical and MA&E Committee meetings held October 29-November 2, 2018 in Sydney, Australia.

OIF Delivers on Enabling Next Generation Network Flexibility through Three New Interoperability Agreements

OIF efforts provide the growing networking industry with advanced network connectivity, provisioning and flexibility combined with improved data rates

Fremont, Calif.—October 23, 2018 – Continuing its efforts to drive network connectivity and flexibility worldwide, OIF announced three Interoperability Agreements (IAs) aimed at expanded interoperability of Flex Ethernet and increased data rates. The completed IAs—FlexE 2.0, FlexE Neighbor Discovery and Common ACO Electrical I/O—reinforce OIF’s work to provide the industry with solutions for flexible deployment and provisioning of network bandwidth.

“The completion of these projects reinforces OIF’s commitment to provide the industry with the flexibility and increased bandwidth solutions combined with increased data speeds it requires to keep up with market demands and drive solutions that enable the next generation of networks,” explained Dave Stauffer of Kandou Bus and OIF’s Physical and Link Layer (PLL) Working Group Chair.

FlexE 2.0

Initiated in 2016, the FlexE 2.0 project enables equipment to support new Ethernet connection types and FlexE allows network providers and operators to utilize optical transport network bandwidth in more flexible ways. FlexE can deterministically utilize the entire aggregated link, creating a more efficient alternative to the traditional IEEE 802.3ad or IEEE 802.1-based Link Aggregation (LAG) solutions which often can only utilize 70-80% of the available bandwidth. Key features of the FlexE 2.0 project include adding support for FlexE groups composed of 200GBASE-R and 400GBASE-R PHYs, in addition to groups composed of 100GBASE-R PHYs, and adding an option for the support of time and frequency synchronization at the FlexE group level.

FlexE Neighbor Discovery

The FlexE Neighbor Discovery project recognizes that FlexE capability discovery is still required to facilitate the setup of FlexE groups and clients. The project introduced some extensions to the Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) for FlexE capability discovery. It enables remote FlexE PHY and deskew capability discovery, PHY connectivity discovery and verifications, and FlexE Group subgroup integrity verification.

Common ACO Electrical I/O Project

The implementation agreement for Common Analog Coherent Optics (ACO) Electrical I/O follows the success of the CFP2-ACO optical transceiver implementation agreement but is form factor agnostic, so it also benefits analog coherent modules based on such form factors as CFP4, CFP8, QSFP, microQSFP, QSFP-DD and OSFP. The project defines the ACO electrical I/O independent of the choice of form factor and optical carrier count for 45 Gbaud and 64 Gbaud per-carrier applications.

“We recognize that the data center and communications industries require solutions for flexible deployment and provisioning of network bandwidth combined with component level interoperable infrastructure that can enable system capacity demands,” Stauffer continued.

OIF Day at CenturyLink

OIF Day at CenturyLink was held on October 16, 2018 in Littleton, CO. The interactive and educational workshop featured OIF and CenturyLink subject matter experts covering: OIF projects and directions including Networking Transport SDN work and an overview of Physical & Link Layer work.

 

About the OIF
The OIF facilitates the development and deployment of interoperable networking solutions and services. Members collaborate to drive Implementation Agreements (IAs) and interoperability demonstrations to accelerate and maximize market adoption of advanced internetworking technologies. OIF work applies to optical and electrical interconnects, optical component and network processing technologies, and to network control and operations including software defined networks and network function virtualization. The OIF actively supports and extends the work of national and international standards bodies. Launched in 1998, the OIF is the only industry group uniting representatives from across the spectrum of networking, including many of the world’s leading service providers, system vendors, component manufacturers, software and testing vendors. Information on the OIF can be found at http://www.oiforum.com

OIF INTEROPERABILITY TEST VALIDATES TRANSPORT APPLICATION PROGRAMMING INTERFACE (T-API) 2.0 MARKET-READINESS – RESULTS PUBLISHED IN NEW WHITE PAPER

August 7, 2018  Leah Wilkinson

Successful collaborative demo identified multiple success points and areas where additional work is needed to enhance performance – white paper to provide deep dive and outline specifics

Fremont, Calif.—August 7, 2018 – Detailed results from the OIF’s (Optical Internetworking Forum) 2018 Software-Defined Networking (SDN) Transport Application Programming Interface (T-API) multi-vendor interoperability demonstration showcasing new dynamic behavior use cases and deployment scenarios are available in a white paper published today. To request a copy, please go here.

Demo results were initially announced at a public read-out at NGON in Nice, France, and at two invitation-only events earlier this month at CenturyLink and China Telecom. An additional read-out was held last week during MEF’s Annual Meeting in Nashville, Tenn.

Following a six-week testing period, the OIF released its findings through liaisons to industry bodies.  Among the findings are the following (additional details on the testing and results can be found in the white paper):

  • Open Networking Foundation (ONF) T-API 2.0 specifications have addressed the main issues identified in the OIF’s 2016 testing and provide a basis for real-time orchestration of on-demand connectivity setup, control and monitoring across diverse multi-layer, multi-vendor, multi-domain carrier networks
  • Additional scaling and performance enhancements will need to be addressed as T-API is deployed in real networks, such as refinements to the model, greater detail in error codes to improve debugging properties, and potential implementation options such as a separate server for notifications of network events
  • The API allows for some variability in the use of topology abstraction depending on business requirements and technology; documentation of supplementary examples for topology abstraction will help application and orchestration software developers.

“Standardized and open SDN APIs reduce complexity in intra and inter-domain operations, allowing us to provide more diverse services to our customers in less time,” said Park Jin-hyo, EVP of ICT R&D Center at SK Telecom. “After successfully completing the test trial, SK Telecom will keep engaging in 5G transport network and service development by opening APIs and transforming the current infrastructure into Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) Platform.”

The multi-vendor demo led by four network operator labs included lab-deployed and cloud-deployed systems testing new dynamic behavior use cases and deployment scenarios. The demo also incorporated service provisioning scenarios at the LSO Presto reference point in the MEF LSO architecture, using the MEF NRP Interface Profile Specification (MEF 60), which defines extensions to T-API in support of Carrier Ethernet services.

