Posts

OIF Reveals OFC 2018 Interoperability Demo Plans

| | ,

Forum Industry Experts to Conduct Panel Discussions

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

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

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

Flex Ethernet Demo:

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

56 Gbps Demo: 

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

112 Gbps Demo:

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

OIF Delivers on Another Industry First!

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

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

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

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

Speaking Sessions:

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

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

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

| | ,

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

CEI-112G Projects

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

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

Network Operator Working Group

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

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

OIF Election Results

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

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

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

 

OIF Announces 100G Serial Electrical Interconnect Workshop

| | ,

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

| | ,

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.

 

OIF shows 56G electrical interfaces & CFP2-ACO

| |

Gazettayte, Roy Rubenstein
Wednesday, March 25, 2015

The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) is using the OFC exhibition taking place in Los Angeles this week to showcase the first electrical interfaces running at 56 Gigabit. Coherent optics in a CFP2 pluggable module is also being demonstrated.

“The most important thing for everyone is power consumption on the line card”

The OIF – an industry organisation comprising communications service providers, internet content providers, system vendors and component companies – is developing the next common electrical interface (CEI) specifications. The OIF is also continuing to advance fixed and pluggable optical module specifications for coherent transmission including the pluggable CFP2 (CFP2-ACO).

“These are major milestones that the [demonstration] efforts are even taking place,” says Nathan Tracy, a technologist at TE Connectivity and the OIF technical committee chair.

Tracy stresses that the CEI-56G specifications and the CFP2-ACO remain works in progress. “They are not completed documents, and what the demonstrations are not showing are compliance and interoperability,” he says.

Five CEI-56G specifications are under development, such as platform backplanes and links between a chip and an optical engine on a line card (see Table below).

Moving from the current 28 Gig electrical interface specifications to 56 Gig promises to double the interface capacity and cut electrical interface widths by half. “If we were going to do 400 Gigabit with 25 Gig channels, we would need 16 channels,” says Tracy. “If we can do 50 Gig, we can get it down to eight channels.”  Such a development will enable chassis to carry more traffic and help address the continual demand for more bandwidth, he says.

But doubling the data rate is challenging. “As we double the rate, the electrical loss or attenuation of the signal travelling across a printed circuit board is significantly impacted,” says Tracy. “So now our reaches have to get a lot shorter, or the silicon that sends and receives has to improve to significant higher levels.”

One of the biggest challenges in system design is thermal management

Moreover, chip designers must ensure that the power consumption of their silicon do not rise. “We have to be careful as to what the market will tolerate, as one of the biggest challenges in system design is thermal management,” says Tracy. “We can’t just do what it takes to get to 56 Gigabit.”

To this aim, the OIF is pursuing two parallel tracks: using 56 Gigabit non-return-to-zero (NRZ) signalling and 4-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM-4) which encodes two bits per symbol such that a 28 Gbaud signalling rate can be used. The 56 Gig NRZ uses simpler signalling but must deal with the higher associated loss, while PAM-4 does not suffer the same loss as it is similar to existing CEI-28 channels used today but requires a more complex design.

“Some [of the five CEI-56G specifications] use NRZ, some PAM-4 and some both,” says Tracy. The OIF will not say when it will complete the CEI-56G specifications. However, the projects are making similar progress while the OIF is increasing its interactions with other industry standards groups to shorten the overall timeline.

 

Source: OIF, Gazettabyte

Two of the CEI-56G specifications cover much shorter distances: the Extra Short Reach (XSR) and Ultra Short Reach (USR). According to the OIF, in the past it was unclear that the industry would benefit from interoperability for such short reaches.

“What is different at 56 Gig is that architectures are fundamentally being changed: higher data rates, industry demand for higher levels of performance, and changing fabrication technologies,” says Tracy. Such fabrication technologies include 3D packaging and multi-chip modules (MCMs) where silicon dies from different chip vendors may be connected within the module.

The XSR interface is designed to enable higher aggregate bandwidth on a line card which is becoming limited by the number of pluggable modules that can be fitted on the platform’s face plate. Density can be increased by using mid-board optics (an optical engine) placed closer to a chip. Here, fibre from the optical engine is fed to the front plate increasing the overall interface capacity.

The USR interface is to support stackable ICs and MCMs.

All are coming together in this pre-competitive stage to define the specifications, yet, at the same time, we are all fierce competitors

“The most important thing for everyone is power consumption on the line card,” says Tracy. “If you define these very short reach interfaces in such a way that these chips do not need as much power, then we have helped to enable the next generation of line card.”

The live demonstrations at OFC include a CEI-56G-VSR-NRZ channel, a CEI-56G-VSR-PAM QSFP compliance board, CEI-56G-MR/LR-PAM and CEI-56G-MR/LR-NRZ backplanes, and a CEI-56G-MR-NRZ passive copper cable.

The demonstrations reflects what OIF members are willing to show, as some companies prefer to keep their work private. “All are coming together in this pre-competitive stage to define the specifications, yet, at the same time, we are all fierce competitors,” says Tracy.

CFP2-ACO  

Also on display is working CFP2 analogue coherent optics (CFP2-ACO). The significance of coherent optics in a pluggable CFP2 is the promise of higher-density line cards. The CFP is a much bigger module and at most four can be fitted on a line card, while with the smaller CFP2, with its lower power consumption, up to eight modules are possible.

Using the CFP2-ACO, the coherent DSP-ASIC is external to the CFP2 module. Much work has been done to ensure that the electrical interface can support the analogue signalling between the CFP2 optics and the on-board DSP-ASIC, says Tracy.

