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OIF Publishes Implementation Agreement for 400ZR Coherent Optical Interface

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Spec addresses 400ZR multi-vendor interoperability required for cloud scale data center interconnect (DCI)

Fremont, Calif.—April 29, 2020 – OIF, where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done, today announced it has published the Implementation Agreement (IA) for a 400ZR coherent optical interface. The document is available now for all to download.

This IA, the first OIF project with a scope that focused on interoperability at a specific distance, reinforces OIF’s critical role in creating solutions to fulfill industry requirements and accelerating market adoption of optical networking technologies.

“As a member driven organization, OIF’s work toward the 400ZR IA was the combination of significant interest from network operator members and component supplier members responding to that demand,” said Karl Gass, OIF Physical and Link Layer (PLL) Working Group – Optical Vice Chair. “The 400ZR IA is the culmination of this significant effort by OIF member companies and is critical for managing cost and driving interoperability for the industry.”

Developed to create an interoperable, low-cost 400 Gigabit coherent interface, the 400ZR IA addresses two applications:

  • Amplified, point-to-point DWDM links with reaches of 120 km or less
  • Unamplified, single wavelength links with a loss budget of 11dB

The 400ZR project was initiated when large-scale data center operators and their suppliers approached OIF to develop an interoperable coherent interface that transports 400 Gigabit Ethernet over longer distances. Traditional network operators also became interested in 400ZR for their metro needs. Based on their different requirements, OIF developed specs and tweaked the channel requirements so the IA would benefit both data center and network operators. While developing the IA, OIF collaborated closely with other standards bodies.

“400ZR is a key enabler of Microsoft’s regional architecture for the 400G generation,” said Mark Filer, Principal Optical Engineer in Microsoft Azure. “The creation of a multi-vendor, interoperable coherent interface to meet these needs would not have been possible without the extensive work and cooperation of OIF members and leadership.”

“The 400ZR IA is an example of OIF’s ability to quickly and effectively mobilize opinion and to bring interoperability to a rapidly evolving world,” said Andrew Schmitt, Directing Analyst at Cignal AI. “The 400ZR specification is the organization’s first step to establish broader interoperability among coherent transport interfaces.”

The IA aims to enable interoperable, cost-effective, 400Gb/s implementations based on single-carrier coherent DP-16QAM modulation, low-power DSPs supporting absolute (Non-Differential) phase encoding/decoding, and a Concatenated FEC (C-FEC) with a post-FEC error floor <1.0E-15. 400ZR operates as a 400GBASE-R PHY.

No restriction on the physical form factor is implied by the IA (QSFP-DD, OSFP, COBO, CFP2, CFP8), but the specifications target a pluggable DCO architecture with port densities equivalent to grey client optics.

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 Coherent Common Management Interface Specification (C-CMIS) Implementation Agreement for Management of Digital Coherent Optics (DCO) Modules

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Initial release is focused on supporting 400ZR

Fremont, Calif.—March 3, 2020 – OIF, where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done, today announced the completion of the Coherent Common Management Interface Specification (C-CMIS) Implementation Agreement (IA). This IA serves as an extension to the CMIS (QSFP-DD/OSFP/COBO) management specification, specifically targeting DCO modules.

“The C-CMIS IA is an important part of the developing 400ZR ecosystem,” said Ian Betty, Ciena and OIF Board Member. “It defines additional management registers, and monitors, together with new functionality, mechanisms, or behaviors, as needed.”

Augmenting the existing CMIS specification which focused on addressing direct detect client optics, the C-CMIS IA provides register definition for coherent modules in pages and parameters that were previously reserved. Users that have previously implemented software to manage optical modules using CMIS will be able to quickly add support for these coherent pages and parameters. This release of the C-CMIS IA is targeted at the 400ZR application.

The technology and complexity of coherent modules requires additional monitoring parameters for use in field applications. This additional monitoring is primarily focused on Forward Error Correction (FEC) monitoring and optical/analog monitoring including items like Chromatic Dispersion, Differential Group Delay and Electrical Signal to Noise Ratio (eSNR). The C-CMIS IA provides specifications to monitor the standard parameters in a normative manner while taking advantage of the flexibility of the CMIS specification to monitor any additional proprietary parameters.

“The current IA is focused on supporting the OIF 400ZR IA, which supports a single data path with eight-lane host electrical interface for a 400GBASE-R PCS signal and a single-lane 400G coherent media interface (with a new signal format called 400ZR),” explained Betty. “However, we expect future versions to include more complex Metro modules and may even extend these management features to other form factors.”

 

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

Fiber Systems – Summer 2019

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Small Wonder – A new implementation agreement for low-power consumption will see small modules push technological barriers

https://www.fibre-systems.com/feature/small-wonder

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

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

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

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

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

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

Election Results

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

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

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

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

OIF 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 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 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 Launches Flex Coherent DWDM Framework Effort, Elects New Officers

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Members of the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) are working to specify a framework for Flex Coherent DWDM Transmission in the application fields of long haul, metro, and data center inter-connection. The framework will build upon work the OIF completed for 100G LH DWDM and provide guidance for 400G.

“We’ve discussed the hardware implications of SDN for a couple years now,” said Junjie Li, of China Telecom and OIF board member. “We need to move away from fixed performance transceivers in order to provide Service Providers with a flexible solution, complete with software ‘knobs’ that can be dialed-in to achieve the desired performance.”

Dynamic networks require flexibility in reach, data rate, and spectral efficiency. This can be accomplished through the following flexible transceiver attributes: modulation formats, symbol rates, and number of subcarriers. Flex Coherent DWDM will outline a software-defined optics ecosystem that initially leverages past and current OIF projects for tunable lasers, high bandwidth PMQ modulated transmitters and integrated coherent receivers. The Flex Coherent DWDM Transmission will start with the following modulation formats suitable for different scenarios; QPSK, 8QAM, 16QAM for long haul and metro applications and 32QAM, 64QAM for data center inter-connection applications.