Participating network operators were CenturyLink, China Telecom, SK Telecom and Telefónica and vendors included ADVA, Coriant, Infinera, NEC/Netcracker, Nokia and SM Optics. Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC) was a participating academic institution and TELUS Communications participated as a consulting network operator.

Additional information and an infographic can be found at http://www.oiforum.com/meetings-and-events/2018-oif-sdn-t-api-demo/

2018 OIF SDN Transport API Interoperability Demonstration

Committed to accelerating the commercialization of transport SDN worldwide, the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF), in collaboration with MEF, will bring new dynamic behavior use cases and deployment scenarios into network operator labs around the world to test multi-vendor interoperability of the industry leading T-API 2.0 northbound interface (NBI) from the Open Networking Foundation (ONF). The 2018 Software-Defined Networking (SDN) Transport Application Programming Interface (T-API) interoperability demonstration builds on the OIF’s 2016 interoperability test and demonstration which addressed multi-layer and multi-domain environments as well as on the 2014 demo which prototyped the use of Northbound APIs and helped advance transport SDN standardization. For an infographic of the demo, click here.

About the OIF

The OIF facilitates the development and deployment of interoperable networking solutions and services. Members collaborate to drive Implementation Agreements (IAs) and interoperability demonstrations to accelerate and maximize market adoption of advanced internetworking technologies. OIF work applies to optical and electrical interconnects, optical component and network processing technologies, and to network control and operations including software defined networks and network function virtualization. The OIF actively supports and extends the work of national and international standards bodies. Launched in 1998, the OIF is the only industry group uniting representatives from across the spectrum of networking, including many of the world’s leading service providers, system vendors, component manufacturers, software and testing vendors. Information on the OIF can be found at http://www.oiforum.com

 

PR Contact:

 

Leah Wilkinson

Wilkinson + Associates for the OIF

Email: leah@wilkinson.associates

Office: +1-703-907-0010

OIF CONCLUDES SUCCESSFUL SDN TRANSPORT API INTEROPERABILITY TESTING – RESULTS TO BE REVEALED TODAY AT NGON

Multi-vendor demo showcases new dynamic behavior uses cases and deployment scenarios

Nice, France—June 26, 2018 – Following a six week testing period, the OIF (Optical Internetworking Forum) today announced the conclusion of its 2018 Software-Defined Networking (SDN) Transport Application Programming Interface (T-API) multi-vendor interoperability demonstration. The much-anticipated demo results will be revealed during a public read-out event being held today from 10:00am-12:00pm at NGON & DCI Europe 2018 in Nice, France. ClicktoTweet

Additionally, Juan Pedro Fernández Palacios, Head of Unit, Telefónica will discuss Telefonica’s view of the demo results and use cases during his NGON keynote presentation tomorrow, June 27th.

“In bringing together service providers and optical networking vendors to demonstrate new SDN deployment scenarios including dynamic-behavior use cases, the OIF in collaboration with MEF has taken another important step towards providing the foundation for service providers to efficiently deliver dynamic multi-domain connectivity services to market,” stated Heidi Adams, Senior Research Director, IP & Optical Networks, IHS Markit. “With the 2018 demo event, the T-API 2.0 interface from the Open Networking Foundation (ONF) is on its way to becoming a standard northbound interface (NBI) to SDN transport network controllers.”

OIF, in collaboration with MEF, is leading the industry toward the validation and widespread commercialization of T-API 2.0 from the Open Networking Foundation (ONF) as a standard northbound interface (NBI) to transport network controllers.

The multi-vendor demo led by four network operator labs included lab deployed and cloud deployed systems testing new dynamic behavior use cases and deployment scenarios. The demo also incorporated service provisioning scenarios at the LSO Presto reference point in the MEF LSO architecture, using the MEF NRP Interface Profile Specification (MEF 60), which defines extensions to T-API in support of Carrier Ethernet services.

“The OIF SDN Interoperability demonstration has successfully brought together carriers, vendors and integrators with a common goal of moving to an open API (TAPI),” said Jack Pugaczewski, Distinguished Architect, CenturyLink. “T-API is a key enabler for providing automated service fulfillment and assurance. We have tested the Connectivity, Topology and Notification software patterns that T-API provides. Common APIs reduce design, development and deployment cycles for all involved, thus getting to market faster and realizing the financial benefits of automation.”

Participating network operators were CenturyLink, China Telecom, SK Telecom and Telefónica and vendors included ADVA, Coriant, Infinera, NEC/Netcracker, Nokia and SM Optics. Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC) was a participating academic institution and TELUS Communications participated as a consulting network operator.

Additionally, two private events detailing the test results will be held with participating network operators: CenturyLink on July 10 in Denver, Colorado and China Telecom on July 19 in Beijing. Members of the media and analyst community interested in attending, please contact leah@wilkinson.associates.

“The OIF’s goal for interop events is to improve the quality and clarity of specifications being tested,” explained Jonathan Sadler, OIF VP and Networking & Operations Interoperability Working Group Chair. “As the tests were performed, we noted possible points for misunderstanding and places where the specifications may be enhanced. These results will be liaised to ONF and MEF for review at future meetings.”

A technical white paper and an executive summary of the demo result will be available in August.

An infographic of the demo is

Additional information can be found at 2018 OIF SDN T-API INTEROP DEMO

2018 OIF SDN Transport API Interoperability Demonstration

Committed to accelerating the commercialization of transport SDN worldwide, the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF), in collaboration with MEF, will bring new dynamic behavior use cases and deployment scenarios into network operator labs around the world to test multi-vendor interoperability of the industry leading T-API 2.0 northbound interface (NBI) from the Open Networking Foundation (ONF). The 2018 Software-Defined Networking (SDN) Transport Application Programming Interface (T-API) interoperability demonstration builds on the OIF’s 2016 interoperability test and demonstration which addressed multi-layer and multi-domain environments as well as on the 2014 demo which prototyped the use of Northbound APIs and helped advance transport SDN standardization. For an infographic of the demo, click here.

