Infinera has announced that it has expanded its portfolio of open optical networking solutions with a suite of coherent optical pluggables designed to address point-to-point and point-to-multipoint transport applications from the network edge to the core.
Using new XR optics technology, Infinera’s suite of vertically integrated ICE-XR pluggables will reportedly offer network operators the performance, scale, and efficiency critical to the delivery of differentiated 5G, enhanced broadband, and next-generation cloud and business services.
ICE-XR pluggables will support a range of transport rates, including 100G, 400G, and 800G, and utilise industry-standard form factors such as QSFP-28, QSFP-DD, and CFP2 to enable ease of deployment in a wide variety of router and transport devices.
“We have been engaged with 100+ network operators globally and the feedback that we have received has surpassed anything I have seen in my 35+ years of experience in successfully bringing game-changing technologies to market,” says Dave Welch, founder and chief innovation officer at Infinera.
“Leveraging the innovative capabilities of XR optics, ICE-XR will enable Infinera to create a completely new market with functionality that is uniquely positioned to address the point-to-multipoint traffic demands at the rapidly growing network edge and provide TCO savings of as much as 70%. Additionally, with Infinera’s deep vertical integration, ICE-XR will enable us to address the rapidly growing market for point-to-point pluggable coherent applications with a differentiated and cost-reduced solution.”
ICE-XR builds on Infinera’s history of delivering innovative, highly differentiated, and vertically integrated coherent optical engines. ICE-XR can be seamlessly software configured between point-to-point and point-to-multipoint operations. When used in point-to-point applications, ICE-XR can enable network operators to benefit from seamless generational upgrades, enhanced performance in capacity and reach, and the ability to utilise pay-as-you-grow service activation.
In multipoint applications, ICE-XR can enable network operators to reduce the total number of transceivers in their networks by 50% or more and simplify their network architectures by eliminating electrical aggregation points and driving down capital expense and operational complexity.
XR optics is an open technology initiative with the support of network operators, equipment manufacturers, and subsystem manufacturers.
Initial ICE-XR pluggables are scheduled for release in 2022.
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