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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

 

The OIF’s 400ZR coherent interface starts to take shape

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Roy Rubenstein, Gazzetabyte

June 23, 2017

The Optical Internetworking Forum’s (OIF) group tasked with developing two styles of 400-gigabit coherent interface is now concentrating its efforts on one of the two.

When first announced last November, the 400ZR project planned to define a dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) 400-gigabit interface and a single wavelength one. Now the work is concentrating on the DWDM interface, with the single-channel interface deemed secondary.

“It [the single channel] appears to be a very small percentage of what the fielded units would be,” says Karl Gass of Qorvo and the OIF Physical and Link Layer working group vice chair, optical, the group responsible for the 400ZR work.

The likelihood is that the resulting optical module will serve both applications. “Realistically, probably both [interfaces] will use a tunable laser because the goal is to have the same hardware,” says Gass.

The resulting module may also only have a reach of 80km, shorter than the original goal of up to 120km, due to the challenging optical link budget.

Origins and status

The 400ZR project began after Microsoft and other large-scale data centre players such as Google and Facebook approached the OIF to develop an interoperable 400-gigabit coherent interface they could then buy from multiple optical module makers.

The internet content providers’ interest in an 80km-plus link is to connect premises across the metro. “Eighty kilometres is the magic number from a latency standpoint so that multiple buildings can look like a single mega data centre,” says Nathan Tracy of TE Connectivity and the OIF’s vice president of marketing.

Since then, traditional service providers have shown an interest in 400ZR for their metro needs. The telcos’ requirements are different to the data centre players, causing the group to tweak the channel requirements. This is the current focus of the work, with the OIF collaborating with the ITU.

“The catch is how much can we strip everything down and still meet a large percentage of the use cases”

“The ITU does a lot of work on channels and they have a channel measurement methodology,” says Gass. “They are working with us as we try to do some division of labour.”

The group will choose a forward error correction (FEC) scheme once there is common agreement on the channel. “Imagine all those [coherent] DSP makers in the same room, each one recommending a different FEC,” says Gass. “We are all trying to figure out how to compare the FEC schemes on a level playing field.”

Meeting the link budget is challenging, says Gass, which is why the link might end up being 80km only. “The catch is how much can we strip everything down and still meet a large percentage of the use cases.”

400ZR form factors

Once the FEC is chosen, the power envelope will be fine-tuned and then the discussion will move to form factors. The OIF says it is still too early to discuss whether the project will select a particular form factor. Potential candidates include the OSFP MSA and the CFP8.

“The cloud is the biggest voice in the universe”

The industry assumption is that the 80km-plus 400ZR digital coherent optics module will consume around 15W, requiring a very low-power coherent DSP that will be made using 7nm CMOS.

“There is strong support across the industry for this project, evidenced by the fact that project calls are happening more frequently to make the progress happen,” says Tracy.

Why the urgency?

“The cloud is the biggest voice in the universe,” says Tracy. To support the move of data and applications to the cloud, the infrastructure has to evolve, leading to the data centre players linking smaller locations spread across the metro.

“At the same time, the next-gen speed that is going to be used in these data centres – and therefore outside the data centres – is 400 gigabit,” says Tracy.

 

OIF Approves Virtual Transport Network Service Implementation Agreement

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Tad Hofmeister of Google joins board of directors

Members of the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) recently met in Ljubljana, Slovenia for a quarterly technical committee and approved an implementation agreement (IA) for an optical Virtual Transport Network Service.  They also made progress on the 400G-ZR project and were given a presentation on 100G and Beyond by Andre Pucko of Telekom Slovenije d.d.  Additionally, Tad Hofmeister of Google joins the board of directors, filling an open seat.

A Virtual Transport Network Service (VTNS) is the creation and offering of a Virtual Network (VN) by a provider to a user and is built on the virtualization of transport network resources. VNs may be dynamically created, deleted, or modified and users can perform connection management, connection monitoring and connection protection within their VN.

“Development of Transport SDN (Software Defined Networking) will enable service providers to offer new revenue generating services,”  said Lyndon Ong of Ciena and the OIF’s Market Awareness & Education Committee Co-Chair, Networking. “VTNS is one class of services of interest to many operators and can become a main driver for the deployment of SDN in their transport networks.”

In specifying the new VTNS IA, OIF identifies the requirements and characteristics of different virtual network service types, such as dynamic and static behaviors, as well as the attributes and parameters required for these service types and the requirements for support of service recovery and OAM. Different types of VTNS could be associated with operators offering, for example, Bandwidth on Demand (BoD) services, Network as a Service (NaaS) or Network Slicing for 5G Networking.

400G-ZR Project Update

The OIF’s 400G-ZR Interoperability project addresses both 400G ZR and short-reach DWDM multivendor interoperability such as might be required for cloud scale data center interconnect (DCI). The project made progress at the Q2 meeting by receiving 10 technical contributions addressing considerations such as power consumption of DSP, FEC proposals and experimental demos.  The work will continue to move forward with scheduled conference calls before the Q3 meeting.