About the OIF

The OIF facilitates the development and deployment of interoperable networking solutions and services. Members collaborate to drive Implementation Agreements (IAs) and interoperability demonstrations to accelerate and maximize market adoption of advanced internetworking technologies. OIF work applies to optical and electrical interconnects, optical component and network processing technologies, and to network control and operations including software defined networks and network function virtualization. The OIF actively supports and extends the work of national and international standards bodies. Launched in 1998, the OIF is the only industry group uniting representatives from across the spectrum of networking, including many of the world’s leading service providers, system vendors, component manufacturers, software and testing vendors. Information on the OIF can be found at http://www.oiforum.com

 

PR Contact:

 

Leah Wilkinson

Wilkinson + Associates for the OIF

Email: leah@wilkinson.associates

Office: +1-703-907-0010

OIF Initiates New CEI-112G-XSR Project for D2D/D2OE Common Electrical Interface, Addresses Multiple Chip Integration

Forum continues efforts to support new and evolving architectures by defining a range of electrical interfaces which enable optimized system design for power, cost and packaging

Fremont, Calif.—June 12, 2018 – The OIF (Optical Internetworking Forum) today announced the launch of the CEI-112G-XSR project for Die-to-Die (D2D) and Die-to-Optical Engine (D2OE) Common Electrical Interface at the Q218 Technical and MA&E Committees meeting held April 24-26, 2018 in Nuremberg, Germany. The project aims at enabling intra-package interconnects to optical engines or between dies with high throughput density and low normalized power operating in the data rate range of 72-116 Gbps with a reach up to 50 mm.

In addition to the already existing CEI-112G-MCM OIF project, which is dedicated to wide, high bandwidth CMOS-to-CMOS interconnects, the new CEI-112G-XSR project proposes to support technology mix, in particular CMOS-to-SiGe (Silicon Germanium), which is frequently used to build optical engines. System-in-package (SIP) leads to a requirement of supporting up to 50 mm trace length between the multiple chips on a common (organic) package substrate.

“We jointly designed this project to address the problem of integrating multiple dies, including driver devices for optical engines on non-CMOS technologies, onto a common substrate within a large multi-chip-package design. Supporting this mix of technology allows combining the high logic density of CMOS devices with the high drive strength of analog components,” explained Klaus-Holger Otto of Nokia and OIF Technical Committee Chair.

The working group for the CEI-112G-XSR project has identified the following benefits for OIF members:

  • Allow lower normalized power, double shoreline throughput density and provide a multi-source 72-116 Gbps D2D and D2OE electrical I/O interface. This will enhance the integration, normalized power reduction, and cost reduction for integrated OE, multiple-die SIPs.
  • Enable 1 to N lanes of 72-116 Gbps electrical I/Os (e.g. on ASIC/FPGA/OE).

OIF Day at Nokia

Following the quarterly meeting, a sizeable group of OIF members participated in an OIF Day event at the Nokia Nuremberg facility on April 27, 2018. The OIF Day Program is a live educational workshop program to expand awareness of, and educate member company employees on the work of the OIF. The OIF Day event is conducted at network operator and/or vendor sites to reach and obtain inputs from a range of support functions, e.g. operations, network planning, network management, marketing, etc. It is custom-tailored to the needs of each hosting company and comprised of general sessions and tracks focused on Networking and/or Physical and Link Layer topics.

OIF Transport-API for Transport SDN Survey

OIF also recently conducted a survey of OIF members and non-members, including network operators and vendors, on the OIF’s proposed certification project for Transport-API (T-API) for Transport SDN. Nearly 30 responses to the survey were received – 20+ from network operators and 9 from vendors.  The OIF will consider the feedback in any proposal to expand the current program to include T-API certification.

About the OIF
The OIF facilitates the development and deployment of interoperable networking solutions and services. Members collaborate to drive Implementation Agreements (IAs) and interoperability demonstrations to accelerate and maximize market adoption of advanced internetworking technologies. OIF work applies to optical and electrical interconnects, optical component and network processing technologies, and to network control and operations including software defined networks and network function virtualization. The OIF actively supports and extends the work of national and international standards bodies. Launched in 1998, the OIF is the only industry group uniting representatives from across the spectrum of networking, including many of the world’s leading service providers, system vendors, component manufacturers, software and testing vendors. Information on the OIF can be found at http://www.oiforum.com

 

PR Contact:
Leah Wilkinson
Wilkinson + Associates for the OIF
Email: leah@wilkinson.associates
Office: 703-907-0010

OIF ANNOUNCES READ-OUT EVENT FOR SDN TRANSPORT API INTEROPERABILITY DEMO TO BE HELD AT NGON OPTICAL MASTERCLASS

May 22, 2018  Leah Wilkinson

Demo aimed at accelerating commercialization of Transport SDN

Fremont, Calif.—May 22, 2018 – The OIF (Optical Internetworking Forum) today announced plans for its public read-out events to present the results of the 2018 Software-Defined Networking (SDN) Transport Application Programming Interface (T-API) interoperability demonstration. This year’s demo, in collaboration with MEF, is focused on accelerating the commercialization of Transport SDN through validating the industry leading T-API 2.0 northbound interface (NBI) from the Open Networking Foundation (ONF). ClicktoTweet

The multi-vendor demo includes testing new dynamic behavior use cases and deployment scenarios by network operators CenturyLink, China Telecom, SK Telecom and Telefónica. Participating vendors include ADVA, Coriant, Infinera, NEC/Netcracker, Nokia and SM Optics. Centre Tecnològic Telecomunicacions Catalunya is the participating academic and/or research institution and TELUS Communications is participating as a consulting network operator.

This year’s demo incorporates service provisioning scenarios at the LSO Presto reference point in the MEF LSO architecture, using the MEF NRP Interface Profile Specification (MEF 60), which defines T-API extensions in support of Carrier Ethernet services.

