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Who Makes What: 40- & 100-Gbit/s Systems

Introduction
July 3, 2009 | Tim Hills | Comments (8)
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Light Reading was founded for technologies like 40- and 100-Gbit/s (hereafter 40/100G) systems – cutting-edge optical network kit, oodles of gung-ho vendors of all shapes and sizes, arcane technological disputes, and the promises of billions of bucks just over the horizon (and for the X-rated stuff, see Contentinople).

40/100G transmission embraces a range of technologies and has potentially wide applications – from transoceanic networks, through the metro, and on into equipment backplanes – so its long-term impact is likely to be considerable and widespread. For this Who Makes What, however, the main interest is taken to be telecom network transport applications, which means essentially:

  • 40G Sonet/SDH (OC768/STM256) and the higher-rate ITU-T OTNs (OTU3/OTU4)
  • Longer-range versions of 40 and 100G Ethernet.

For more on 40/100G in equipment practice, especially ATCA, etc., see 40- & 100-Gbit/s Technology & Components.

The list of operators and carriers now moving to, or with, some 40G implementations now contains some big names (see Table 1 for some recent examples reported by Light Reading), although not everyone is convinced by the 40G argument (see Page 4: Sticky Questions). In contrast, 100G is still largely experimental or trialing, but implementations are vaguely beginning, as witnessed by financial exchange NYSE Euronext and Ciena Corp. (Nasdaq: CIEN) announcing, in March 2009, plans to implement 100G networks to support NYSE Euronext’s new data centers in the greater New York and London metropolitan areas during 2010.

Table 1: Recent 40G Network Implementations Reported by Light Reading
Carrier/operator Location/date Implementation
AboveNet USa/May 2009 40G metro service in 15 US markets
Bell Canada Canada/September 2008 40G optical backbone network
China Telecom China/August 2008 40G transmission network
China Unicom China/December 2008 40G WDM transport network
Deutsche Telekom Germany/July 2008 40G DWDM core network
KPN Belgium/September 2008 40G upgrade to optical backbone network
Lightower Fiber Networks USA/ June 2009 40G bandwidth service for carriers and large enterprises
Mediacom Communications USA/December 2008 40G upgrade to regional network supporting triple-play services
Neos UK/March 2008 40G network for delivery of bandwidth-on-demand for UK businesses
Rascom Russia/July 2008 40G upgrade to long-haul optical network
RoEduNet Educational Network Romania/November 2008 40G-ready network linking national educational and research facilities
Southern Cross Cables USA/June 2008 40G upgrade to 10G terrestrial feeder to transpacific cable network
Sprint Nextel USA/November 2008 40G transatlantic transmission trial
SURF Telecoms UK/December 2008 40G upgrade to regional optical data network
Telefónica Spain/November 2008 40G transmission network
Telus Canada/December 2008 40G network upgrade
TransTeleCom Russia/May 2008 40G commercial transport network connecting Moscow and St. Petersburg
Triton Telecom Caribbean/October 2008 40G system linking Florida, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Jamaica
Virgin Media UK/May 2008 Lights 40G path
Source: Light Reading, 2009

40G is also hitting the data center. In late 2008, for example, Mellanox Technologies and Dell claimed the world’s first demonstration of 40G InfiniBand interconnect technology for blade servers by using Mellanox’s recently launched InfiniBand ConnectX Adapter.

The combination of hi-tech R&D, many smaller specialist companies, market evolution, and a global recession must make 40/100G one of the few current bright spots for M&A types, judging by the number of mergers, acquisitions, and similar announcements made over the last year or so. Examples are:

  • Aegis Lightwave Inc. acquired CardinalPoint Optics (April 2008 – optical channel monitors) and AOFR (March 2009 – fused fiber couplers)
  • Avanex and Bookham merged (April 2009 – optical components, modules and subsystems) to form Oclaro Inc. (Nasdaq: OCLR)
  • EXFO Inc. (Nasdaq: EXFO; Toronto: EXF) acquired PicoSolve (February 2009 – optical sampling oscilloscopes for 40G and 100G R&D)
  • Finisar Corp. (Nasdaq: FNSR) merged with Optium (August 2008)
  • GigOptix Inc. (OTC: GGOX) acquired Helix Semiconductors (January 2008 – optical physical-media-dependent ICs) and merged with Lumera (March 2008 – modulator technology)
  • Opnext Inc. (Nasdaq: OPXT) acquired StrataLight Communications (January 2009 – 40/100G products and subsystems)
  • Thorlabs Inc. acquired the assets of Covega (March 2009 – indium-phosphide and lithium-niobate components and modules) from owners Gemfire Corp. . Previously Gemfire and Covega had merged (February 2008).