OIF at Optinet China

OIF board member Junjie Li of China Telecom will speak at Optinet China in Beijing on June 13, 2017 at 12:25 pm.  Mr. Li will present “OIF Interop – the Key to Unlocking the Benefits of SDN”.

For more information on this presentation and other conferences that the OIF is speaking at 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.

 

Plethora of OIF Activities at OFC 2017

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The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) announced today  an abundance of activities and demos at OFC 2017 in Los Angeles, March 21-23.  The OIF is hosting live demonstrations showing 56Gbps, CFP2-ACO and FlexEthernet by 11 OIF member companies.  The Forum will share details from its SDN Transport API Interoperability Demonstration which concluded in December of 2016 and, finally, the OIF is offering a half day 100G Serial Electrical Interconnect Needs workshop, which is open to the public.

OIF Delivers on Enabling Next Generation Networks!

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

  • 56Gbps live electrical signaling over all reaches
  • CFP2-ACO Optical Interoperability
  • FlexE (Flex Ethernet)

Public demonstrations will be on display March 21-23, 2017 at OFC in OIF Booth #3853. Additional information can be found here.

 

OIF Presentation: Enabling Next Generation Physical Layer Solutions

This session will cover the operating, live, interoperability demonstrations that OIF members are displaying in booth #3853. The panelists will discuss the OIF Implementation Agreement development work that has led to these demos and provide an update on the current status.  In addition, some of the OIF’s new, future work in process will be discussed.

This session will take place Tuesday, March 21, 2017 – 1:45pm–2:45pm – in Expo Theater III

Moderator: Steve Sekel, Keysight Technologies, Inc., OIF PLL Interoperability WG Chair

Panelists: Ed Frlan, Semtech, OIF Technical Committee Vice Chair; Karl Gass, OIF PLL WG Optical Vice Chair; Tad Hofmeister, Google, OIF Representative

 

SDN Transport API Interoperability Demo Public Read-Out

The OIF helps operators unlock the benefits of SDN for their optical networks through three interrelated projects:  interop demonstrations hosted by participating operators leveraging key interfaces such as the Transport API to bind together multi-layer and multi-domain carrier networks; Implementation Agreements that document new interoperability industry standards; and a new certification program that will address the gap between paper specifications or early implementations and products that carriers can realistically deploy.  Learn how these help realize commercial Transport SDN deployment and the promised benefits of accelerated time-to-revenue coupled with increased operational efficiency.

This session will take place Tuesday, March 21, 2017 – 3:00pm-4:00 pm – in Expo Theater III

Moderator: Dave Brown, Nokia, OIF President.

Panelists: Jonathan Sadler, Coriant, OIF Board Member and Networking Interoperability WG Chair; Lyndon Ong, Ciena, OIF MA&E Committee co-chair Networking; Victor Lopez, Telefonica.

 

OIF Workshop – 100G Serial Electrical Interconnect Needs

The OIF will host a half-day workshop focusing on potential electrical link and interconnect technologies being developed to support serial data rates of 100 Gb/s and higher. The workshop, which is open to the public, will give an industry view and dicuss the application spaces for the next generation interconnects, including Networking Trends and Cloud Scale applications.

Thursday, March 23, 2017 – 12pm-6pm

Los Angeles Convention Center

Level Two, West Hall – Room 518

To register for the workshop, click here.

Workshop Agenda

12:00pm: Registration and Box Lunches

12:30pm: Intro – Tom Palkert, OIF PLL WG Electrical Vice Chair, Molex

1:00pm: Industry Analyst – Alan Weckel, 650 Group

Session 1 – User Demand

  • High Level Systems – Katharine Schmidtke, Facebook
  • Equipment Perspective – Andreas Bechtolsheim, Arista

Session 2 – Component Suppliers’ Vision

  • Optics – Mark Nowell, Cisco
  • SERDES/semiconductor – Bart Zeydel, MACOM
  • Alternate Modulation – David Stauffer, Kandou Bus
  • Copper cable/connector/PCB trace – Greg Walz, Molex

5:15pm: Wrap-up – Nathan Tracy, OIF VP of Marketing, TE Connectivity

 

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 Multi-Vendor Interop Demo at OFC

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The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) announced today that member companies will demonstrate multi-vendor interoperability of Pluggable Coherent Optics, 56G Electrical Interfaces and for the first time, FlexE (Flex Ethernet) in live, operating environments. The demo will take place at OFC in Los Angeles from March 21-23, 2017.

“It’s important for the industry that companies continue to test and prove interoperability of these key technologies,” said Steve Sekel of Keysight Technologies, Inc. and the OIF’s Physical and Link Layer Interoperability Working Group Chair.  “The interoperability demo serves as an important validation phase for the Implementation Agreements the OIF is working on.  These documents are nearing the end of the draft review process, and this demo provides important feedback that devices designed to the draft specifications actually interoperate.”

The OIF’s Physical and Link Layer working group demonstrations include live 56G electrical interface interoperability with multiple silicon suppliers over a range of channel reaches from VSR (chip to module) to LR (backplane and copper cables) using both NRZ and PAM4 modulations. The expanding ecosystem for CFP2-ACO pluggable coherent optics will be showcased through live demos. Test equipment for 56G and coherent optics will also be demonstrated.  The FlexE demo provides on-going validation of the implementation agreement.

