OIF Releases Common Electrical I/O (CEI) 5.0 Implementation Agreement Reinforcing Leadership in Next-Generation Channel Definition

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New specifications will enable a broad range of applications

Fremont, Calif. – OIF, where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done, has published a new Implementation Agreement (IA) for Common Electrical I/O (CEI) 5.0 specifying the next generation of 112Gb/s electrical interconnects. The IA specifies transmitter, receiver and channel requirements associated with Extra Short Reach (XSR), Medium Reach (MR) and Long Reach (LR) interfaces for multi-chip-module, chip-to-chip, and high-speed backplane applications.

“This IA marks a new generation of specifications for 112G interfaces,” said Klaus-Holger Otto, Nokia and OIF Technical Committee Chair. “It is a continuation of OIF’s proud history of adding next-generation data rates that enable broad interconnect solutions and are critical building blocks for several industry standards and platforms.”

“These new data rate specifications will enable applications including backplane, chip-to-chip, and die-to-die interfaces within a package,” said David Stauffer, Kandou Bus and Chair of OIF’s Physical and Link Layer (PLL) Working Group. “And, it enables multiple applications, such as co-packaged optics. Definitions of interfaces within co-packaged die are unique to this IA and OIF’s work.”

About OIF
OIF is where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done. Building on nearly 25 years of effecting forward change in the industry, OIF represents the dynamic ecosystem of 130+ industry leading network operators, system vendors, component vendors and test equipment vendors 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
leah@wilkinson.associates
703-907-0010

OIF Releases New Common Management Interface Specification (CMIS) Implementation Agreement and Launches New CMIS Project at Q2 Technical and MA&E Committees Meeting

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Fremont, Calif.—OIF’s Q2 2022 Technical and MA&E Committees Meeting, held in person and virtually May 10-12, 2022 in Porto, Portugal, resulted in the release of a Common Management Interface Specification (CMIS) Implementation Agreement (IA) and the initiation of a new CMIS project.

CMIS provides a well-defined mechanism to initialize and manage optical and copper modules in a standard way, while still providing the capability to provide custom functionality. This commonality makes integration into different host platforms easier for both the host and module vendors.

IA—CMIS 5.2:

The importance of CMIS continues to expand as higher-speed systems require more complex modules demanding more sophisticated management interfaces.

This IA marks the first OIF-approved CMIS IA and the completion of the transition of the work to OIF.

“One of the reasons OIF adopted the CMIS work is its close coupling and application to ongoing OIF projects,” said Ian Alderdice, Ciena and OIF Physical & Link Layer Working Group – Management Co-Vice Chair. “This IA includes new features supporting a wide variety of form factors, most importantly fiber channel enhancements which expands the range of end-user applications.”

NEW PROJECT—Version update to CMIS:

CMIS addresses commonality in managing pluggable modules and is a critical interface working hand-in-hand with other OIF areas, including co-packaging and electrical. The project work to create the next version of CMIS will add the necessary support for co-packaging/External Laser Small Form Factor Pluggable (ELSFP) projects and link training.

“This new project work represents the next steps in the evolution of CMIS and its alignment with other OIF PLL Working Groups tracks to enable an interoperable ecosystem,” said Gary Nicholl, Cisco and OIF PLL Working Group – Management Co-Vice Chair and Secretary/Treasurer.

 

About OIF

OIF is where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done. Building on nearly 25 years of effecting forward change in the industry, OIF represents the dynamic ecosystem of 130+ industry leading network operators, system vendors, component vendors and test equipment vendors 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 to Provide Update on Electrical Interface Projects at DesignCon 2022; Industry thought leaders will provide an overview of OIF’s lessons learned on CEI 112G and progress on 224G (Gbps)

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Fremont, Calif. – Over the last 20+ years, OIF’s interoperable electrical interface specifications known as CEI (common electrical I/O) have been adopted across many applications to become critical building blocks for several industry standards and platforms.

At this year’s DesignCon, April 5-7, 2022, in Santa Clara, CA, OIF experts will discuss its seven ongoing CEI-112G electrical interface development projects and the new architectures they will enable, including chiplet packaging, co-packaged optics and internal cable-based solutions. The panel will also provide an update on OIF’s recently launched first set of new CEI projects targeting the 224G generation of electrical interfaces and the published 224G Framework Project white paper. The white paper provides a roadmap for the applications, challenges and projects needed to support new generations of architectures and equipment.

PANEL DETAILS:
April 6, 2022: 4:00pm-5:15pm PT
OIF Electrical I/O Specifications – Progress on CEI 112G and 224G (Gbps)
Moderator: Nathan Tracy, OIF VP of Marketing, TE Connectivity
Panelists include: John Calvin, Keysight Technologies; Mike Li, Intel; Cathy Liu, OIF President, Broadcom Inc.; and Jeffery Maki, OIF Board Member and Physical Layer User Group WG Chair, Juniper Networks

About OIF
OIF is where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done. Building on more than 20 years of effecting forward change in the industry, OIF represents the dynamic ecosystem of 130+ industry leading network operators, system vendors, component vendors and test equipment vendors 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 Q1 2022 Member Meeting Results in New CEI and CMIS Projects, Working Group Election

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Dave Stauffer re-elected as Chair of OIF Physical & Link Layer Working Group

Fremont, Calif.—March 16, 2022 – Highlights from OIF’s first member meeting of the year include four new Common Electrical I/O (CEI) projects, two new Common Management Interface Specification (CMIS) project launches, an OIF Working Group election, and an industry talk from Scott Wilkinson, Lead Analyst, Networking Components, Cignal AI. The Q122 Technical and MA&E Committees Meeting was held virtually February 7-11.

NEW PROJECTS

CEI

OIF launched four new CEI projects during the meeting: CEI-224G-Extra Short Reach (XSR) Common Electrical On-Package Interface Project, CEI-224G-Very Short Reach (VSR) Common Electrical Chip-to-Module Interface Project, CEI-224G-Medium Reach (MR) Common Electrical Chip-to-Chip Interface Project, and CEI-224G-Long Reach (LR) Common Electrical Backplane and Copper Cable Interface Project. These projects are the first set to target the 224G generation of electrical interfaces.

In addition to these 224G project launches, OIF membership approved publishing the 224G Framework Project white paper that was kicked off in August 2020. “OIF’s CEI-224G framework project white paper provides a roadmap for the applications, challenges and projects needed to support new specifications and technologies – these four new projects will develop the Implementation Agreements (IAs) to address that roadmap,” said Dave Stauffer, Kandou Bus and Chair, OIF Physical and Link Layer (PLL) Working Group.

