Advances are taking place across a wide range of technologies. At ECOC 2026, we saw leaps forward in high-speed Ethernet (HSE), co-packaged optics (CPO) and silicon photonics (SiPh), along with fiber density, multifiber technologies, and alternative designs such as hollow-core fiber (HCF), alongside advances in peripheral but critical systems like quantum security. This is driving […]
Pluggable coherent optics have come a long way in a short time. Coherent transmission once lived on custom line cards, engineered end-to-end at high cost in a closed ecosystem. CFP-based 100G coherent pluggables changed that, and since then a healthy multi-vendor ecosystem of coherent DSP, photonics, and module vendors has grown around common MSA and […]
A traffic light camera flash offers a subtle reminder that each available data source plays a distinct role in network monitoring and investigations. While the camera timestamp and vehicle license plate number can deliver identifying information in just a few bytes, videos shot from multiple angles simultaneously capture every detail when a driver ventures into […]
If your network’s AI system decided right now, without human approval, to reallocate spectrum, shift traffic loads and deprioritize a category of users to protect service quality during a peak event, would you let it? Most operators wouldn’t. Not yet. When an autonomous system makes a consequential decision without engineer sign-off, the operator owns the […]
Traditional spectrum analyzers display signal frequency and power level but provide no spatial correlation to the physical environment. Following an RF interference alarm, standard protocol dictates that an RF technician walks the site, takes multiple measurements, and makes an educated guess based on the available data to assess the emitter’s location. These best guesses are […]
NTIA recently opened the fourth Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund (NOFO 4) with up to $53 million for secure, AI-native RAN architectures. It’s an exciting opportunity, and a complex one to navigate alone. VIAVI partners with you to meet that complexity, strengthening your proposal and moving your innovation to commercialization. A Foundation NTIA Already […]
Notes from the front lines of AI fabric validation, just in time for OCP APAC Summit 2026 Here’s an uncomfortable truth about AI networking: the failures that determine whether a fabric is production-ready rarely appear under normal operating conditions. Training clusters run for months. Collective operations complete successfully. Congestion clears and dashboards stay green. Everything […]
The use of metadata is nothing new – ancient Egyptians deployed this concept over 2,000 years ago, using descriptive tags to organize and summarize voluminous, hand-written scrolls. In the digital age, metadata has taken on new meaning and significance, as NetOps and SecOps teams seek out more efficient ways to garner valuable insights from an […]
I’ve been in RF optimization long enough to see it evolve from something very manual and field-heavy into something that is now increasingly driven by data and AI. When I look back, the fundamentals haven’t changed, but the way we approach them has evolved in ways I wouldn’t have imagined back then. I started my […]
A New Chapter for Network Validation Network testing has always depended on expertise. Whether validating a new data center fabric, benchmarking network equipment, or verifying application performance and security, engineers have traditionally needed deep knowledge of test tools, APIs, and product-specific workflows. As networks become larger and more complex, especially in AI-driven environments, that expertise […]