Demo participants include Amphenol, Credo Semiconductor, Finisar, GlobalFoundries, Keysight Technologies, Inc., Lumentum, Molex, TE Connectivity, Xilinx and Yamaichi Electronics.

OIF Delivers on Enabling Next Generation Networks!

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

  • 56Gbps live electrical signaling over all reaches
  • CFP2-ACO Optical Interoperability
  • FlexE (Flex Ethernet)

Public demonstrations will be on display March 21-23, 2017 at OFC in Los Angeles, CA in OIF Booth #3853. Additional information can be found here.

Also at OFC, the OIF will present “Enabling Next Generation Physical Layer Solutions” and host a workshop on “Serial 100Gbps electrical”.  With the above mentioned 50Gbps CEI projects nearing completion, the industry is beginning the task of addressing serial 100G electrical links.

OIF Presentation: Enabling Next Generation Physical Layer  Solutions

March 21, 2017 – 1:45pm–2:45pm – Expo Theater III

Moderator: Steve Sekel, Keysight Technologies, Inc., OIF PLL Interoperability WG Chair

Panelists: Ed Frlan, Semtech, OIF Technical Committee Vice Chair; Karl Gass, OIF PLL WG Optical Vice Chair; Tad Hofmeister, Google, OIF Representative

For more information on this presentation, click here.

 

OIF Workshop – 100G Serial Electrical Interconnect Needs

March 23, 2017 – 12pm-6pm

Los Angeles Convention Center

Level Two, West Hall – Room 518

To register for the workshop, 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.

OIF Concludes SDN Transport API Interoperability Testing

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The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) conducted a six-week long global testing of the Transport Application Programming Interface (T-API) standard from the Open Networking Foundation (ONF). The OIF managed the multi-location demonstration which started in mid-October 2016 and concluded in December 2016.  Vendor participants executed a multi-domain path selection and recovery test plan with intra-lab and inter-lab testing across five carrier labs located in Asia, Europe and North America. A technical white paper on the demonstration is available to download here.

“As operators move from SDN PoCs and lab trials into commercial deployments, lack of interoperability between the SDN controllers and the orchestration layer above has quickly become the biggest technical barrier for many operators,” said Sterling Perrin, principal analyst, Heavy Reading. “Building a standardized northbound interface and successfully testing interoperability across different vendors and different networks – as the OIF has demonstrated – is a major step forward in addressing the northbound interface challenge and bringing SDN architectures to wide-scale commercial use.”

OIF SDN Transport API Interoperability Demonstration

The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) and the Open Networking Foundation (ONF) are leading the industry toward the wide scale deployment of commercial SDN by testing key Transport Application Programming Interfaces (T-API). The interoperability test and demonstration, managed by the OIF, addresses multi-layer and multi-domain environments in the following carrier labs; China Telecom, China Unicom, SK Telecom, Telefonica and Verizon. These carriers defined real world use cases including multi-domain orchestration of services delivered through Ethernet, OTN and optical switching. Carriers and vendors demonstrated how Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and SDN configured connectivity are combined to deliver service life cycle management.

Participating vendors include ADVA Optical Networking, Ciena, Coriant, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Infinera, Juniper Networks, NEC Corporation, Sedona Systems, and SM Optics. Consulting carriers include Orange and TELUS.  Academic and/or research institution participants include China Academy of Telecommunication Research (CATR) and Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC).

Additional information can be found here.

Participants in the OIF Transport SDN interoperability event also submitted a proof of concept demo proposal to ETSI NFV.  The proposal, “Mapping ETSI-NFV onto Multi-Vendor, Multi-Domain Transport SDN”, was accepted and details are located here. The open demonstration of NFV concepts in a Proof of Concept (PoC) helps to build industrial awareness and confidence in NFV as a viable technology. Proofs of Concept also help to develop a diverse, open, NFV ecosystem. Results from PoCs may guide the work in the NFV ISG by providing feedback on interoperability and other technical challenges.

“Being able to dynamically establish connectivity between Virtual Network Functions enables carriers to provide greater service agility and reduce opex,” said Jonathan Sadler, of Coriant and the OIF Interoperability chair.  “Integrating multiple technologies using transport SDN further enables the right connectivity mechanisms used for service delivery.  Having this demonstration recognized by ETSI NFV provides building blocks for the development of future SDN-WAN.”

Public Read-Out Event at OFC 2017

Tuesday, March 21, 2017 – 3:00-4:00 pm

Theater III, Los Angeles Convention Center

Moderator: Dave Brown, OIF President, Nokia.

Panelists: Jonathan Sadler, OIF Board Member, Coriant; Lyndon Ong, OIF MA&E Committee co-chair Networking, Ciena; Victor Lopez, Telefonica.

http://www.ofcconference.org/en-us/home/exhibit-hall/show-floor-programming/oif-interop-%E2%80%93-the-key-to-unlocking-the-benefits-of/

“SK Telecom is delighted that we have successfully tested interoperability using SK Telecom’s Transport Infra Orchestrator and T-API. The test proves that standardized T-API can be used to control multi-layer, multi-vendor transport network infrastructure in an integrated manner,”

said Park Jin-hyo, Senior Vice President and Head of Network Technology R&D Center at SK Telecom. “SK Telecom will continue to make efforts to develop 5G and network virtualization technologies to realize Network as a Service (NaaS).”