CMIS: Form-Factor Specific Hardware Management

OIF initiated a new project to create supplemental specifications to CMIS for Form-factor Specific Hardware Management (FSHM). CMIS has been adopted to manage future generation of small form-factor pluggable (SFP) 112, SFP-DD/SFP-DD112, and quad small form-factor pluggable (QSFP) 112. Currently, CMIS does not provide hardware management control for these form-factors. FSHM will define form-factor specific module hardware management registers in CMIS allocated page 05h.

CMIS: Adding CMIS Support for Host-Module Link Training

OIF started another new project that will add CMIS Support for Host-Module Link Training. This project will provide an optional out-of-band, protocol agnostic, management mechanism for optimizing link tuning and training.

OIF ELECTION
Stauffer was re-elected to serve a two-year term as Chair of OIF’s PLL Working Group. Dr. Stauffer has served in this role since 2006. The OIF PLL Working Group develops IAs related to physical and data link layer interfaces between optical internetworking elements and their internal components, reusing existing standards when applicable. The OIF PLL Working Group is guided by requirements developed by the Physical Layer User Group (PLUG) Working Group and Network Operators Working Group and OIF members.

GUEST SPEAKER
The meeting’s guest speaker, Scott Wilkinson, provided attendees with an overview of the pluggable coherent optical technologies market, including trends, forecasts, and expected changes.

“The OIF’s wildly successful 400ZR specification is largely responsible for the recent growth of 400Gbps coherent pluggables and the emergence of IP-over-DWDM as a valid network configuration,” said Wilkinson. “The group’s quarterly meetings are an invaluable source of information on what’s next in optical interfaces.”

 

About OIF

OIF is where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done. Building on more than 20 years of effecting forward change in the industry, OIF represents the dynamic ecosystem of 130+ industry leading network operators, system vendors, component vendors and test equipment vendors 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 Members Demonstrate How Interoperability Accelerates Solutions for Today’s and Future Global Networks at OFC 2022

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Nearly 30 companies will highlight 400ZR interoperability; Co-Packaging architectures; CEI-112 channels; CMIS implementations and FlexE definitions

Fremont, Calif. – OIF, where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done, will host its largest demonstration of interoperable optical networking solutions to date at this year’s OFC 2022 in San Diego, March 8-10, 2022. Industry experts will also present updates on OIF’s current work in many critical areas, including 400ZR/800ZR and electrical rates.

Nearly 30 participating member companies will demonstrate interoperability in five key technology areas ― 400ZR optics; Co-Packaging architectures; Common Electrical I/O (CEI) channels; Common Management Interface Specification (CMIS) implementations and FlexE (Flex Ethernet) definitions. The demos will include both live and static stations at OIF’s booth, #5101.

Participating companies include Accton; Alphawave IP; Amphenol; Applied Optoelectonics, Inc.; Broadcom Inc., Ciena; Cisco; EXFO; Fujitsu Optical Components; Innolume GmbH; Intel; Juniper Networks; Keysight Technologies; Lumentum, MACOM Technology Solutions Inc.; Marvell; MaxLinear, Inc.; Molex; MultiLane, Inc.; NEC Corporation; NeoPhotonics; Nokia; O-Net Communications; Ragile Networks Inc.; Senko Advanced Components; Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.; TE Connectivity; VIAVI Solutions and Wilder Technologies.

“With demonstrations in five critical technology areas enabling the networks of today and the future, the OIF booth at OFC will showcase the intersection of innovation, interoperability and implementations,” said Mike Klempa, Amphenol, and OIF Physical and Link Layer Interoperability Working Group Chair.

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. This is the first-ever public multivendor 400ZR interop demo. The demo consists of a full implementation of 400GE across an 80km, DWDM ecosystem using multiple module, router, open line systems, and test equipment vendors, demonstrating the project achieved its interoperability goals.

Co-Packaging Architectures Demo

While individual companies consider options to optimize power and density, OIF has seen the need to lead industry standardization discussions for the architecture known as co-packaging that promises to address both power consumption trends and increased bandwidth density. OIF is leading the industry’s interoperability discussions for co-packaging and will showcase its progress with multi-party demonstrations of its 3.2T Module project and external laser project (ELSFP). A variety of interoperable components that enable co-packaging will be shown, along with a system implementation.

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 amongst 12 participating members clearly prove the key role OIF provides as well as the developing supplier ecosystem. The CEI-112G demonstrations in the OIF booth will feature multi-party silicon supplier interoperability over various channels including mated compliance boards, PCB channels and direct attach copper cable channels, and even fiber. Each configuration demonstrates the technical viability of 112 Gbps operation, along with multiple industry form factors, including OSFP and QSFP-DD. The demo also shows a measured far-end eye diagram on an oscilloscope with analysis to show an example of the silicon signal integrity that is typically required going through the large variety of channels on display.

Common Management Interface Specification (CMIS) Implementations Demo

CMIS is becoming the management interface of choice for next generation pluggable modules, capable of managing both simple and advanced modules. CMIS provides a well-defined mechanism to initialize and manage optical and copper modules in a standard way, while still providing the capability to provide custom functionality. This commonality makes integration into different host platforms easier for both the host vendor and the module vendor. The CMIS demo consists of four separate demonstrations that show how modules can be managed and initialized, how modules can support multiple independent services (breakout) and how module firmware can be easily upgraded.

FlexE Demo

OIF continues to advance FlexE technology with the recently published FlexE 2.2 Implementation Agreement. The demo will show off FlexE’s channelization features, which allow standard Ethernet optics to be broken down into multiple clients of both standard and non-standard Ethernet rates with a granularity of 5Gb/s. Realistic multi-vendor deployment scenarios will show standard 100GbE interfaces channelized into clients of mixed rates, mapping of traffic from standard Ethernet ports, and end-to-end bit error rate tester (BERT) features demonstrating error and alarm monitoring.

OIF @ OFC 2022 Speaking Sessions

TUESDAY, March 8 – 4pm-5pm PT

An OIF update on electrical rates: 112G technical closure and the latest progress and challenges for 224G to create the next speed node

Moderator: Nathan Tracy, OIF VP of Marketing, TE Connectivity

Panelists: John Calvin, Keysight Technologies; Mike Li, Intel; Cathy Liu, OIF President, Broadcom Inc.; Jeffery Maki, OIF Board Member and Physical Layer User Group WG Chair, Juniper Networks

 

Deployment of 400ZR and the ongoing OIF work to define 800ZR/LR

WEDNESDAY, March 9, – 12pm-1pm PT

Moderator: Richard Ward, OIF MA&E Committee Co-Chair – PLL, Intel

Panelists: Josef Berger, Marvell; Ian Betty, Ciena; Mark Filer, OIF VP, Google; Tom Williams, Cisco

 

About OIF
OIF is where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done. Building on more than 20 years of effecting forward change in the industry, OIF represents the dynamic ecosystem of 130+ industry leading network operators, system vendors, component vendors and test equipment vendors 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
leah@wilkinson.associates
703-907-0010

 

OIF Launches CEI-224G Framework Project White Paper for Next-Generation Data Rate Systems

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The resulting white paper summarizes the consensus findings and guides OIF project starts for future CEI 224 Gbps clauses addressing specific reaches and architectures

Fremont, Calif.— As the industry looks forward to higher data rates and increased throughput for the next generation of systems based on 224 Gbps per lane, new specifications and technologies will be required. OIF, where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done, today announced a framework document representing OIF’s efforts to identify the hardware interconnection application spaces where the communications and computer industries could benefit from interconnection definitions or Implementation Agreements (IA).

