23 February 2018
Here’s a prediction for OFC 2018: 400G is now considered “slow,” so get ready for “1.2T” -- as in 1.2Terabits per second transmission, which is the next big threshold in optical communications. One Terabit is 1000 Gigabits, which in turn is 1000 Megabits. So a Terabit is a trillion bits. The reason people are now turning to Terabit transmission is that data centers demand it, and a new generation of electronics and optical components are making it feasible.
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By Tim Doiron, Principal Analyst, Intelligent Networking, ACG Research | Posted: 9 February 2018
As we get ready to travel to San Diego, California, for the 2018 OFC Conference and Exhibition March 11–15, I have been reflecting on the data center interconnect (DCI) market and thinking about what we might see at OFC this year.
Although the overall optical networking market struggled through the first three quarters of 2017, the optical DCI use-case, specifically the small form factor (SFF) appliance (“pizza-box”) category, continues to be one of the hottest growth segments in optical networking. Total optical DCI revenue has grown by over 24% y-y through the first three quarters of 2017 with the SFF appliance category increasing at a blistering 81% y-y. Optical DCI now represents over 17% of high-speed optical spending in the metro and long-haul markets.
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By Alan Varghese, LightCounting Market Research | Posted: 8 February 2018
With the confluence of multiple major trends such as 5G, Big data, AI, IoT, AR/VR, Autonomous driving - all signs signal a positive investment cycle. Confidence is high for 2018 as the optical and semiconductor industry builds next-gen scalable platforms to intercept these trends.
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By Macom | Posted: 7 February 2018
Previously, we forecasted some 2018 trends in the RF semiconductor domain, addressing the impact of digitization on legacy RF functionality, the demand for multi-mission capability for defense and civil applications, and the industry’s continued dependence on diodes to enable key system functionality.
Here we’ll turn our attention from RF to Light, and offer some predictions for the optical networking domain in 2018, with a special focus on hyperscale data centers, where the pace of innovation is hitting breakthrough strides.
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By Casimer deCusatis | Posted: 5 February 2018
Did you know that someday soon, a “fiberless” technology backed by industry heavyweights such as LinkedIn and HP (Open 19 Foundation) might enable up to 400 GB of raw bandwidth to the cloud without the need to run fibers to each individual server? Or that the new 8K ultra-high definition televisions (UHDTV) are using plastic optical fiber? How about that new 16 nm technology for silicon CMOS devices at 600 GB/s; could it be related to machine learning networks, or perhaps the ON2020 roadmaps?
If you didn’t recognize many of these topics but would like to learn more, then you’re in luck; these and many more will be on tap in one convenient place, the OFC 2018 Technical Conference and Exhibition, this coming March 11-15. Let’s take a quick look at the breadth of exciting technologies that are on the schedule.
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