“The OIF multi-vendor interop testing is particularly important to Telefónica’s network transformation. We are anxious to validate T-API as the standard NBI for Transport SDN and announce the results in June,” said Juan Pedro Fernández Palacios, Telefónica.

The results of the demo will be presented during a featured workshop and keynote presentation at NGON & DCI Europe 2018, the world’s leading strategic and technical optical networks event being held in Nice, France, and during two private events at participating network operator labs.

Public Event: NGON & DCI Europe 2018 (Nice, France), Tuesday, June 26, 2018, 10:00am-12:00pm

Optical Masterclass: Speakers will discuss how OIF is assuring interoperability in open, agile next generation optical networks and present updates on critical projects including CEI-56G and CEI-112G, FlexE 2.0, 400ZR and Transport SDN.

Agenda:

  • Welcome & Overview – Dave Brown, OIF President, Nokia
  • Physical & Link Layer Working Group (PLL WG) Overview – Karl Gass, OIF PLL WG Vice Chair Optical, OIF
  • FlexE 2.0 – Dave Ofelt, OIF PLL WG Vice Chair Protocol, Juniper Networks
  • Networking Projects Overview – Lyndon Ong, OIF Market Awareness & Education Committee Co-Chair – Networking, Ciena
  • SDN Transport API Work/Interoperability Demonstration – Jonathan Sadler, OIF Board Member and Networking Interoperability Working Group Chair, Coriant

Additionally, Palacios, Head of Unit at Telefónica, will discuss the demo results and present use cases during his keynote presentation – Transport API: Standardization status, interoperability tests and use cases – on June 27th at NGON.

Invitation-Only: CenturyLink and China Telecom

Two invitation-only read-out events will be held in July. CenturyLink will hold a private read-out event on July 10 in Denver, Colorado and China Telecom will host a private read-out in Beijing on July 19. Members of the media and analyst community interested in attending, please contact leah@wilkinson.associates.

A technical white paper and an executive summary of the demo result will be available in August.

Additional information can be found at http://www.oiforum.com/meetings-and-events/2018-oif-sdn-t-api-demo/

 

About the OIF

The OIF facilitates the development and deployment of interoperable networking solutions and services. Members collaborate to drive Implementation Agreements (IAs) and interoperability demonstrations to accelerate and maximize market adoption of advanced internetworking technologies. OIF work applies to optical and electrical interconnects, optical component and network processing technologies, and to network control and operations including software defined networks and network function virtualization. The OIF actively supports and extends the work of national and international standards bodies. Launched in 1998, the OIF is the only industry group uniting representatives from across the spectrum of networking, including many of the world’s leading service providers, system vendors, component manufacturers, software and testing vendors. Information on the OIF can be found at http://www.oiforum.com

 

PR Contact:

Leah Wilkinson

Wilkinson + Associates for the OIF

Email: leah@wilkinson.associates

Office: +1-703-907-0010

OIF CONFIRMS PARTICIPANTS FOR 2018 JOINT-NETWORK OPERATOR, MULTI-VENDOR SDN TRANSPORT API INTEROPERABILITY DEMONSTRATION

April 10, 2018  Liz Smeds

Focused on accelerating the commercialization of transport SDN, leading global network operators and vendors will test new, more dynamic use cases

Fremont, Calif. —April 10, 2018 – Committed to accelerating the commercialization of transport SDN worldwide, the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) today announced plans for its 2018 Software-Defined Networking (SDN) Transport Application Programming Interface (T-API) interoperability demonstration. In collaboration with MEF, this year’s demonstration will bring new dynamic behavior use cases and deployment scenarios into network operator labs around the world to test and validate the industry leading T-API 2.0 northbound interface (NBI) from the Open Networking Foundation (ONF).

The 2018 event builds on the OIF’s previous 2016 interoperability test and demonstration which addressed multi-layer and multi-domain environments as well as on the 2014 demo which prototyped the use of Northbound APIs and helped advance transport SDN standardization. The event will also incorporate service provisioning scenarios at the LSO (Lifecycle Service Orchestration) Presto reference point in the MEF LSO architecture, using the MEF NRP Interface Profile Specification (MEF 60), which defines T-API extensions in support of MEF Carrier Ethernet services.

Network operators are rapidly moving toward giving customers and their applications the ability to dynamically control services, and do it in real-time. The days of waiting for service changes will soon be a thing of the past. To achieve this, they need the ability to dynamically move capacity quickly in open networks to avoid network congestion and provide better services to customers.

“With network operators leading the charge for more dynamic and open networks, there has to be widespread adoption of transport SDN. Through working through the specifications, rigorous interoperability testing and validation, this year’s demo is intended to substantiate T-API as the NBI of choice,” said Dave Brown, Nokia and OIF President. “We also look forward to our collaboration with MEF and the depth of expertise the organization brings to this demonstration.”

“MEF is pleased to contribute our LSO Presto NRP API work in support of the OIF SDN Transport API Interop Demo as we advance toward a common goal of orchestrating dynamic services over automated networks powered by SDN and LSO,” said Pascal Menezes, CTO, MEF. “This is exactly the type of collaboration that we need to accelerate industry innovation and deliver lasting value for service providers and their end customers.”

“The work done by OIF is critically important to network operators around the world as we work to provide our customers with better services and higher efficiency, which will definitely help the monetization of our network capacity,” said Dr. Junjie Li, China Telecom and OIF Network Operator Working Group Chair.

The international joint-network operator, multi-vendor optical networking interoperability demonstration includes network operator hosts CenturyLink, China Telecom, SK Telecom and Telefonica and participating vendors include ADVA Optical Networking SE, Coriant, NEC/Netcracker, Nokia, SM Optics and ZTE Corporation. Centre Tecnològic Telecomunicacions Catalunya is the participating academic and/or research institution and TELUS Communications is participating as a consulting network operator.