The CEI-224G framework project has resulted in a white paper summarizing the consensus findings and guidance for new OIF project starts for future CEI clauses addressing specific 224 Gbps reaches and architectures. Further, it identifies key technical challenges for next-generation systems, defines electrical interconnection applications, and discusses some of the interoperability test challenges.  This provides the OIF and other industry standards bodies with a common language and understanding of the development projects required for the next generation data rate systems. It also establishes baseline materials that will enable 1.6/3.2 Tbps rate architectures and lower cost, lower complexity 800 Gbps and 400 Gbps architectures.

“As demonstrated in the past, most recently at 112 Gbps, OIF plays a key role in driving industry activity to identify and develop critical technical solutions that will enable next-generation data rates to be cost-effectively deployed in future equipment and networks,” said Cathy Liu, Broadcom Inc., and OIF President.

Service providers, network customers, and data center operators have communicated that higher data rates like 224 Gbps are required for client and line-side links to support higher volumes of traffic on the core and backbone networks. These next-generation data rates need to be implemented while also addressing power consumption, density, performance, reach and cost challenges.

“224 Gbps is going to bring many difficult challenges for the industry to address to achieve practical implementations in an interoperable way,” said Nathan Tracy, OIF VP of Marketing, TE Connectivity. “This Framework project and its resultant white paper align OIF members and industry on many of the key hurdles. Overcoming obstacles can be achieved by having consensus amongst a broad cross-section of component, subsystem and system suppliers to leverage new technologies that drive signaling, architecture and integration developments.”

About OIF
OIF is where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done. Building on more than 20 years of effecting forward change in the industry, OIF represents the dynamic ecosystem of 130+ industry leading network operators, system vendors, component vendors and test equipment vendors 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
leah@wilkinson.associates
703-907-0010

 

OIF Releases Co-Packaging Framework Implementation Agreement

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Framework serves as foundation for industry consensus on co-packaging with ASICs

Fremont, Calif. – OIF, the global industry forum accelerating market adoption of advanced interoperable optical networking solutions, today announced the release of a framework Implementation Agreement (IA) for co-packaging, identifying the critical co-packaged applications and their requirements and charting a path for interoperability standards.

OIF’s leadership in driving interoperability in co-packaging technologies began in 2020 when it was clear the industry needed to achieve consensus on standards. Since then, OIF members have engaged in an umbrella project to study the application spaces and relevant technology considerations for co-packaging of communication and computing interfaces with one or more ASICs.

The Co-Packaging track of OIF’s Physical & Link Layer (PLL) Working Group began by studying the application spaces contributed by the end-users. Then, it examined various related topics, including electrical and optical interfaces, thermal and mechanical considerations, reliability, safety, environmental and management interfaces. The findings of the work are summarized in the Framework Document IA.

This work also guided OIF to initiate two follow-on co-packaging projects: External Laser Small Form Factor Pluggable (ELSFP) Project, announced in May 2021, and the 3.2T Module Project, announced in March 2021.

“OIF is leading industry discussion on this critical dense integration technology,” said Jeff Hutchins, Ranovus and OIF Board Member and PLL Working Group – Co-Packaging Vice Chair. “This framework IA provides the industry with a foundation for developing interoperable energy efficient co-packaged solutions.”

“Co-packaging represents a significant change to the way high-performance communications ASICs are packaged today,” said Technical Editor of the Co-Packaging Framework IA, Kenneth Jackson, Sumitomo Electric. “This Framework document addresses many of the issues that initially challenged this new architecture and narrows the scope of achievable solutions. This is precisely what OIF excels at…identifying a gap and collaborating on a path forward towards interoperability.”

Earlier this month, OIF experts led a public webinar, “Co-Packaging Standardization Progress,” discussing the co-packaging standardization efforts that are in progress and addressing implementation challenges, including electrical channels, external lasers, optical connectivity, packaging, etc. In partnership with Lightwave, the event featured talks from industry-leading experts at Intel, Cisco, Ranovus, Sumitomo Electric and TE Connectivity. Click here for free on-demand viewing of this webinar.

About OIF
OIF is where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done. Building on more than 20 years of effecting forward change in the industry, OIF represents the dynamic ecosystem of 130+ industry leading network operators, system vendors, component vendors and test equipment vendors 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
leah@wilkinson.associates
703-907-0010

OIF to Present “Co-Packaging Standardization Progress” Webinar to Provide Updates on Overcoming Implementation Challenges to Enable Interoperability

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In partnership with Lightwave, the online event will feature a discussion between end-users, equipment developers and component vendors

Fremont, Calif. – OIF continues to drive discussion and work toward industry interoperability through an upcoming webinar, “Co-Packaging Standardization Progress,” being held on Wednesday, February 2, 2022, at 7:00am PST/9:00am CST/10:00am EST/3:00pm GMT. The free event, hosted by Lightwave, will feature presentations and discussions with industry-leading experts from global organizations: Cisco, Intel, Ranovus, Sumitomo Electric and TE Connectivity. Register for this free event.

“Since OIF’s work in co-packaging technologies began in July 2020, we have seen an increased interest and active participation industry-wide for interoperable solutions,” said Jeff Hutchins, Ranovus and OIF Board Member and Physical and Link Layer (PLL) Working Group – Co-Packaging Vice Chair. “This webinar featuring industry-leading experts will explore the current state of standardization efforts and how we are tackling the challenges so that industry can engage this critical integration technology development.”

This webinar will review the co-packaging standardization efforts in progress and identify implementation challenges for electrical channels, external lasers, optical connectivity, packaging, etc. Webinar participants will learn about OIF’s Implementation Agreements (specifications) that are being developed and the latest information for assessing how to engage this critical new integration technology development.