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 Approves Agreement on Polarized Multiplexed Quadrature Modulator

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Starts 112G inside Multi-Chip-Module Project, Google’s Bikash Koley speaks at Q1 Meeting

Members of the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) recently passed an Implementation Agreement (IA) for an optical integrated Polarization Multiplexed (PM) quadrature modulator for coherent applications with nominal symbol rates up to 64GBaud. The agreement supports the 16QAM modulation format for 400G applications.

“As we go to higher data rates, we need higher performing optical components that maintain a reasonable level of complexity.” said Karl Gass of Qorvo and the OIF’s PLL Working Group – Optical Vice Chair. “These components are targeted for 400G applications.  RF bandwidth is the highest priority for this project.”

The forum members also started the CEI-112G in MCM project to support interconnect within Multi-Chip-Modules (MCMs). In addition to the CEI-112G-VSR specification that is being developed, there is a need to support high rate interconnect amongst large logic devices as well as to small driver devices within an MCM.

Members have also started a maintenance project to produce amendments to the User Network Interface (UNI) 2.0 and External Network to Network Interface (E-NNI) 2.0 specification documenting the extensions for support of OTN rates higher than 100G. Adding these extensions to UNI 2.0 and E-NNI 2.0 will facilitate vendor interoperability.  The project seeks to assist the IETF as it develops the required routing and signaling extension by providing a description of the Byond100G data-plane and the operations to be controlled by GMPLS.

Also at the forums’ Q1 meeting, Bikash Koley, distinguished engineer and director of network architecture, engineering and planning at Google was invited as a guest speaker and presented on the Zero Touch Network.

Following the quarterly meeting in San Jose, a well-attended FlexE workshop was held. An overview of the completed and in process FlexE projects was provided, along with presentations and discussion on the future direction of FlexE. The workshop started with a summary of the FlexE 1.0 Implementation Agreement and was followed by an overview of the active FlexE 2.0 project.  Speakers and panelists include Luca Della Chiesa, Cisco; Tad Hofmeister, Google; Maarten Vissers, Huawei; Dave Ofelt, Juniper; Tom Issenhuth, Microsoft; Scott Irwin, MoSys and Stephen Trowbridge, Nokia.

 

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 100G Serial Electrical Interconnect Workshop

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The Optical Internetworking Forum announced today a half-day workshop, open to the public, featuring subject matter experts from the OIF and an industry view by Alan Weckel of Dell’Oro.  The workshop will address 112 Gbps per lane serial electrical interconnect needs and will take place concurrent with OFC on March 23, 2017 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

In August 2016, the OIF began the CEI-112G project to define the serial electrical interface for next generation optical modules at 112 Gbps.  This technical work is expected to be the first of a series of CEI-112G clauses for various reaches, ranging from ultra-short reach interfaces designed for intra multi-chip module (MCM) communications to longer chip-to-chip interfaces.

“Operation of electrical interfaces at 112 Gbps speeds is feasible, but demands careful attention to some of the thorny technical issues that are involved and the technology trade off decisions that are going to be required,” said Nathan Tracy of TE Connectivity and the OIF vice president of marketing . “This workshop will present the multiple facets and perspectives for the 112 Gbps serial electrical development work including applications, equipment, optics, SERDES, connectors and channels.”

The first half of this workshop will focus on the industry view and application spaces for the next generation interconnects, including networking trends and cloud scale applications. It is anticipated that requirements for these application spaces are characterized by a combination of parameters such as:

  • loss budgets (distance, number of connectors),
  • electrical and optical data rates,
  • electrical channel properties,
  • power constraints,
  • equalization and retimers,
  • mechanical constraints (faceplate density, etc.)

The second half of this workshop will focus on potential electrical link and interconnect technologies being developed to support serial data rates of 100 Gbps and higher.

Workshop details can be found at http://www.oiforum.com/meetings-and-events/march-2017-workshop-100g-serial-electrical-interconnect-needs/

Agenda

12:00pm:  Registration and Box Lunches

12:30pm:  Intro – Tom Palkert, OIF PLL WG Electrical Vice Chair, Molex

1:00pm:     Industry Analyst – Alan Weckel, Dell’Oro

 

Session 1 – User Demand

1:40pm:  High Level Systems

2:20pm:  Equipment Perspective

3:00pm:  Coffee break

 

Session 2 – Component Suppliers’ Vision

3:15pm:     Optics

3:55pm:     SERDES/semiconductor

4:35pm:     Copper cable/connector/PCB trace

5:15pm:     Wrap-up

6:00pm:      Informal Networking at local bar & grill (TBD)

 

March 23, 2017

12pm-6pm

Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles, CA

 

OIF Members: $150.00 USD; Non-members: $200.00 USD (fee includes lunch).

OIF Members, click HERE to register.

Non-Members, click HERE to register.