Regional demonstration read-out events will take place in mid-2018 (June/July) and a whitepaper describing the event will be available to the public following the announcement of the results. Additional information can be found at http://www.oiforum.com/meetings-and-events/2018-oif-sdn-t-api-demo/

2018 OIF SDN Transport API Interoperability Demonstration

Committed to accelerating the commercialization of transport SDN worldwide, the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF), in collaboration with MEF, will bring new dynamic behavior use cases and deployment scenarios into network operator labs around the world to test multi-vendor interoperability of the industry leading T-API 2.0 northbound interface (NBI) from the Open Networking Foundation (ONF). The 2018 Software-Defined Networking (SDN) Transport Application Programming Interface (T-API) interoperability demonstration builds on the OIF’s 2016 interoperability test and demonstration which addressed multi-layer and multi-domain environments as well as on the 2014 demo which prototyped the use of Northbound APIs and helped advance transport SDN standardization.

Regional demonstration read-out events will take place in Summer 2018 and a whitepaper will be available to the public. Additional information can be found at http://www.oiforum.com/meetings-and-events/2018-oif-sdn-t-api-demo/

About the OIF

The OIF facilitates the development and deployment of interoperable networking solutions and services. Members collaborate to drive Implementation Agreements (IAs) and interoperability demonstrations to accelerate and maximize market adoption of advanced internetworking technologies. OIF work applies to optical and electrical interconnects, optical component and network processing technologies, and to network control and operations including software defined networks and network function virtualization. The OIF actively supports and extends the work of national and international standards bodies. Launched in 1998, the OIF is the only industry group uniting representatives from across the spectrum of networking, including many of the world’s leading service providers, system vendors, component manufacturers, software and testing vendors. Information on the OIF can be found at http://www.oiforum.com

 

PR Contact: 

Leah Wilkinson

Wilkinson + Associates for the OIF

Email: leah@wilkinson.associates

Office: +1-703-907-0010

OIF AND ETHERNET ALLIANCE JOIN FORCES TO OPERATE LIVE FLEXE TRAFFIC RUNNING OVER 400G NETWORK AT OFC

March 8, 2018  Leah Wilkinson

SAN DIEGO – March 8, 2018 – Industry leading organizations, the Optical Internetworking Forum(OIF) and the Ethernet Alliance, today announced an interoperating 400 Gbps Ethernet (400 GbE) network demonstration at OFC in San Diego, CA, March 13-15, 2018. The joint demonstration will feature 400 Gbps of Flex Ethernet (FlexE) traffic sent over four bonded 100 GbE interfaces streaming over the Ethernet Alliance 400 GbE network and interconnecting the OIF and Ethernet Alliance booths on the exhibit floor.

The demonstration is designed to showcase the Ethernet Alliance’s IEEE 802.3bs 400 Gbps technology recently ratified in December 2017 and the OIF’s FlexE 1.1 Implementation Agreement (IA).

“This collaborative effort is the ideal opportunity for the OIF to demonstrate the capabilities of its FlexE specification,” according to Nathan Tracy, the OIF’s VP of Marketing and Technologist at TE Connectivity. “The Ethernet Alliance’s deployment of the 400 GbE network over OFC’s exhibit floor demonstrates the initial availability of the developing 400 Gbps ecosystem.”

“We’re pleased to be able to make our 400 GbE network available to the OIF for this demonstration at OFC,” said the Ethernet Alliance’s chairman John D’Ambrosia, Huawei. “The OIF’s FlexE technology is yet another example of the flexibility that the Next Ethernet Era will enable. We applaud the OIF’s work to leverage Ethernet solutions as the basis of their FlexE implementation agreement.”

Furthering its mission to promote the development and deployment of interoperable networking solutions and services, the OIF will showcase a variety of projects, including an industry-first, during OFC. The OIF booth, host to 14 member companies, will feature five separate, multi-party, demonstrations featuring device and component interoperability. Two FlexE demos will showcase the bonding, subrating and channelization capabilities of the released FlexE 1.1 IA.  Separately, a high speed electrical demo will feature the OIF’s recently released CEI-4.0 56 Gbps PAM4 VSR (chip to module) electrical interface in a configuration that includes electrical to optical to electrical operation. Finally, two additional demos will feature 112 Gbps serial (single channel) electrical signaling in a VSR (chip to module) application and a direct attach copper cable implementation.

The member companies participating in the OIF demo, booth 5525, include Amphenol Corporation (NYSE: APH); Credo Semiconductor; FiberHome Telecommunications Technologies Co., Ltd.; Finisar (NASDAQ: FNSR); Huawei Technologies Co.,Ltd.; Inphi Corporation (NYSE: IPHI); Keysight Technologies (NYSE: KEYS); Molex, LLC; TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE: TEL); Tektronix Inc.; VIAVI Solutions (NYSE: VIAV); Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX); Yamaichi Electronics and ZTE Corporation. For more info on OIF’s activities at OFC, please visit www.oiforum.com/meetings-and-events/oif-ofc-2018

The next Ethernet era is underway, and the Ethernet Alliance OFC 2018 multivendor technology demonstration is one of the many steps the Ethernet Alliance is making in support of interoperable, next-generation technologies, such as PAM4. The demo showcases technologies from copper to optical interconnects at rates of 10 GbE to 400 GbE, as well as a live 400 GbE network. This OFC 2018 demonstration illustrates the innovations that can happen when you have the whole of the Ethernet ecosystem fully committed to bringing tomorrow’s networks to life today.

Happening in booth #2648, the Ethernet Alliance’s OFC 2018 demo incorporates equipment and solutions from 17 different companies: Amphenol Corporation (NYSE: APH); Anritsu Company (TSE:6754); Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE: ANET); Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO); Commscope Holding Company, Inc. (NASDAQ: COMM); EXFO, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXFO); Finisar (NASDAQ: FNSR); Huawei Technologies Co.,Ltd.; Keysight Technologies (NYSE: KEYS); Juniper Networks; Molex, LLC; Nexans S.A. (EPA: NEX); Source Photonics, Inc.; Spirent Communications (LSE: SPT.L); TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE: TEL); Teledyne LeCroy, Inc. (NYSE: TDY); and Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX).