Details are as follows:

February 2, 2022 – 7:00am-9:00am PST

Agenda

  • Welcome & Intro – Stephen Hardy, Lightwave and Jeff Hutchins, Ranovus, OIF Board Member and Physical & Link Layer Working Group – Co-Packaging Vice Chair
  • OIF Overview – Nathan Tracy, TE Connectivity, OIF VP of Marketing
  • Framework Overview – Ken Jackson, Sumitomo Electric
  • 3.2T Module – Richard Ward, Intel, OIF Market Awareness & Education Committee Co-Chair – Physical and Link Layer
  • External Laser Small Form Factor Pluggable (ELSFP) – Jock Bovington, Cisco
  • Co-Packaging Electrical Interfaces – Yi Tang, Cisco
  • Q&A – Stephen Hardy, Lightwave and Jeff Hutchins, Ranovus

To register for the free event, click here. The webinar is open to the public, and a certificate of attendance will be offered.

 

About OIF

OIF is where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done. Building on more than 20 years of effecting forward change in the industry, OIF represents the dynamic ecosystem of 125+ industry leading network operators, system vendors, component vendors and test equipment vendors 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 Adopts Common Management Interface Specification (CMIS) Work Initiated by QSFP-DD Multi-Source Agreement

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Taking on the CMIS work reinforces and increases OIF’s significant value to the ecosystem   

Fremont, Calif.—January 5, 2022 – OIF is expanding its role in driving industry interoperability through the addition of the Common Management Interface Specification (CMIS) work initiated by the Quad Small Form Factor Pluggable Double Density (QSFP-DD) Multi Source Agreement (MSA).  

CMIS may be used by pluggable or on-board modules, such as QSFP Double Density (QSFP-DD), OSFP, COBO, QSFP, and future module developments like co-packaged optics with host to module management communication based on a two-wire interface. This specification is targeted to systems manufacturers, system integrators and suppliers of CMIS compliant optical and copper modules. 

“The QSFP-DD MSA initiated the CMIS effort to address an industry need for commonality in managing pluggable modules, and it has been broadly and successfully adopted across the industry,” said Mark Nowell, Cisco, QSFP-DD MSA Group founding member and MSA co-chair. “OIF is very well suited to maintain and extend the development of this effort and I look forward to seeing their progress.” 

“Adopting CMIS from the QSFP-DD MSA, with the goal to build on and extend the specification is an ideal expansion of OIF’s work,” said Nathan Tracy, OIF VP of Marketing and TE Connectivity. “OIF is where the cloud gets its work done and extending CMIS is a giant step forward and an integral linkage to the other work that OIF members are doing to enable an interoperable ecosystem.” 

In August, OIF announced the new Physical & Link Layer (PLL) Working Group Management track to include the transition of ownership and maintenance of CMIS from the QSFP-DD MSA to OIF and a project to focus on CMIS extensions for co-packaging implementations. OIF will take over the ongoing CMIS revisions and further enhancements and CMIS extensions under this track. This track is co-vice-chaired by Gary Nicholl, Cisco and Ian Alderdice, Ciena. 

“OIF’s value to the industry is deep, as proven by the industry’s support and endorsement of this transfer of the CMIS work to OIF,” continued Tracy.  

The current CMIS and prior revisions (from QSFP-DD MSA) are now available to members on the OIF website.  “Archived Non-OIF Generated Specifications” can be found on the home page, on the “Documents” pull-down menu.  

 

About OIF 

OIF is where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done. Building on more than 20 years of effecting forward change in the industry, OIF represents the dynamic ecosystem of 125+ industry leading network operators, system vendors, component vendors and test equipment vendors 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 Announces Board of Director Positions, Officers and Working Group Representatives

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Fremont, Calif.—November 17, 2021 – OIF, where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done, today announced election results for its Board of Directors, Officers and Working Group representatives.

Election Results

  • Board of Directors: 
    • Mark Filer, Google, was elected to the Board (two-year term) and was appointed as Vice President
    • Jeff Hutchins, Ranovus, was elected to the Board (one-year term) and continues as Physical & Link Layer Working Group – Co-Packaging Vice Chair
    • Cathy Liu, Broadcom Inc., was elected to the Board (one-year term) and was appointed as President
    • Jeffery Maki, Juniper Networks, was re-elected to the Board (two-year term) and continues as Physical Layer User Group Working Group Chair

Continuing in their positions are:

    • Gary Nicholl, Cisco, continues to serve on the Board as Secretary/Treasurer and continues as Physical & Link Layer Working Group – Management Co-Vice Chair
    • Rob Stone, Facebook, continues to serve on the Board
    • Nathan Tracy, TE Connectivity, continues to serve on the Board as VP of Marketing

  • Officers: 
    • Karl Bois, TE Connectivity, was re-elected as Technical Committee Vice Chair
    • Lyndon Ong, Ciena, was re-elected as Market Awareness & Education Committee Co-Chair, Networking
    • Klaus-Holger Otto, Nokia, was re-elected as Technical Committee Chair
    • Richard Ward, Intel, was re-elected as Market Awareness & Education Committee Co-Chair, Physical & Link Layer

Continuing in his position is:

    • Dave Brown, Nokia, continues to serve as Director of Communications
  • Technical Committee: 
    • Qian Hu, China Telecom, was elected as Network Operator Working Group Chair (two-year term)
    • Jonathan Sadler, Infinera, was elected as Networking & Operations Interoperability Working Group Chair (two-year term)

Continuing in their positions are:

    • Jia He, Huawei Technologies, Inc, continues as Networking & Operations Working Group Chair
    • Michael Klempa, Amphenol, continues as Physical & Link Layer Interoperability Working Group Chair
    • David Stauffer, Kandou Bus, continues as Physical & Link Layer Working Group Chair

“As a member-driven organization, OIF’s accomplishments are the result of the dedication and innovative thinking of our members and the hard work of the leadership team,” said Liu. “We congratulate our new and returning members serving on the Board of Directors and in other leadership positions and thank them for their continued commitment to further OIF’s mission driving electrical, optical and control interoperability.”

About OIF

OIF is where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done. Building on more than 20 years of effecting forward change in the industry, OIF represents the dynamic ecosystem of 125+ industry leading network operators, system vendors, component vendors and test equipment vendors 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

 

Lightwave – OIF launches CEI-112G-Extra Short Reach (XSR)+ project

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The CEI-112G-XSR+ effort seeks to enable a lower power, multi-source 112-Gbps electrical I/O interface (optimized for 106.25 Gbps) to support Near Packaged Optics (NPO) applications.

https://www.lightwaveonline.com/optical-tech/electronics/article/14209722/oif-launches-cei112gextra-short-reach-xsr-project

 

OIF Reveals New Common Electrical I/O Project to Strengthen an Open Ecosystem for Near Package Optics Architecture, Launches Management Track and Facebook joins Board of Directors at Q3 2021 Virtual Meeting

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Fremont, Calif.—August 27, 2021 – OIF’s Q3 2021 Technical and MA&E Committees Meeting, held virtually August 2-6, 2021, demonstrated OIF’s leadership in next-generation channel definition by revealing a new Common Electrical I/O (CEI) project. Two projects under the Physical and Link Layer (PLL) newly formed Management track were also initiated. Jimmy Yu, vice president of Dell’Oro Group, was featured as the guest speaker, and a new Board Member was appointed.

