16 March 2026
OpenROADM Transport Network Capabilities Support Multi-Operator All-Photonics Networks with IP-over-WDM Wave Services Ranging from 25G to 800G
(The new capabilities demonstrated with the IOWN Global Forum at OFC’26 (Booth 5623) March 17-19)
At the Optical Fiber Communication Conference (OFC) 2026, the Innovative Optical and Wireless Networks (IOWN) Global Forum is once again partnering with the OpenROADM demo group, hosted by OpenLab @ UT Dallas. This year's demo focuses on multi-domain interoperable networking as a foundation for a federated, multi-operator photonic fabric.Carrier hotels and data center (DC) hubs have operational bottlenecks. Each additional wavelength signal traditionally requires manual cross-connect activities, extending lead times and increasing OPEX. AI workloads and hyper-scalers require elastic scaling based on demand.
With the roadmap from the IOWN Global Forum for multi-domain optical interoperability, interconnections become programmable, elastic, and revenue-accelerating.
The primary challenge is coordination. When independent optical domains interconnect, transmission parameters and Quality of Transmission (QoT) must be harmonized across vendors and operational boundaries. Without standardization, scaling becomes operationally prohibitive. Through collaborative IOWN Global Forum activity, practical parameter-setting methodologies are being defined to realize inter-domain photonic federation.
At OFC 2026, the OpenLab team provides two independent optical domains comprising OpenROADM-compliant Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexers (ROADMs) from four suppliers (1Finity, Ciena, NEC, and Nokia). The OpenROADM Multi-Source Agreement (MSA) defines interoperability specifications for disaggregated optical transport networks. These specifications, which also include YANG data models, address ROADMs, transponders, and pluggable optics. Multi-vendor OpenROADM-compliant equipment can be integrated into the same network solution and controlled by the open-source OpenDaylight Transport PCE (TPCE) controller.
At the IOWN Global Forum booth, a series of Optical Transport Network (OTN) transponders, muxponders, switchponders, Ethernet switches, and IP routers from various suppliers interoperate using open specifications at 25G, 100G, 400G, and 800G over an OpenROADM-compliant multi-domain optical ROADM network. Demonstrated transmission modes include C-band 25G Ethernet, 100G and 400G OpenROADM, 400G OpenZR+, 800 ZR+, and a remotely controllable 400G CFP2-DCO supporting an in-fiber optical supervisory channel. The aggregation of multiple transmission technologies, including IPoDWDM, realistically simulates a multi-operator network with two optical domains and multiple connected data centers, where optical wavelengths originate and terminate directly at routers and switches’ ports.
Showcasing for the first time, the open source TransportPCE provisions end-to-end services through OpenConfig 2.0, configuring the end devices interconnected by Open ROADM MSA temporary tunnels.
The OpenROADM booth also showcases a robotic automation platform performing end-to-end routing and wavelength assignment computation across two domains, achieved via a hierarchical control architecture featuring multiple micro-services, including a multi-domain path computation engine (PCE) and GNPy for path reachability validation.
“The OpenROADM MSA has helped establish open, interoperable optical transport as a commercially proven approach for a diverse set of use cases,” says Dirk Breuer, OpenROADM MSA Chair. “The collaboration with OpenLab @ UT Dallas and the IOWN Global Forum builds on that momentum by showing how multi-vendor, multi-domain networking can continue to scale for the industry’s growing bandwidth demands.”
“We believe that enabling multi-domain internetworking with open optical interfaces is essential to meet the rapidly growing bandwidth demands of AI-driven societies,” says Masahisa Kawashima, Technology WG Chair, IOWN Global Forum. “We greatly respect the pioneering initiatives of the UTD OpenLab and OpenROADM MSA, and we look forward to continuing this collaboration. Through our joint efforts, we aim to advance multi-domain interoperable optical networking toward practical and commercially deployable solutions.”
Companies contributing to the showcased transport functionalities include 1Finity, Anritsu, AT&T, Ciena, Cisco, Edgecore, EXFO, Hitachi, IP Infusion, KDDI, Lightera, NEC, Nokia, NTT, NTT docomo business, NTT docomo solutions, Orange, Pegatron, Ribbon, Sumitomo Electric, UfiSpace, and VIAVI solutions.
About OpenLab @ UT Dallas
OpenLab is a neutral host facility for data networking equipment interoperability validation, offering space and a trained staff of aspiring PhD candidates to assist OEMs in achieving multi-vendor interoperability of open and disaggregated network elements in compliance with industry implementation agreements such as OpenROADM MSA, O-RAN Alliance, and Open ZR+ MSA. OpenLab trains the next generation of telecom engineers to be familiar with and successful in open, disaggregated networking environments. Student-developed relevant automation platforms accelerate testing and state-of-the-art testbed demonstrations.
About the IOWN Global Forum
The IOWN Global Forum was established in 2020 as a private sector organization to develop IOWN Global Forum technologies and use cases, and is comprised of over 180 organizations. The objective of the IOWN Global Forum is to accelerate innovation and adoption of a new communication infrastructure to meet our future data and computing requirements through the development of new technologies, frameworks, specifications, and reference designs in areas such as photonics R&D, distributed computing, use cases, and best practices. For more information, visit the IOWN Global Forum.
For More Information:
Andrea Fumagalli
The University of Texas at Dallas
https://OpenLab.UTDallas.edu
+1-972-883-6853 | andreaf@utdallas.edu