This list emphasizes the point, expanded on later, that optical devices and modules are crucial to 40/100G, and are where a lot of current product development is taking place.

We have tried to make the listing as complete as possible in the time available for its compilation, but this is where you, Dear Reader, can help with any companies that have been missed.

If any companies need to be added, or any information corrected, please bring it to our attention either on the message board below or by sending an email to editors@lightreading.com or to hills@lightreading.com, placing "Who Makes What: 40- & 100-Gbit/s Systems" in the subject line.

Here’s a hyperlinked contents list:

— Tim Hills is a freelance telecommunications writer and journalist. He's a regular author of Light Reading reports.

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hills@lightreading.com
User Ranking
Thursday October 15, 2009 7:29:42 AM
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H&C

Not really, because there is a limit to what I can cover in the time available. But, if it is of any help, a quick trawl through some downloads shows that 40G devices use such RF connector type as GPOs and V-connectors. There is, inevitably, an enthusiast Website at

http://www.microwaves101.com/encyclopedia/connectors.cfm

that lists more RF microwave connector types (with photos!) than I ever knew existed. It gives comments on characteristics and applications, which may help.

Tim Hills

H&C
User Ranking
Wednesday October 14, 2009 8:54:50 PM
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Don't forget RF parts. Any info on 100G RF connectors from the author?
hills@lightreading.com
User Ranking
Tuesday July 7, 2009 12:12:54 PM
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Alexis

Thanks. Will fix the bigger blunders.

Tim Hills

alexismcd
User Ranking
Tuesday July 7, 2009 11:53:51 AM
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Hi Tim,

I'd like to highlight a couple of omissions/corrections related to Ixia's T&M offerings for 40/100GE:

1. In Table 3, there should be a "Yes" for Ixia against 100G T&M capability.

2. In Table 2, I'd like to see Ixia get credit for the first 100GE test in Japan (with NTT), and the fact that Ixia was the first T&M vendor to demonstrate 100GE traffic generation and analysis (in June 08), and first to demonstrate 40GE (in Sept 08).

FYI - anyone with an interest in learning more about the current state of 40/100 GE  standardization efforts might be interested in this video presentation by John D'Ambrosia, chair of the IEEE P802.3ba committee.

Thanks!
Cheers,

Alexis McDougall (Ixia)

joozz
User Ranking
Monday July 6, 2009 5:49:41 PM
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Oh each) that's really crazy, especially for someone from Russia))))

 

hills@lightreading.com
User Ranking
Monday July 6, 2009 11:11:12 AM
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Oh dear. Apologies. I must have subconsciously associated St Petersburg with the one in Florida. For the record, I am amazed to discover from my atlas that there are at least 6 Moscows in the USA -- in Idaho, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

I'll ask copydesk to fix the problem.

Tim Hills

hills@lightreading.com
User Ranking
Monday July 6, 2009 11:09:32 AM
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Oh dear. Apologies. I must have subconsciously associated St Petersburg with the one in Florida. For the record, I am amazed to discover from my atlas that there are at least 6 Moscows in the USA -- in Idaho, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

I'll ask copydesk to fix the problem.

Tim Hills

joozz
User Ranking
Monday July 6, 2009 10:25:43 AM
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Great overview!

Just one "little" mistake... RosTeleCom is a russian company indeed, so the installation of 40G backbone was in Russia and not in the USA.

 

Regards, Yuriy

The blogs and comments are the opinions only of the writers and do not reflect the views of Light Reading. They are no substitute for your own research and should not be relied upon for trading or any other purpose.
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