Pluggable optical modules are a huge success factor in modern networking equipment. An end user can buy a network element, such as a router or switch, and provision ports in a pay-as-you-grow manner. They can plug optical modules into the ports and chose the reach (from a few meters with DAC copper through to 100’s […]
As module bitrates increased from 100Gbs so too did the complexity of the modules. Starting with DSP based signal conditioning and clock recovery and onwards to pluggable coherent optics, PAM-4 and CMIS. With this new level of complexity, we had to take a very different approach to module-to-pluggable optics development, debugging and validation. Specifically, the […]
With the move to pluggable coherent optical modules for the first time since 10G, we see client and line side considerations coming together. The most obvious example of this is optical signal to noise (OSNR) and related measurements. For any modules with the potential for use in an amplified system, OSNR becomes the fundamental figure […]
Growing up in Castleisland, County Kerry, my family was lucky to know the famous journalist Con Houlihan. With his fantastic command of the written word he was often asked to advise on the progress of young student’s written English by concerned mothers. Con’s stock reply would normally be ‘Well, they are making all the right […]
400G optics have already presented tremendous R&D challenges during the first phases of 400G QSFP-DD development. PAM-4 high speed signalling in both the optical and electrical domains, debugging module firmware and the interaction with the DSP firmware are clear examples, not to mention the new challenge brought about by the latest emerging standard in optical […]