Board Elections

The OIF announced the results of its recent leadership elections, welcoming Peter Landon of BTI Systems as the chair of the Networking & Operations Working Group committee for 2-year term.

Newly elected to the Board of Directors are Ian Betty of Ciena for a 2-year term, Tom Issenhuth of Microsoft for a 2-year term and Mike Tessaro of Qorvo for a 1-year term. Junjie Li of China Telecom was re-elected to the board for a 1-year term. John McDonough of NEC America will serve as president. Dave Brown of Alcatel-Lucent continues to serve as VP of Marketing and Dave Stauffer of Kandou Bus continues to serve as secretary/treasurer.

OIF Day at Huawei Technologies

In conjunction with the Forum’s recent quarterly meeting in Shanghai, the OIF and Huawei Technologies hosted a day of interactive and educational workshops featuring OIF and Huawei Technologies subject matter experts. Topics covered included OIF projects and technical work, intelligent optical networking, and 400G. The exclusive event was focused on helping attendees understand system vendor challenges and strategies, strengthening member/executive support for the OIF and establishing an input and validation process for strategic/project planning.

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 to Display 400G CEI 56G Interfaces, Discuss SDN Work at ECOC

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The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) will showcase the “Next Generation of Pluggable Modules” to ECOC attendees at the Forum’s booth #345 in Valencia, Spain, September 28-30. OIF representatives will also present sessions on the Forum’s latest work on 400G and SDN.

On September 25th, the OIF and global telecom carrier Orange will host an interactive and educational workshop at the Orange Labs in Issy les Moulineaux near Paris. The event features subject matter experts from the OIF and Orange addressing intelligent optical networking, Transport SDN and 400G, as well as OIF projects and directions.  This event is the latest of a series of OIF Day programs held with select carriers and optical vendors to inform them on the latest developments in optical network physical and control interfaces and exchange views on future directions in the optical networking industry.

 OIF at ECOC – “Enabling the Next Generation of Pluggable Modules”

The OIF will show 56Gb/s NRZ and PAM4 electrical interfaces as well as pluggable coherent optics demonstrations at ECOC in booth #345. The demonstration will include CFP2-ACO, showing key components of the ecosystem necessary to accelerate the movement of coherent optics into the pluggable realm. The two Common Electrical Interface (CEI) demos address the fourth generation CEI-56G. These demos show the next generation electrical data rates in chip to module implementations. The current efforts include the definition of both PAM4 and NRZ modulations to enable 56Gb/s electrical interfaces across diverse industry applications.

OIF Presentations at ECOC Market Focus Theater

Monday, September 28 – 2:05-2:35 pm
Topic: OIF’s CEI 56G Interfaces – Key Building Blocks for Optics in Next Generation 400G Data Centers
Presenter: Ed Frlan, OIF Physical & Link Layer Interoperability Working Group Chair, Semtech

Tuesday, September 29 – 1:35-2:05 pm
Topic: Gearing up for Transport SDN Deployment – a starter kit for early adopters
Presenters: Christophe Betoule, Orange and Jonathan Sadler, OIF Technical Committee Vice Chair, Coriant

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 Technical Work Continues at Rapid Pace With 400G White Paper, New Implementation Agreements

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Continuing a tradition of producing timely, relevant technical work, the members of the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) have published a whitepaper that provides the carrier perspective on 400G technology options and its impact on future high-capacity WDM applications. The Forum also approved implementation agreements that outline service provider requirements for Neighbor Discovery and updated specifications for the industry standard Integrable Tunable Laser MSA.

In an effort to bring order and clarity to the race to build 400G transport solutions, the OIF’s 400G whitepaper summarizes the technology options for specific applications such as long-haul, metro and data center interconnect. Entitled “Technology Options for 400G Implementation”, the whitepaper provides a consensus from carriers on the specific system parameters and network requirements needed for 400G to support increased bandwidth demands in optical networks.

“As the industry moves forward towards 400G-transmission speed, it is crucial to have carriers and vendors working together, as was achieved with 100G optical interfaces,” said Karl Gass, of Qorvo and the OIF PLL working group vice-chair, optical. “This whitepaper summarizes the requirements by carriers for specific technology applications, and we expect to start projects to define the best, near term solutions for 400G networks.”

Implementation Agreements Approved

Service providers need to streamline and reduce cost of operating their optical networks; one way is to reduce manual effort by automating link configuration processes. Automating the process of link identification and exchanging the link configuration data is known colloquially as Neighbor Discovery. The ITU-T has defined an architecture and protocol for Neighbor Discovery in G.7714 and G.7714.1, but implementation of the specifications has been limited. The OIF’s “Neighbor Discovery Implementation Agreement 1.0” utilizes ITU-T specifications to support the exchange of:

  • Identity of the network element port connected to the far end of the link,
  • Data-plane capability of the network element ports on each link end,
  • Management-plane details for each link end,
  • Control-plane details for each link end.

The resulting specification provides carriers with an interoperable solution complete with use cases, requirements, procedure and protocols conforming to the ITU-T’s specifications.

The OIF continues to build on the industry standard for tunable lasers established by the forum six years ago. The OIF has updated the existing MSA and assembly IA to add the functionality needed for next generation, highly flexible networks.

The Integrable Tunable Laser Assembly MSA (ITLA-MSA 1.3) and Micro – Integrable Tunable Laser Assembly IA (OIF-MicroITLA-01.1) updates add the provision of high resolution registers and raises the protocol version to 3.0.0.

The 400G white paper and implementation agreements can be found 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.