NEW PROJECTS:

The CEI-112G-Extra Short Reach (XSR)+ project will allow lower power, multi-source 112Gbps (optimized for 106.25Gbps) electrical I/O interface to be developed with advanced PCB and substrate technology. The project will also support an open ecosystem based on Near Package Optics (NPO) architecture. OIF members are proposing that an “XSR+” type interface is used to add reach for NPO applications over the existing XSR interface to enable a multi-vendor open ecosystem without adding significant power.

The two projects under the PLL Management track include one to transition ownership and maintenance of the Common Management Interface Specification (CMIS) from the Quad Small Form Factor Pluggable Double Density (QSFP-DD) Multi-Source Agreement (MSA) to OIF, and the second project will focus on CMIS extensions for co-packaging implementations.

“Our quarterly meetings provide a critical platform for our members to discuss and debate interoperability challenges and industry standards that help OIF continue its mission to accelerate industry innovation,” explained David Stauffer, OIF Physical & Link Layer WG Chair and Kandou. “The new CEI-112G-XSR+ project will help strengthen an open ecosystem for NPO demonstrating OIF’s leadership in next-generation channel definition. Another significant new activity that addresses industry interoperability and standards is OIF’s new Management track. Due to the complementary/synergistic nature of the work with the OIF co-packaged optics, NPO, CEI and coherent optics projects, OIF will take over the ongoing CMIS revisions as well as further enhancements and CMIS extensions under this track.”

BOARD OF DIRECTORS APPOINTMENT

Rob Stone of Facebook was appointed to the OIF Board of Directors, filling an open position. Stone will serve the term for this position that goes through September 2022.

GUEST SPEAKER

Jimmy Yu served as the guest speaker providing OIF members with an update on the optical transport market. He leads Dell’Oro’s Optical Transport, Microwave Transmission and Mobile Backhaul Transport market research.

“OIF is a critical enabler to the optical market’s progression,” commented Yu. “The work of OIF members in these quarterly meetings to help guide interoperability is a significant benefit to the industry.”

About OIF

OIF is where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done. Building on more than 20 years of effecting forward change in the industry, OIF represents the dynamic ecosystem of 125+ industry leading network operators, system vendors, component vendors and test equipment vendors 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 Experts to Share CEI Expertise and Provide Channel Standards Update at DesignCon 2021

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What: DesignCon 2021 panel presentation on “Interoperable Common Electrical I/O (CEI) & Channel Standards Update: An OIF Perspective”

Who: Join OIF members and industry experts:

  • Moderator: Nathan Tracy, OIF VP of Marketing, TE Connectivity
    Panelists:
  • Pirooz Tooyserkani, Cisco (presenting for Gary Nicholl, OIF Secretary/Treasurer, Cisco)
  • Mike Li, OIF Board Member, Intel
  • Cathy Liu, Broadcom Inc.
  • Keysight Technologies (presented by Mike Li)

When: Tuesday, August 17, 2021, 4:00-5:15 pm PT

Where: Meeting Room 211AB, Upper Level, San Jose McEnery Convention Center, San Jose, CA

Panel Overview:
With 50 Gbps electrical rates ramping in the industry, it’s the perfect time to understand the 72-116 Gbps common electrical interface (CEI) standardization performance levels coming from the OIF’s next update to their CEI-112G Implementation Agreements. OIF members and industry experts will provide an update on the 112 Gbps challenges and the tradeoffs considered and debated to reach this point in the draft document maturity.

And now that the CEI-112G standards work is wrapping up, OIF is turning its attention to knowledge building on the challenges that an electrical rate at 224 Gbps will bring and ideas to address these challenges, as well as initial ideas and proposals on how CEI-224G ought to be standardized. The industry will need to move to optical rates of 1.6Tbps and electrical interfaces and standards such as CEI-224G to enable 1.6Tbps optics and related networks.

Event Overview:
DesignCon is the premier high-speed communications and system design conference, offering industry-critical engineering education in the heart of electronics innovation — Silicon Valley.

About OIF

OIF is where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done. Building on more than 20 years of effecting forward change in the industry, OIF represents the dynamic ecosystem of 125+ industry leading network operators, system vendors, component vendors and test equipment vendors 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 Announces Implementation Agreement for High Bandwidth Coherent Driver Modulator (HB-CDM) 2.0, Enabling Coherent Solutions to 800G and Above

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New IA addresses the need for increased capacity and higher performance HB-CDM devices

Fremont, Calif.—July 28, 2021 – OIF, where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done, today announced an Implementation Agreement (IA) for High Bandwidth Coherent Driver Modulator (HB-CDM) 2.0. This IA builds upon the HB-CDM 1.0 IA, released in November 2018, and leverages the same form factor.

The HB-CDM 2.0 follows the integrated laser and coherent receiver standards from OIF in enabling next-generation compact, high-performance coherent networking solutions. Since OIF’s HB-CDM 1.0 was released for 64 Gigabaud (GBd), enabling 400Gbps coherent systems, the market has seen a need for increased network capacity and higher performance. The HB-CDM 2.0 leverages the original Type 1 form factor for compatibility with existing systems and also includes a Flexible Printed Circuit (FPC) as an alternate interface and higher performance RF pitch options for extended rates for future systems.

“OIF’s HB-CDM 1.0 standard was a critical new component enabling optimized 400G+ metro and long-haul coherent networks, supporting the industry need for more capacity with a standardized footprint, interface and performance,” explained Technical Editor of the OIF HB-CDM 2.0 IA, Richard Ward, Intel. “The HB-CDM 2.0 is a natural extension covering 128GBd in coherent technology for 800G per wavelength and beyond coherent systems. The market demand reinforces OIF’s critical role in creating solutions to fulfill industry requirements and accelerating market adoption of optical networking technologies.”

About OIF

OIF is where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done. Building on more than 20 years of effecting forward change in the industry, OIF represents the dynamic ecosystem of 120+ industry leading network operators, system vendors, component vendors and test equipment vendors 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 Thought Leaders to Provide Updates on Co-Packaging, 400ZR, Electrical Data Rates and Transport SDN Projects at Global Conferences

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Presenting developments on innovative projects at OFC 2021, Optinet China 2021 and
China Fiber Connect Forum 2021

Fremont, Calif.—June 7, 2021 – OIF thought leaders will share insight into OIF’s interoperability work in groundbreaking technologies at some of the world’s largest global communications conferences: OFC 2021, Optinet China 2021 and China Fiber Connect Forum 2021.

OIF’s dynamic membership has brought about significant advances in the industry through its interoperability work.