About the OIF
The OIF facilitates the development and deployment of interoperable networking solutions and services. Members collaborate to drive Implementation Agreements (IAs) and interoperability demonstrations to accelerate and maximize market adoption of advanced internetworking technologies. OIF work applies to optical and electrical interconnects, optical component and network processing technologies, and to network control and operations including software defined networks and network function virtualization. The OIF actively supports and extends the work of national and international standards bodies. Launched in 1998, the OIF is the only industry group uniting representatives from across the spectrum of networking, including many of the world’s leading service providers, system vendors, component manufacturers, software and testing vendors. Information on the OIF can be found at http://www.oiforum.com

About the Ethernet Alliance

The Ethernet Alliance is a global consortium that includes system and component vendors, industry experts, and university and government professionals who are committed to the continued success and expansion of Ethernet technology. The Ethernet Alliance takes Ethernet standards to market by supporting activities that span from incubation of new Ethernet technologies to interoperability demonstrations and education.

 

PR Contact: 

Leah Wilkinson

Wilkinson + Associates for the OIF

Email: leah@wilkinson.associates

Mobile: 703-307-3964

OIF Reveals OFC 2018 Interoperability Demo Plans

Forum Industry Experts to Conduct Panel Discussions

The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) today released the public multi-vendor interoperability demonstrations that it will conduct at Booth #5525 at OFC in San Diego, March 13-15, 2018. The demos will showcase three significant technologies; Flex Ethernet (FlexE), 112 Gbps per lane live electrical signaling and end-to-end optical links using CEI-56G-VSR electrical interfaces. In addition to the live demonstrations, OIF industry experts will conduct two panel discussions at OFC.

There are 14 participating companies including Amphenol, Credo Semiconductor, Fiberhome Telecommunications Technologies Co., Ltd., Finisar, Huawei Technologies Co., Inphi, Keysight Technologies, Molex, TE Connectivity, Tektronix, VIAVI Solutions, Xilinx, Yamaichi Electronics, and ZTE Corporation.

“The OIF continues to test and validate the implementation agreements the forum is working on or has recently completed,” said Steve Sekel of Keysight Technologies, Inc. and the OIF’s Physical and Link Layer Interoperability Working Group Chair. “The OIF recently published both CEI revision 4.0 which includes CEI-56 Gbps requirements and the FlexE revision 1.0 specification.  The forum also started work on four CEI-112 Gbps projects so this demo provides important insight into the potential technical solutions.”

Flex Ethernet Demo:

The FlexE technology from the OIF extends standard Ethernet with bonding, subrating, and channelization features and is defined in the FlexE v1.0 Implementation Agreement.  The demo features interoperability among member companies using combinations of these three features over multiple types of 100 GbE.

56 Gbps Demo: 

This demo features multiple silicon suppliers operating over a 56 Gbps PAM4 VSR (chip to module) link reflecting the recently published CEI 4.0 document that includes this 56 Gbps PAM4 channel definition.  The 56 Gbps demo will electrically drive interoperating optical modules, interconnected with fiber, showing a full multi-vendor electrical-optical-electrical link from host-to-host. The broad range of technologies and suppliers participating in the demo indicates the maturing industry ecosystem around 56 Gbps signaling.

112 Gbps Demo:

The OIF recently began new projects to define 112 Gbps per lane interoperable serial electrical channel definitions. As part of that effort, the OIF will be presenting two 112 Gbps serial electrical demos at OFC 2018.  The first demo will include a silicon chip driving a VSR (chip to module) channel and the second will have a silicon chip driving a direct attach copper cable assembly. 112 Gbps electrical signaling is regarded as a necessary technology to enable future signaling bandwidth requirements.

OIF Delivers on Another Industry First!

OIF member companies have teamed up to demonstrate significant progress in delivering an interoperable ecosystem of suppliers and solutions for critical market needs:

  • FlexE (Flex Ethernet)
  • 112 Gbps / lane live electrical signaling
  • End to End (host to host) optical link using electrical 56 Gbps – VSR, included in newly released CEI 4.0

Public demonstrations will be on display March 13-15, 2018 at OFC in San Diego, CA in OIF Booth # 5525 . Additional information can be found at

www.oiforum.com/meetings-and-events/oif-ofc-2018

Speaking Sessions:

Enabling the Key Applications for Transport SDN
Tuesday, March 13, 2018 at 2:30pm – Expo Theater III
Moderator: Dave Brown, Nokia, OIF President
Speakers: Lyndon Ong, Ciena, OIF MA&E Committee Co-Chair – Networking; Jonathan Sadler, Coriant, OIF VP and Networking Interoperability WG Chair

400G Coherent: What Does It Mean To You?
Thursday, March 15, 2018 at 10:15am – Expo Theater II
Moderator: Karl Gass, OIF Physical and Link Layer WG Vice Chair – Optical
Speakers: Sudeep Bhoja, Inphi; Tad Hofmeister, Google, OIF Board Member; Winston Way, NeoPhotonics; Tom Williams, Acacia Communications

OIF CEI Technology for 56 Gbps Available for Wider Industry Adoption

The OIF announced today the publication of the “Common Electrical (I/O) CEI 4.0” with a focus on Serdes standards for 56 Gbps. This is the first completion of Serdes standards for the CEI generation of 56 Gbps I/O devices and adds PAM-4 and Ensemble NRZ as additional advanced modulation schemes to NRZ. Preliminary testing of 56 Gbps work has also been demonstrated by OIF members for the past two years at OFC where chip designers, connector vendors and test equipment suppliers showed the viability of the electrical channel parameters.  CEI 4.0 represents the eighth generation of OIF electrical interfaces over an 18-year span.

“The industry continues to face challenges for diverging requirements regarding link latency and concerns with power consumption at the higher data rates,” said Klaus-Holger Otto of Nokia and the OIF Technical Committee Chair.  “Documenting channel definitions in more granular reaches and multiple modulation schemes allows for the optimization of silicon chip designs, channel architectures and network operator use cases. These parameters for 56 Gbps will be used as building blocks for protocol specifications written by other organizations across the industry so the forum wanted to provide definitions that met their unique needs.”