 

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 SDN Transport API Demo Read-Out Events

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The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) is winding down a six-week long interoperability demo on the Transport Application Programming Interface (T-API) standard from the Open Networking Foundation (ONF).   The demo started in mid-October and will conclude in early December.  Participants executed a multi-domain path selection and recovery test plan with intra-lab and inter-lab testing across multiple global carrier labs. The results of the demo will be shared in three invitation-only read-out events at China Telecom, Telefonica and Verizon for participating companies. A public readout event will take place at the OFC Conference in Los Angeles, March 21, 2017.

“China Telecom is pleased to once again host the Global Transport SDN demo in our lab in Beijing.  Transport API for SDN is an important technology to simplify the maintenance and increase the efficiency of networks, which matches China Telecom’s CTNet2025 network re-architecting target.” said Mr. Chengliang Zhang, Vice President, China Telecom Beijing Research Institute. “This demo provided interesting and important results and key findings and was worthwhile for China Telecom to participate.”

“Telefonica is happy to have participated in the OIF SDN demo and to have hosted vendors in our labs,” said Mr. Juan Pedro Fernández-Palacios, Head of Transport Telefónica GCTO.  “The work to demonstrate interoperability for transport API among multiple vendors is important for the industry as a means to unlock and reap the expected benefits of SDN.”

“Shaping next-generation technology through discussion and collaboration is key to commercial SDN deployment. Verizon’s role as a host carrier for OIF’s interoperability testing of the global SDN T-API underscores our commitment to solving problems that will help evolve the efficiencies needed in the next-generation network,” said Glenn Wellbrock, director, transport network architecture, design and planning, Verizon.

Public Event at OFC 2017

Tuesday, March 21, 2017 – 3:00-4:00pm

Theater III, Los Angeles Convention Center

Moderator: Dave Brown, OIF President, Nokia.

Panelists: Jonathan Sadler, OIF Board Member, Coriant; Lyndon Ong, OIF MA&E Committee co-chair Networking, Ciena; Victor Lopez, Telefonica.

http://www.ofcconference.org/en-us/home/exhibit-hall/show-floor-programming/oif-interop-%E2%80%93-the-key-to-unlocking-the-benefits-of/

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

2016 OIF SDN Transport API Interoperability Demonstration

The OIF and the ONF are partnering to lead the industry toward the wide scale deployment of commercial SDN by testing key Transport Application Programming Interfaces (T-API). The interoperability test and demonstration, managed by the OIF, will address multi-layer and multi-domain environments in global carrier labs. The testing builds on the 2014 demo which was based on prototype T-APIs and helped advance transport SDN standardization. Additional use cases based upon the API standards will be clarified during the testing and defined through OIF implementation agreements to provide a common set of requirements. Global Carrier participants hosting the interoperability testing include China Telecom, China Unicom, SK Telecom, Telefonica and Verizon.

Participating vendors include ADVA Optical Networking, Ciena, Coriant, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Infinera, Juniper Networks, NEC Corporation, Sedona Systems, and SM Optics. Consulting carriers include Orange and TELUS.  Academic and/or research institution participants include China Academy of Telecommunication Research (CATR) and Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC).

Additional information can be found at http://www.oiforum.com/meetings-and-events/2016-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.

OIF Announces New Flex Ethernet Projects and Workshop

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The Optical Internetworking Forum announced two new FlexE projects started at the quarterly meeting last month.  The OIF is also holding a workshop titled, FlexE Today and Tomorrow, in San Jose on January 20th.

“The datacenter and communications industries are demanding a solution for flexible deployment and provisioning of Ethernet bandwidth,” said Scott Irwin of MoSys and the OIF’s Physical and Link Layer (PLL) Working Group protocol vice chair. “Building on its first generation of FlexE, the OIF has started a new project to support the next generation of Ethernet PHY rates currently under development within the IEEE 802.3 Working Group.  Because of the large industry interest in FlexE, the OIF is also hosting a workshop on the topic which allows non-members to learn about the work first hand.”

The FlexE 1.0 implementation agreement, completed in March of this year, provides a mechanism to map one or more FlexE clients over a group of 100 Gb/s Ethernet PHYs.  The client rates supported are 10G, 40G, and n×25G.  The new FlexE 2.0 project will add the ability to create FlexE groups of 200 Gb/s and 400 Gb/s Ethernet PHYs and to consider several other feature additions.

  • More detail on use of FlexE management channels
  • Coarser calendar granularity to reduce gate count for high bandwidth devices
  • Management of skew for specific applications
  • Transport of frequency or time by the FlexE group

FlexE 1.0 and ongoing revision enable 802.1 LLDP over management channels for FlexE Connectivity Verification.  However, FlexE capabilities discovery is still required to facilitate the setup of FlexE Group(s) and Clients. The new FlexE Neighbor Discovery project will introduce some OIF organizational specific FlexE Extension to LLDP for FlexE capabilities discovery.

FlexE Today and Tomorrow Workshop

January 20, 2017

9:30am-3:00pm

Hilton San Jose

This workshop will feature subject matter experts from the OIF who will provide a summary of completed and current FlexE projects, along with presentations and discussion on the future direction of FlexE. The workshop will begin with a summary of the FlexE 1.0 Implementation Agreement and will be followed by an overview of the active FlexE 2.0 project.  The workshop is open to the public.