“For more than 20 years, we’ve led the way for network operators and system, component and test equipment vendors to collaborate on, and test the interoperability of the electrical, optical and control solutions that directly impact the industry. Our members continue the path forward by sharing their expertise and OIF project updates at three global conferences this month,” said Ian Betty, OIF Board President, Ciena.

OFC 2021 Panels – Virtual

“Electrical Data Rates Keep Pushing Forward: An OIF Update”
Tuesday, June 08, 2021 – 11:00-12:00 PDT
A panel of industry experts and OIF members will provide an update on OIF’s CEI-112G and CEI-224G development work, including discussion and debate of 224G modulations.

  • Moderator: Nathan Tracy, OIF VP of Marketing, TE Connectivity
  • Panelists: David Stauffer, OIF Physical & Link Layer Working Group Chair, Kandou Bus SA; Gary Nicholl, OIF Secretary/Treasurer, Cisco; Cathy Liu, Broadcom Inc.; Mike Li, OIF Board Member, Intel and Thananya Baldwin, Keysight Technologies

“OFC Media/Analyst Panel: Data Center Optics are Heading Toward Co-packaged Optics: Why, How and When?”
Tuesday, June 08, 2021 – 12:30 – 13:30 PDT
This OFC-sponsored panel of industry experts will discuss the need for co-packaged optics (CPO) inside the data center. The path to CPO commercialization is fraught with risk. An entire ecosystem must be developed to support the transition from pluggable modules. The panel consists of specialists who come from different parts of this potential ecosystem to deliberate CPO’s merits, its potential pitfalls, how and perhaps when it can be successful.

  • OIF Speaker: Mark Filer, OIF Board Member, Microsoft

“400ZR Deployment and What’s Next: An OIF Update”
Friday, June 11, 2021 – 11:30-13:00 PDT
A panel of industry experts will provide an update to the state of the 400G coherent transmission ecosystem. They will provide an update for 400ZR deployment and the status of ongoing OIF projects that are intended to accelerate the deployment of optical networking equipment. A panel discussion including representatives of the DSP, optics, equipment, and end-user communities will ensure this will be a lively discussion.

  • Moderator: Richard Ward, OIF Market Awareness & Education Committee Co-Chair – PLL, Intel
  • Panelists: Ian Betty, OIF President, Ciena; Josef Berger, Marvell; Tom Williams, Cisco;  Paul Brooks, Viavi Solutions

Optinet China 2021 – Beijing

“Overview of OIF Transport SDN Projects”
Wednesday, June 16, 2021 – 11:50-12:10 China Standard Time
During this session, an OIF expert will discuss OIF’s Transport SDN projects and the 2020 Transport SDN API Interop Demonstration, where operator-defined use cases and deployment scenarios for multi-vendor Layer 0 and Layer 1 networks were tested in the Telefonica Madrid lab using the ONF T-API 2.1.3 and OpenConfig device APIs for interoperability between devices, SDN controllers and orchestrators.

  • Presenter: Hu Qian, OIF Representative, Senior Engineer, Optical Communication Research Center of China Telecom Beijing Research Institute

China Fiber Connect Forum 2021 – Suzhou

“Standardization for the Co-packaging of Photonics and Electronics”
Thursday, June 24, 2021 – Time TBD
OIF has been studying the co-packaging of ASICs with optical and electrical transceivers within its Co-Packaging Framework Project.   During this session, an OIF expert will define co-packaging, its’ unique challenges, and describe OIF activities to address multi-vendor interoperability for co-packaging.

  • Presenter:  Jeff Hutchins, OIF Physical & Link Layer Working Group – Co-Packaging Vice Chair, Ranovus

 

About OIF

OIF is where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done. Building on more than 20 years of effecting forward change in the industry, OIF represents the dynamic ecosystem of 100+ industry leading network operators, system vendors, component vendors and test equipment vendors 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 Reveals Three Innovative Projects – External Laser Small Form Factor Pluggable Module for Co-Packaged Optics, Artificial Intelligence for Enhanced Network Operations and CEI-112G-Linear – at Q2 2021 Virtual Meeting

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Fremont, Calif.—May 26, 2021 – Activity was high at OIF’s Q2 2021 Technical and MA&E Committees Meeting, held virtually May 10-14. Members initiated three new innovative projects, including a Co-Packaged Optics external laser module, Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Enhanced Network Operations and CEI-112G-Linear, in addition to announcing a network operator survey for the 2022 Networking Demo.

External Laser Small Form Factor Pluggable (ELSFP) Module Project – companion project to support co-packaged optics applications

This project for a blind-mate pluggable external light source module will define a new form factor optimized to package lasers to support co-packaged optical modules. It also includes provisions for the longevity of this form factor beyond the initial scope of the Co-Packaged Optics Module project (i.e., more fibers, thermal, and optical power classes).

“The ELSFP project is an important step for enabling co-packaged optics deployments,” according to Gary Nicholl, Cisco and OIF board member. “And, the project objectives include the necessary technical considerations to ensure this project will be relevant for multiple generations.”

Application of Artificial Intelligence to Enhanced Network Operations Project

A healthy and high-performance network serves as the foundation for all 5G application scenarios. Traditional approaches face significant difficulties in automatically and efficiently analyzing network data, solving network faults, and optimizing network performance. This new project will result in a white paper identifying a collection of use cases for applying AI to construct intelligent, resilient and high-performance optical and packet networks.

CEI-112G-Linear Project

A linear Chip-to-Optical Engine interface is needed to enable low power, low cost, small form factor 112G serial optical modules in Co-Packaged Optics, Near Package Optics (NPO) and server/GPU applications. This new project will facilitate increased bandwidth and reduced power of switch ports using co-packaged and closely packaged optical modules.

Network Operator Survey – 2022 Transport SDN Interoperability Demonstration

The OIF Networking Interoperability Working Group is surveying operators worldwide for their input and interest in participating in a 2022 Transport SDN Interoperability Demonstration. As with past surveys, responses will be anonymized, tabulated and summarized. The deadline to complete the survey is Tuesday, June 15, 2021. Interested operators can click here to download the survey.

About OIF

OIF is where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done. Building on more than 20 years of effecting forward change in the industry, OIF represents the dynamic ecosystem of 100+ industry leading network operators, system vendors, component vendors and test equipment vendors 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 Wraps Q1 2021 Member Meeting with New Co-Packaging Project; 3.2T Co-Packaged Module Project for Intra Data Center Switching Applications

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Fremont, Calif. – Highlights from OIF’s first member meeting of the year include a new co-packaging project launch, an industry talk from Vladimir Kozlov, founder and CEO, LightCounting and a joint workshop with the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) Mandatory Use Case Requirements for SDN for Transport (MUST) project. Additionally, members elected a new Networking & Operations Working Group Chair following the meeting. The Q121 Technical and MA&E Committees Meeting was held virtually February 22-26.