The result is a number of carefully optimized channel definitions that will enable the industry to benefit from a range of interoperable solutions at 56 Gbps data rates. Key to this effort was aiming for the lowest possible power dissipation for each application while balancing link budget and latency. At this time the OIF is releasing CEI 4.0 with the following new clauses:

  • CEI-56G-USR-NRZ: Ultra Short Reach, die-to-die inside multi-chip-modules, NRZ modulation
  • CEI-56G-XSR-NRZ: Extra Short Reach, chip-to-driver, NRZ modulation
  • CEI-56G-VSR-PAM4: Very Short Reach, chip-to-module, PAM-4 modulation
  • CEI-56G-MR-PAM4: Medium Reach, chip-to-chip, one connector, PAM-4 modulation
  • CEI-56G-LR-PAM4: Long Reach, chip-to-chip, two connectors over backplane, PAM-4 modulation
  • CEI-56G-LR-ENRZ: Long Reach, chip-to-chip, two connectors over backplane, ENRZ modulation

The CEI 4.0 can be found here. Further clauses with additional modulation variants of the above reaches will be added in a future CEI 4.1 release.

About the OIF
The OIF facilitates the development and deployment of interoperable networking solutions and services. Members collaborate to drive Implementation Agreements (IAs) and interoperability demonstrations to accelerate and maximize market adoption of advanced internetworking technologies. OIF work applies to optical and electrical interconnects, optical component and network processing technologies, and to network control and operations including software defined networks and network function virtualization. The OIF actively supports and extends the work of national and international standards bodies. Launched in 1998, the OIF is the only industry group uniting representatives from across the spectrum of networking, including many of the world’s leading service providers, system vendors, component manufacturers, software and testing vendors. Information on the OIF can be found at http://www.oiforum.com.

OIF Launches CEI-112G Projects, Forms Network Operator Working Group

The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) announced that it has begun work on long reach (LR) and medium reach (MR) CEI-112G, building upon two existing 100G serial electrical link projects. Forum members continue to support and approve the development of projects addressing CEI-112G as bandwidth needs increase. Dr. Chongjin Xie of Alibaba was invited to present to members at the quarterly meeting in Shanghai. Dr. Xie shared with members the need for various network technologies, innovations and breakthroughs for datacenters. Following the meeting, the members participated in an OIF Day with China Unicom and SK Telecom.

CEI-112G Projects

The CEI-112G-LR project defines an interface to enable high-loss 112G backplane channels. This project will also facilitate direct attach copper (DAC) cable channel links at 112G. The CEI-112G-MR project will develop specifications for a chip-to-chip (c2c) interface which can also be used to support applications of 112Gx2 (224G), and 112Gx4 (448G) with reduced power, complexity, and enhanced density.

“These projects build upon the relevant and foundational 56G and 112G CEI roadmap the OIF has established,” said Nathan Tracy of TE Connectivity and OIF vice president of marketing.  “The industry continues to look to the OIF to deliver interoperable implementation agreements that will drive adoption of both 100 Gb/s serial applications and the interfaces needed to address higher bandwidth.”

Network Operator Working Group

Members voted to evolve the Carrier Working Group into the new Network Operator Working Group, reflecting the active participation of web-scale and content service provider members such as Alibaba, Google and Microsoft, along with traditional service providers such as China Telecom, Orange, TELUS, and Verizon.

“The new working group reflects the OIF’s growing membership of network operators who are participating in technology advancement and interoperability demonstrations to influence the industry,” said Dr. Junjie Li of China Telecom, the newly elected Network Operator Working Group chair.  “These network operators have driven the OIF 400ZR and CFP2-DCO projects and are sharing their insights as reflected in the presentation from our Q4 speaker, Dr. Xie of Alibaba.”

OIF Election Results

Cathy Liu of Broadcom Limited and Dr. Martin Bouda of Fujitsu were newly elected to the Board for one-year terms, with Dr. Bouda appointed to secretary/treasurer. Ian Betty of Ciena was re-elected for a two-year term, and Tad Hofmeister of Google was elected to a two-year term.

Jonathan Sadler of Coriant was appointed to vice president. Dave Brown of Nokia continues to serve as president, and Nathan Tracy of TE Connectivity continues to serve as vice president of marketing.

About the OIF
The OIF facilitates the development and deployment of interoperable networking solutions and services. Members collaborate to drive Implementation Agreements (IAs) and interoperability demonstrations to accelerate and maximize market adoption of advanced internetworking technologies. OIF work applies to optical and electrical interconnects, optical component and network processing technologies, and to network control and operations including software defined networks and network function virtualization. The OIF actively supports and extends the work of national and international standards bodies. Launched in 1998, the OIF is the only industry group uniting representatives from across the spectrum of networking, including many of the world’s leading service providers, system vendors, component manufacturers, software and testing vendors. Information on the OIF can be found at http://www.oiforum.com.

 

OIF Announces Board Elections and New Project Starts

The Optical Internetworking Forum held their fourth quarter meeting this month in Auckland, New Zealand, resulting in several new project starts and board elections.  The OIF also held an interactive educational workshop with Spark New Zealand, a New Zealand-wide communications service provider.

“The OIF continues to work with other standards bodies and the industry to identify a wide range of technology needs that cross the entire optical and electrical ecosystem,” said Karl Gass of Qorvo and the OIF’s Physical Link Layer working group optical vice-chair.  “The OIF remains committed to providing technology direction that provides a path to interoperability in a pre-competitive environment. The projects started during the Q4 meeting demonstrate the OIF’s commitment to work with other standards bodies in the industry.”

 400ZR Interoperability

This new project will develop an implementation agreement for 400G ZR and short-reach DWDM multi-vendor interoperability.  It is relevant for router-to-router interconnect use cases and is targeted at (passive) single channel and amplified DWDM applications with distances up to 120 km. This project should ensure a cost-effective and long-term relevant implementation using single-carrier 400G, coherent detection and advanced DSP/FEC algorithms.