At OFC, several companies have unveiled their CFP2-ACO products including Finisar, Fujitsu Optical Components, Oclaro and NEC, while Clariphy has announced a single-board reference design that includes its CL20010 DSP-ASIC and a CFP2-ACO slot.

 

OIF Members Lead the Industry in 56G Interfaces and Pluggable Coherent Optics

| | ,

Collaboration Results in Groundbreaking Work

Fremont, Calif. – Feb. 24, 2015– Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) members are leading the market again in a live technology demonstration at OFC 2015 in Los Angeles, March 24-26, 2015, booth #613. The OIF Technology Showcase 2015 – It’s Happening Now – 56G Electrical Interfaces and Pluggable Coherent Optics will highlight the OIF‘s groundbreaking technology work. The Forum’s 4th generation Common Electrical Interface, CEI-56G, enables users to achieve new heights in CEI data rates. The technology showcase event will also demonstrate the OIF’s CFP2-ACO technology, a coherent optics transceiver module in a CFP2 form factor, an optimal medium-term solution to maximize faceplate density and minimize install costs for metro/regional DWDM and data center applications.

“The OIF has always demonstrated industry leadership, and this year at OFC is no exception,” says Nathan Tracy, technologist at TE Connectivity and the OIF technical committee chair. “From key industry presentations on Carrier, SDN, and physical layer topics, to demonstrating live hardware that conveys the progress on defining pluggable coherent optics, the OIF brings the sharpest minds in optical networking together to solve the toughest problems. Our work on 56Gb/s interoperable electrical channel agreements is addressing multiple modulation solutions. By attracting developers whose expertise range from test equipment to optics to electronics to connectors to equipment OEMs, the OIF is developing the ecosystems required by future datacomm architectures.”

Demos and Participants

Live and static displays at the OIF Technology Showcase 2015 – It’s Happening Now – 56G Electrical Interfaces and Pluggable Coherent Optics:

  • Live CEI-56G-VSR-NRZ Channel with Credo Semiconductor, Multilane, Tektronix, Yamaichi Electronics
  • Live CEI-56G-VSR-PAM QSFP Compliance Board with Anritsu, Molex, Multilane, TE Connectivity, Tektronix, Yamaichi Electronics
  • CEI-56G-VSR-PAM Optical Static Display (concept) with Molex, Multilane, TE Connectivity
  • Live CEI-56G-MR/LR-PAM Backplane with Keysight Technologies, Molex
  • Live CEI-56G-MR/LR-NRZ Backplane with Credo Semiconductor, Keysight Technologies, TE Connectivity
  • Live CEI-56G-MR-NRZ Passive Copper Cable with Credo Semiconductor, Keysight Technologies, Molex, TE Connectivity, Yamaichi Electronics
  • CFP2-Analog Coherent Optics – Pluggable Coherent Optics with Keysight Technologies, Multilane

Static displays of equipment aimed at developing the ecosystems for 56G electrical interfaces and pluggable coherent optics will include modules, test equipment, connectors, compliance boards, DSPs, drivers, transimpedance amplifiers and components from ClariPhy Communications, Finisar, Inphi, Kandou Bus, MACOM, Molex, MoSys, Multilane, NEC Corporation, Oclaro, Qorvo and TE Connectivity.

About the OIF Technology Showcase

OIF Technology Showcase 2015 – It’s Happening Now – 56G Electrical Interfaces and Pluggable Coherent Optics

OIF member companies will unite under the banner of the OIF to showcase multi-vendor participation in the OIF Technology Showcase 2015. The OIF’s Physical and Link Layer demonstration highlights live CEI-56G electrical interfaces. Also demonstrated is the emerging ecosystem for CFP2-ACO pluggable coherent optics, including subcomponents and test equipment.

A public demonstration will be on display at #OFC2015, March 24-26 in Los Angeles in booth #613. Additional info can be found at http://www.oiforum.com/meetings-and-events/oif-ofc-2015-2/

Presentations at OFC

Service Provider Summit – Panel 1: Value and Cost of Multi-Layer SDN
March 25, 2015 – 9:15am-10:45am
Panelist: Vishnu Shukla, OIF President

OIF Panel: Transport SDN – Clearing the Roadblocks to Wide-scale Commercial Deployment
March 25, 2015 – 2:00pm-3:00pm – EXPO Theater II
Moderator: Dave Brown, OIF VP of Marketing, Alcatel-Lucent
Lead Speaker: Vishnu Shukla, OIF President, Verizon
Speakers: Ruiquan Jing, China Telecom; Lyndon Ong, OIF MA&E Committee Co-Chair – Networking, Ciena; Jonathan Sadler, OIF Technical Committee Vice Chair, Coriant

OIF Panel: OIF CEI-56G – It’s Happening Now
March 26, 2015 -10:30am-11:30am – EXPO Theater II
Moderator: Nathan Tracy, OIF Technical Committee Chair, TE Connectivity
Speakers: Ed Frlan, OIF PLL Interoperability WG Chair, Semtech; Brian Holden, OIF MA&E Committee Co-Chair – PLL, Kandou Bus, S.A.; Tom Palkert, OIF PLL WG Vice Chair Electrical, MoSys

OIF Panel: System Architectures Using OIF CEI-56G Interfaces
March 26, 2015 – 11:30am-12:30pm – EXPO Theater II
Moderator: David Stauffer, OIF PLL WG Chair and Board Member, Kandou Bus, S.A.
Speakers: Ed Frlan, OIF PLL Interoperability WG Chair, Semtech; Edward Priest, Juniper Networks; Nathan Tracy, OIF Technical Committee Chair, 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.