Speakers and panelists include Luca Della Chiesa, Cisco; Tad Hofmeister, Google; Maarten Vissers, Huawei; Dave Ofelt, Juniper; Tom Issenhuth, Microsoft; Scott Irwin, MoSys and Stephen Trowbridge, Nokia.

AGENDA

9:30am: Registration and Continental Breakfast

10:00am: Welcome and Intro

10:15am: FlexE 1.0 Applications and IA

11:30am: FlexE 2.0 Project Summary

11:45pm: Lunch

12:45pm: FlexE Vision – Panelist presentations

2:25pm: Open Q&A with Panel

2:55pm: Wrap-up

 

REGISTRATION

  • Deadline to register is January 16, 2017
  • OIF Members: $150.00 USD; Non-members: $200.00 USD (fee includes lunch).

 

OIF Members, click HERE to register.

Non-members, click HERE to register.

 

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 Partners With UNH-IOL to Certify Optical Control Plane UNI

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Enables Multi-vendor, Multi-layer Interoperability Using RSVP-TE Signaling

The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) today announced an agreement with the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Lab (UNH-IOL), an independent provider of testing and standards conformance services for the networking industry, to provide certification for Optical Control Plane User Network Interfaces (UNI) based on industry standards.  In line with OIF’s mission to enable global interoperability in optical transport networks, the Forum’s certification program will address the interoperability of optical and packet products, complementing OIF’s work on unlocking the benefits of SDN for carriers.

While an optical control plane is already deployed by a large number of operators around the world, interoperability between vendors is constrained by lack of an interoperable UNI. Multi-vendor interoperability of the optical control plane remains absent from commercial products, although various demonstrations have proven it is feasible.  The optical control plane facilitates operations and enables dynamic provisioning, restoration and optimization across optical networks. The UNI extends these capabilities to client nodes and the OIF’s UNI certification will help enable the availability of control plane interoperability in commercial products.

“The advent of interoperability in optical networks is a paradigm shift, which will dramatically increase flexibility and innovation in our networks,” said Philippe Lucas, SVP Strategy Architecture and Standards of Orange. “The OIF certification is a step to unlock the market by providing a unique reference and a critical market advantage to compliant, interoperable products.”

“The benefits of multi-vendor interoperability combined with certification can help broaden and accelerate the market for optical products, reduce costs, introduce new features and operational agility,” said Timothy Winters, Senior Executive of UNH-IOL.  “Certification can fulfill operator’s and vendor’s requirements with reduced repetitive testing and a higher level of confidence when going to market.”

“Development of the UNI certification test specification is happening at an important time in our industry,” said Tim Doiron, Principal Analyst Intelligent Networking, ACG Research.  “We’ve never gotten the optical domain out of vendor isolation when it comes to the optical control plane. Certification and interoperability will aid service providers in their migration toward a multi-vendor programmable, dynamic optical underlay with increasing automation, service agility and reduced operational costs.”

The Optical Control Plane UNI Certification Program

The new certification program, along with OIF’s well established and successful interop testing process and implementation agreements, helps the industry realize open, programmable and interoperable optical networks in commercial deployments, bringing to reality the promised benefits of transport SDN, with accelerated time-to-revenue coupled with increased operational efficiency. 

  • Certification is based on compliance with relevant industry standards including IETF RFCs on RSVP-TE signaling.
  • Addresses the main use cases enabled by an optical control plane, including simplified provisioning, automated path selection, dynamic restoration and multi-layer optimization.
  • Enables several deployment cases which are of primary importance to operators and require immediate interoperability, including IP/WDM integration, packet-optical interconnect, multilayer optimization and alien wavelength deployments.
  • Contributes to OIF efforts to unlock the benefits of SDN for flexible networks
  • Facilitates multi-vendor deployments.

Development of the UNI certification test specification is starting now. Visit the OIF webpage for more information. Formal testing of participating vendor products will start early 2017 and pre-testing is already open at UNH-IOL. The first OIF certified products are expected to be on the market in approximately 12 months from now.

About the OIF

Launched in 1998, the OIF is the first industry group to unite representatives from data and optical networking disciplines, including many of the world’s leading carriers, component manufacturers and system vendors. The OIF promotes the development and deployment of interoperable networking solutions and services through the creation of Implementation Agreements (IAs) for optical, interconnect, network processing, component and networking systems technologies. The OIF actively supports and extends the work of standards bodies and industry forums with the goal of promoting worldwide compatibility of optical internetworking products.  Information on the OIF can be found at http://www.oiforum.com.