Common ACO Electrical I/O

The project will define the ACO electrical I/O independent of the choice of form factor and optical carrier count for 45 Gbaud and 64 Gbaud per-carrier applications. This project would build upon the success of the CFP2-ACO but is form factor agnostic so that it could be applied to multiple applications such as  CFP4, CFP8, QSFP, micro QSFP and OFSP.

Coherent Modem Management Interface

Members have requested that the industry combine the coherent modem management interface specifications [4″x5″ LH MSA, CFP2-ACO, CFP2-DCO, Flex-Coherent, etc.] into a standalone document.  OIF leadership, working in conjunction with the CFP MSA group, is inviting companies to participate in creating a complementary Normative document.

High Baud Rate Coherent Modulation Function

This project will define a small form factor component implementation agreement that combines the high baud-rate PMQ (HB-PMQ) modulator plus the RF drive functions into a single component. This new component will be used in conjunction with a high baud Integrated Coherent Receiver (ICR), a micro Integrable Tunable Laser Assembly (ITLA) and a coherent DSP, to implement a high performance coherent modem.

OIF Day with Spark New Zealand

The OIF continues to leverage the unique OIF Day program platform to reach out to key industry players for technical and strategic input. In conjunction with the Forum’s recent quarterly meeting in Auckland, the OIF hosted a half-day interactive and educational workshop featuring OIF and Spark New Zealand subject matter experts. The event achieved the objectives of introducing OIF work projects to this local service provider and obtaining valuable input on regional business and technical network challenges.

OIF Election Results

Dave Brown of Nokia was re-elected to the Board for a two-year term and appointed as president.  Re-elected to one-year terms were Junjie Li of China Telecom and Dave Stauffer of Kandou Bus. Stauffer will continue to serve as secretary/treasurer. Jonathan Sadler of Coriant and Nathan Tracy of TE Connectivity were elected to the board for two-year terms.  Tracy was appointed as vice president of marketing. Tom Issenhuth of Microsoft was appointed as vice president and Ian Betty of Ciena continues to serve on the Board.

Newly elected were Klaus-Holger Otto of Nokia as Technical Committee chair, Ed Frlan of Semtech as Technical Committee vice chair and Jeffery Maki of Juniper Networks as chair of Physical Layer User Group Working Group.

Brian Holden of Kandou Bus, Market Awareness and Education Committee co-chair, Physical and Link Layer; and Lyndon Ong of Ciena, MA&E Committee co-chair, Networking were both re-elected.

About the OIF

The OIF facilitates the development and deployment of interoperable networking solutions and services. Members collaborate to drive Implementation Agreements (IAs) and interoperability demonstrations to accelerate and maximize market adoption of advanced internetworking technologies. OIF work applies to optical and electrical interconnects, optical component and network processing technologies, and to network control and operations including software defined networks and network function virtualization. The OIF actively supports and extends the work of national and international standards bodies. Launched in 1998, the OIF is the only industry group uniting representatives from across the spectrum of networking, including many of the world’s leading service providers, system vendors, component manufacturers, software and testing vendors. Information on the OIF can be found at http://www.oiforum.com.

 

OIF Updates Micro Intradyne Coherent Receiver IA for Beyond 100G Applications

Forum soliciting input for next global interop demo

Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) members recently approved important updates to the Micro Intradyne Coherent Receiver implementation agreement. The IA introduces three classes of receivers, distinguished by their RF frequency response, to support Flex Coherent DWDM transmission to 400G and beyond.

The OIF continues its efforts to look beyond 100G by selecting a 400G implementation technology option. The newly published Flex Coherent DWDM Transmission framework document specifies a single technical approach for diverse network applications, including long-haul (LH), metro and data center inter-connection (DCI).  One of the objectives of this work is to provide direction on the technical developments required by system and component providers.

“Our system vendor members continue to flow down future system requirements so that component suppliers can be ready with products to support their designs,” said Karl Gass of Qorvo and the OIF’s Physical and Link Layer Working Group – Optical Vice Chair.

Global transport SDN interop demo survey for service providers

The OIF is planning its next global transport SDN Interop demo.  Building on the successful OIF 2016 Global SDN Transport API Interoperability Demo, the goal is to show APIs at work in key commercial transport SDN use cases. The OIF is seeking input from the service provider community, including those that have not participated in past interop demonstrations.  Click here to complete the anonymous survey by September 8, 2017 and help shape the next interop demo.

OIF Elections

The following officers were re-elected to one-year terms:

Klaus-Holger Otto of Nokia – Technical Committee, Chair; Ed Frlan of Semtech – Technical Committee, Vice Chair; Lyndon Ong of Ciena – MA&E Committee Co-Chair, Networking; Brian Holden of Kandou Bus – MA&E Committee Co-Chair, Physical & Link Layer.

OIF Day at Telefonica – Sept. 26th, Madrid, Spain

This event will be an interactive and educational workshop featuring OIF and Telefonica subject matter experts including Juan Pedro Fernandez Palacios, Head of “Core Network Evolution” for Telefonica. Topics will include OIF projects and directions, SDN for transport optical networks, and interoperability in disaggregated networks. With this exclusive event, the OIF is directly reaching out to understand service provider challenges and strategies, unlike any other forum. This event is open to all OIF Principal members and Telefonica.

About the OIF
The OIF facilitates the development and deployment of interoperable networking solutions and services. Members collaborate to drive Implementation Agreements (IAs) and interoperability demonstrations to accelerate and maximize market adoption of advanced internetworking technologies. OIF work applies to optical and electrical interconnects, optical component and network processing technologies, and to network control and operations including software defined networks and network function virtualization. The OIF actively supports and extends the work of national and international standards bodies. Launched in 1998, the OIF is the only industry group uniting representatives from across the spectrum of networking, including many of the world’s leading service providers, system vendors, component manufacturers, software and testing vendors. Information on the OIF can be found at http://www.oiforum.com.