NEW PROJECT

OIF started a 3.2T Co-Packaged Module project for intra data center switching applications. The 3.2T Co-Packaged Optical Module Implementation Agreement (IA) is the first project initiated under the umbrella of the Co-Packaged Framework Project announced in November 2020. The IA will define a 3.2T co-packaged optical module that targets Ethernet switching applications utilizing 100G electrical lanes. It will include the following interoperability specifications:

  • Optical interface options supporting 400GBASE-FR4 and 400GBASE-DR4 with backwards compatible to 200G interfaces
  • CEI-112G-XSR high speed electrical interfaces
  • Electrical, mechanical, and management interfaces

“This 3.2T Co-Packaging project builds on OIF’s 20+ year successful track record to anticipate and address the industry’s needs,” said Jeff Hutchins, Ranovus and OIF Physical and Link Layer Working Group, Co-Packaging Vice Chair. “With its broad membership from across the eco-system, OIF is well positioned to create unified host, module and control specifications.”

“The industry has clearly articulated the need for a standardized co-packaged solution to address data center power constraints, and further, to enable new network architectures and applications,” said Mark Filer, Microsoft Principal Hardware Engineer and OIF Board Member. “The 3.2T Co-Packaged Optical Module project is a concrete step toward that goal, and OIF is uniquely qualified to rapidly execute on the implementation agreement in order to meet the market needs.”

GUEST SPEAKER

The meeting’s guest speaker, Kozlov, provided attendees with an overview of the market for Ethernet and DWDM optics such as “ZR optics” for DCI applications, including trends, forecasts and expected changes in the supplier landscape.

“Transition from pluggable to co-packaged optics is a radical change for the industry, but there is no other way to support future bandwidth requirements of Mega Datacenters and AI clusters,” said Kozlov.

TIP MUST WORKSHOP

Members of the OIF Networking Interoperability Working Group and TIP MUST project held a joint workshop. The members agreed to explore potential projects to further define, validate and implement transport SDN technologies in open, disaggregated open optical networks. This work will leverage the TIP MUST reference architecture and use cases as well as the experience and findings of the successful OIF 2020 Transport SDN API Interoperability Demonstration.

TECHNICAL COMMITTEE

Members elected Jia He, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., as the new Networking & Operations Working Group Chair.

About OIF
OIF is where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done. Building on more than 20 years of effecting forward change in the industry, OIF represents the dynamic ecosystem of 100+ industry leading network operators, system vendors, component vendors and test equipment vendors 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 Validates Maturity of Transport SDN APIs in 2020 Multi-Vendor Interoperability Demonstration – Results published in new white paper

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Successful collaborative multi-vendor demo revealed high percentage of network operator-favored use cases supported and high product maturity, identified areas for interoperability improvement

Fremont, Calif. – OIF today revealed the results of its 2020 Transport SDN Application Programming Interface (API) Interoperability Demonstration in a new white paper now available here. The white paper includes details on the test topology, testing methodology, technical specifications, use cases and findings.

The 2020 joint network operator, multi-vendor demo event focused on testing SDN-based programmability, control, and automation to support the industry to develop standard, robust, interoperable APIs for widescale adoption. The testing was conducted on a partially disaggregated open optical network architecture with operator-defined use cases.

“Interoperable transport SDN APIs are essential capabilities to enable open optical networks,” said Mauro Costa, Head of planning, strategy & architecture, Telia Company, a consulting network operator for this year’s demo. “International co-operations, like this one with OIF, allow the industry to progress at a high pace and Telia Company welcomes the opportunity offered by this interoperability demo. It reinforces that we are advancing in the right direction and that the maturity of the APIs implementation for optical SDN architecture is improving.”

The results of the 2020 demo were presented during a public read-out webinar held on 12 January 2021 in conjunction with Lightwave and on 19 January 2021 at a private, invitation-only virtual event jointly hosted by OIF and Telefónica. On-demand viewing of the Lightwave webinar is available here.

The interoperability testing involved three phases over ten weeks, Sept – Nov 2020, in Telefónica’s Madrid lab:

  • Phase 1: Open Networking Foundation (ONF) T-API NBI testing, Scope: ONF T-API v2.1.3 reference implementation agreement TR-547
  • Phase 2: Open terminals testing including discovery, provisioning, service de-activation and streaming telemetry
  • Phase 3: End-to-end disaggregation demo, Scope: evaluation and demonstration of end-to-end use cases

Findings and results of the testing include:

  • Vendor products demonstrate a high level of maturity and support of operator-favored use cases, based on T-API version 2.1.3 and OpenConfig APIs. Vendors have adopted the ONF 2.1.3 Reference Implementation Agreement (ONF TR-547) rapidly and with few deviations.
  • Inconsistent interpretation of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) RESTCONF standard was one interoperability issue identified, especially standard authentication. Clarification to RESTCONF provisioning behavior and implementation scalability were also identified as issues.
  • A particularly good level of compliance to the OpenConfig models was demonstrated by implementations, however, some areas such as key exchange algorithms for IETF NETCONF and complex use cases for device provisioning and commissioning did generate issues.

Participating vendors included ADVA, Ciena, Cisco Systems, Infinera and Nokia. Network operator Telefónica hosted the demo. China Telecom, Telia Company and TELUS participated as consulting network operators.

Additional information and an infographic describing the demo can be found here.

About OIF

OIF is where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done. Building on 20 years of effecting forward change in the industry, OIF represents the dynamic ecosystem of 100+ industry leading network operators, system vendors, component vendors and test equipment vendors 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 800G Coherent and Co-Packaging Framework IA Projects, Elects New Board Members/Positions, Officers and Working Group Chairs

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Fremont, Calif. – OIF, the global industry forum accelerating market adoption of advanced interoperable optical networking solutions, today announced the start of two new projects –  800G Coherent and Co-Packaging Framework, availability of a new FlexE for 400ZR white paper, newly elected board members/positions and working group representatives. These activities and elections took place at the Q420 Technical and MA&E Committee meetings held virtually November 2-November 6, 2020.

New Projects

800G Coherent

In scope for the 800G Coherent project is to define interoperable 800G coherent line specifications for campus and DCI applications. The resulting Implementation Agreement (IA) will:

  • Define single-lambda 800G coherent line interfaces for two applications
    • Amplified, single span, DWDM links up to 80-120km
    • Unamplified, fixed wavelength links of 2-10km
  • Support Ethernet client(s) (minimum 100GE) up to 800G aggregate bandwidth

“The next standardized coherent rate beyond 400ZR will be technically challenging with many factors to be considered,” said Tad Hofmeister, Technical Lead, Optical Networking Technologies at Google and OIF Vice President. “With the 800G Coherent IA, OIF is in a unique position to take a leadership role in defining interoperable 800G coherent line interfaces for various applications.”