About the UNH-IOL

Founded in 1988, the UNH-IOL provides independent, broad-based interoperability and standards conformance testing for data, telecommunications and storage networking products and technologies. Combining extensive staff experience, standards-bodies participation and a 28,000+ square foot facility, the UNH-IOL helps companies efficiently and cost effectively deliver products to the market. http://www.iol.unh.edu/

To drive adoption of SDN, OIF demonstrates Transport Application Programming Interface (TAPI)

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Ovum view

The goal of networking standards groups is to establish multivendor/multicarrier standards that interoperate. To achieve that goal, the OIF (Optical Internetworking Forum) is conducting a global interoperability demo to test software-defined networking (SDN) Transport Application Programming Interfaces (TAPI) among 5 global carriers and 11 system and software vendors. The tests cover services across optical, IP, and virtual appliance layers to see how services interact across the different vendors. In 1Q17, all issues identified will be presented to users and standard organizations to improve the performance and adoption of SDN. In doing this work, the OIF is performing a necessary step to drive adoption of multilayer and multivendor SDN.

OIF’s demonstration will lead to faster adoption of multilayer SDN

The OIF has been working to accelerate the deployment of new optical technology since its founding in 1998. In its 2014 demonstration of SDN transport architecture, the OIF established the need for common APIs for end-to-end orchestration for a multidomain network. Now, it is testing the Open Networking Foundation’s (ONF’s) SDN TAPI across 11 system participants: Adva, Ciena, Coriant, FiberHome, Huawei Technologies, Infinera, Juniper Networks, NEC Corporation, Sedona, SM Optics, and ZTE, with the support of five carriers – China Telecom, China Unicom, SK Telecom, Telefonica, and Verizon. The goal is to identify gaps in the current standards and work with standard bodies to address those gaps.

The demonstrations will abstract the topology for each carrier, including a virtual network in another carrier, setup of dynamic VNFs (virtual network functions), dynamic-connect IP services, and restore/setup of intra-lab optical connections. Each of these demonstrations will help vendors, carriers, and standard bodies see how complete the solutions are, and what needs to be done to progress multilayer interoperability between vendors and carriers.

Overall, the OIF is helping to move SDN and NFV (network functions virtualization) forward with the test of SDN TAPI. Vendors will benefit from knowing what applications need more work, and carriers will benefit from knowing how adoption of SDN/NFV can work across vendors and carriers so they can speed investment.

For full article go to: https://www.ovum.com/to-drive-adoption-of-sdn-oif-demonstrates-transport-application-programming-interface-tapi/

Author

Donald Frey, Principal Analyst, Intelligent Networks

don.frey@informa.com

OIF Launches Optical Projects to Enable Next Generation Modules

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At the conclusion of the Optical Internetworking Forum’s (OIF) latest quarterly meeting, the organization announced that it has begun work on two optical interface projects, marking an evolutionary step to integrate optics as the industry moves to aggressively shrink module size. The IC-TROSA project would enable manufacturers to have a higher level of integration for transmit and receive optical components. The OIF’s CFP2-Digital Coherent Optics (DCO) project will work with other standards bodies to implement coherent modulations formats in CFP modules.

 “The IC-TROSA project tackles much more than just a simple size reduction,” said Karl Gass of Qorvo and the OIF’s Physical and Link Layer (PLL) Working Group – Optical vice chair.  “It addresses optical packaging in a way that isn’t done in high volumes today. We want to come to industry consensus in this pre-competitive environment.”

Integrated Coherent Transmitter-Receiver Optical Subassembly (IC-TROSA) is the evolutionary step that combines Polarization Multiplexed Quadrature (PMQ) Transmitter (Tx) and Integrated Coherent Receiver (ICR) components to create a single integrated optics package.  The optical sub-assembly that supports high-bandwidth and high-order QAM operations is suited for data center interconnect, metro and long-haul applications. As module sizes decrease, current coherent optics components need similar size reductions to enable next generation multi-terabit switches, line cards, and transport. Density requirements for next-gen line cards, front-pluggable and future on-board 400G+ optical modules are driving the need for further integration and miniaturization.

The OIF’s CFP2-DCO project includes a way to build address management interface and identify registers necessary to talk to the DSP located in the module, specific to coherent modulation techniques. The CFP2-DCO is intended to be used for 100G, 200G or 400G applications for metro, long-haul and data center interconnections and it can support different formats such as DP-QPSK and DP-xQAM.

About the OIF
Launched in 1998, the OIF is the first industry group to unite representatives from data and optical networking disciplines, including many of the world’s leading carriers, component manufacturers and system vendors. The OIF promotes the development and deployment of interoperable networking solutions and services through the creation of Implementation Agreements (IAs) for optical, interconnect, network processing, component and networking systems technologies. The OIF actively supports and extends the work of standards bodies and industry forums with the goal of promoting worldwide compatibility of optical internetworking products.  Information on the OIF can be found at http://www.oiforum.com.

 

OIF Announces Plans for SDN Transport API Interoperability Demonstration

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The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) announced today plans for a global Software-Defined Networking (SDN) Transport Application Programming Interface (T-API) interoperability demonstration in the fall of 2016. The OIF is partnering with the Open Networking Foundation (ONF), a non-profit organization dedicated to accelerating the adoption of open SDN, to take the testing into carrier labs worldwide and lead the industry towards the wide-scale deployment of commercial SDN. Network virtualization and flexibility to deal with peak traffic events, link failures and network slicing are driving motivations behind the demonstration. Currently the transport layer operates with no awareness of the packet layer above it, so manual intervention is often needed to address issues. By incorporating the T-API, the problems can be corrected automatically through software.