Co-Packaging Framework IA

The Co-Packaging Framework IA, announced on November 10, 2020, will study the application spaces and relevant technology considerations for co-packaging of communication interfaces with one or more ASICs. A primary objective of this specification is to identify new opportunities for interoperability standards for possible future work at the OIF or other standards organizations. Upon completion, the work will be summarized in a Framework IA.

White Paper

A new OIF white paper addressing 400ZR applications requiring multiplexing of lower rate Ethernet signals (e.g. 100GE) and how to leverage FlexE for this service multiplexing is now available.

The OIF 400ZR IA includes mapping of 400G Ethernet signals as defined in IEEE 802.3, but not lower rate services such as 100G Ethernet. This white paper describes utilizing the OIF FlexE Implementation Agreement multiplexing of lower service rates, such as 100G and 200G Ethernet to a 400G frame that can be carried by 400ZR devices. Example profiles are provided to guide interoperability in common scenarios.

Election Results

  • Board of Directors:
    • Ian Betty, Ciena, continues to serve on the Board and was appointed as President
    • Mark Filer, Microsoft, was elected to the Board (two-year term)
    • Tad Hofmeister, Google, continues to serve on the Board and was re-appointed as Vice President
    • Mike Li, Intel, was re-elected to the Board (one-year term)
    • Jeffery Maki, Juniper Networks, was elected to the Board (one-year term)
    • Gary Nicholl, Cisco, was re-elected to the Board (two-year term) and appointed as Secretary/Treasurer
    • Nathan Tracy, TE Connectivity, was re-elected to the Board (two-year term) and appointed as VP of Marketing
  • Officers:
    • Klaus-Holger Otto, Nokia, was elected as Technical Committee Chair
    • Karl Bois, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, was elected as Technical Committee Vice Chair
    • Lyndon Ong, Ciena, was re-elected as Market Awareness & Education Committee Co-Chair, Networking
    • Richard Ward, Intel, was elected as Market Awareness & Education Committee Co-Chair, Physical and Link Layer
    • Dave Brown, Nokia, continues to serve as Director of Communications
  • Technical Committee:
    • Michael Klempa, Amphenol, was elected as Physical and Link Layer Interoperability Working Group Chair (two-year term)
    • Jeffery Maki, Juniper Networks, was re-elected as Physical Layer User Group Working Group Chair (two-year term)

“I’m looking forward to serving OIF members as president of this vital organization and thank all those who have served and continue to serve,” said Ian Betty, Ciena and new OIF president. “OIF’s role continues to be critical in making great strides in interoperability solutions for today’s and tomorrow’s challenges. Congratulations to the entire board and those appointed to leadership positions – your role is integral to OIF’s continued success.”
 

About OIF
OIF is where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done. Building on 20 years of effecting forward change in the industry, OIF represents the dynamic ecosystem of 100+ industry leading network operators, system vendors, component vendors and test equipment vendors 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 Completes Successful 2020 Joint Network Operator, Multi-Vendor Transport SDN API Interoperability Demonstration

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Public webinar, read-out events planned for Q1 2021

Fremont, Calif.—December 2, 2020 – OIF today announced the completion of its multi-vendor 2020 Transport SDN Application Programming Interface (API) Interoperability Demonstration. To validate the benefits of transport SDN worldwide and transport network transformation for the 5G era, OIF members participated in a ten-week long interoperability testing exercise in Telefonica’s Madrid lab.

The testing focused on SDN-based programmability, control and automation — testing Layer 1 and Layer 0 OTN control using ONF T-API 2.1.3, with additional testing of OpenConfig device APIs for transport equipment in network-operator-defined use cases.

“Operators have demanded more open optical networks to enable flexibility, lower costs, and best-of-breed options,” said Scott Wilkinson, Lead Analyst at Cignal AI. “Standard management interfaces and multi-vendor interoperability are critical to open optical networks. The interoperability demonstration recently performed under the guidance of the OIF is a major step towards achieving those operator goals.”

Participating vendors included ADVA, Ciena, Cisco Systems, Infinera and Nokia. Network operator Telefonica hosted the demo. China Telecom, Telia and TELUS participated as consulting network operators.

“The successful completion of the OIF 2020 Transport SDN API interoperability demonstration is a significant milestone toward widespread SDN deployment in production networks,” said Arturo Mayoral, Telefónica Transport Global CTIO Unit – Technology Expert and Lead of Optical SDN strategy. “By aligning vendors for a shared purpose – interoperability – and testing multiple use cases, we’re fostering manageability and flexibility in the network to allow deployment of cloud-based services, meet dynamic bandwidth demands and accelerate transport network transformation for the 5G era.”

The much-anticipated results of the multi-vendor demonstration will be revealed during a public read-out webinar event being held in partnership with Lightwave, Tuesday 12 January 2021, 6:00-7:30am PST. Register for free here.

A private read-out event for demo participants and invited Network Operators is scheduled for Tuesday 19 January 2021.

OIF representatives will give presentations on the current status of the 2020 OIF Transport SDN API Interoperability Demonstration during the below events:

NGON & DCI World Digital Symposium – Friday 04 December 2020 – 20:00-20:15pm CET, OIF Speaker: Arturo Mayoral López de Lerma, Telefonica S.A

ECOC – Monday 07 December 2020 – 17:20-17:40pm CET, OIF Speaker: Arturo Mayoral López de Lerma, Telefonica S.A

Additionally, OIF developed an infographic to visually explain the 2020 Transport SDN API Interop Demo. Print and web-ready files can be downloaded here: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AgxJQTMC3jSUiIhCVZzu9vewlRGU0w?e=hl5D3C

A technical white paper and an executive summary of the demo result will be available in Q1 2021.

Additional information can be found at https://www.oiforum.com/technical-work/2020-oif-transport-sdn-api-interoperability-demo/

2020 Transport SDN Application Programming Interface (API) Interoperability Demonstration PR Boilerplate:

Leading the acceleration of the commercialization of transport SDN worldwide and transport network transformation for the 5G era, OIF will bring new use cases and deployment scenarios into Telefonica’s lab to test multi-vendor interoperability of Layer 1 and Layer 0 OTN control using ONF T-API 2.1.3 and OpenConfig Transport APIs. The 2020 Transport SDN Application Programming Interface (API) interoperability demonstration builds on OIF’s previous transport API requirements and interoperability demonstrations which substantiated T-API as the northbound interface (NBI) of choice, establishing a foundation for open, programmable networks that allow network operators to efficiently deliver dynamic multi-domain connectivity services to the market.

About OIF

OIF is where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done. Building on 20 years of effecting forward change in the industry, OIF represents the dynamic ecosystem of 100+ industry leading network operators, system vendors, component vendors and test equipment vendors 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