Host carriers for the demonstration include China Telecom, China Unicom, SK Telecom, Telefónica and Verizon. Participating vendors include ADVA Optical Networking, Ciena, Coriant, Fiberhome, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Juniper Networks, NEC Corporation, Sedona Systems, SM Optics and ZTE. Consulting carriers include Orange and TELUS.  Academic and/or research institution participants include China Academy of Telecommunication Research (CATR) and Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC).

“In the modern operating environment, carriers need to dynamically move capacity to handle quickly changing traffic demands,” said Jonathan Sadler of Coriant and the OIF’s technical committee vice chair and acting networking interoperability chair. “The APIs that are being tested create a new breed of applications. Like so many of the interoperability agreements developed by the OIF, demand from carriers continues to drive the technical direction of the Forum.”

“ONF and the OIF are united in our goal of moving these technical advances into the market for the benefit of network operators and their users,” said Dan Pitt, executive director of the Open Networking Foundation. “We are pleased to extend our longstanding collaboration with the OIF on T-API, leveraging OIF’s specialized optical expertise, and these demonstrations inspire operators and vendors alike to accelerate development and deployment.”

One main focus of the global demonstration is the notification interface – the means for notifying applications that congestion is being observed, triggering moving around of traffic and addition of capacity. Additional use cases based upon the API standards will be clarified during the testing and defined through OIF implementation agreements to provide a common set of requirements. Regional demonstration read-out events will take place in early 2017 and a whitepaper describing the event will be available to the public. Additional information can be found at http://www.oiforum.com/meetings-and-events/2016-oif-sdn-t-api-demo/.

 

About the OIF
Launched in 1998, the OIF is the first industry group to unite representatives from data and optical networking disciplines, including many of the world’s leading carriers, component manufacturers and system vendors. The OIF promotes the development and deployment of interoperable networking solutions and services through the creation of Implementation Agreements (IAs) for optical, interconnect, network processing, component and networking systems technologies. The OIF actively supports and extends the work of standards bodies and industry forums with the goal of promoting worldwide compatibility of optical internetworking products.  Information on the OIF can be found at http://www.oiforum.com.

 

OIF Launches CEI-112G Project for 100G Serial Electrical Links

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In the wake of its 3rd quarter meeting, the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) announced that it has begun work on a 100G Serial Electrical Link project. The very short reach (VSR) CEI-112G chip-to-module interface project is aimed at meeting the most immediate needs of the industry, with both shorter and longer reach projects expected to follow. CEI-112G-VSR will support a nominal lane rate of 112 Gb/s, enabling narrower interfaces to optical modules and is expected to be more energy efficient than previous interfaces. The CEI-112G-VSR specification doubles data rates over the current generation CEI-56G-VSR interfaces.

Following the OIF’s industry workshop “100G Serial Electrical Links and Beyond” in March, a large number of Forum members supported the development of an implementation agreement addressing CEI-112G. That workshop, held at OFC 2016, was open to the public and featured OIF and industry subject matter experts addressing both 100 Gb/s serial applications and the interfaces needed to address higher bandwidth.

“Optical lane speeds have run faster than electrical lane speeds since the introduction of 10G Ethernet. While this is not a problem in the early days of a new data rate, the lowest module cost is achieved when optical and electrical lane speeds are the same,” said Dale Murray, Principal Analyst with LightCounting Market Research. “The first optical modules running 100 Gb/s serial are expected in 2018, so now is the time for the OIF to begin work on this CEI-112G project.”

“As bandwidth increases, electrical interfaces need to reflect that trend. Given the lead times, development of standards for the next generation of electrical links needs to start now,” said David Stauffer of Kandou Bus and the OIF’s Physical and Link Layer Working Group Chair and board member.  “The OIF is continuing its roadmap for 100 Gb/s thru 400 Gb/s and beyond applications, addressing multiple reaches for chip-to-chip and chip-to module interfaces.”

OIF Leaders Speaking at Ethernet Alliance TEF in September

Two OIF industry experts will address the Ethernet Alliance TEF event in September in Santa Clara. Nathan Tracy, OIF Technical Committee Chair, TE Connectivity will speak about the OIF’s CEI-112G project at a panel session entitled “Are Standardized Ethernet Optics Obsolete?” Tom Issenhuth, OIF Board Member from Microsoft will address the OIF’s FlexE implementation Agreement at a session entitled “Ethernet Flexes Its Ports”. More information about the conference can be found at http://www.oiforum.com/meetings-and-events/2016-speaking-engagements-and-supported-events/ .

About the OIF

Launched in 1998, the OIF is the first industry group to unite representatives from data and optical networking disciplines, including many of the world’s leading carriers, component manufacturers and system vendors. The OIF promotes the development and deployment of interoperable networking solutions and services through the creation of Implementation Agreements (IAs) for optical, interconnect, network processing, component and networking systems technologies. The OIF actively supports and extends the work of standards bodies and industry forums with the goal of promoting worldwide compatibility of optical internetworking products.  Information on the OIF can be found at http://www.oiforum.com.