Infinera, Juniper, Finisar, Opnext demo 100 GigE interoperability at OFC

USA & INDIA: A group of industry leaders have collaborated on a live demonstration of 100 Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) interoperability, showing the ability to pass 100GigE traffic between a router and optical transport system using two different CFP optical transceivers implementing the IEEE 802.3ba 100GBASE-LR4 draft standard. The demonstration marks a significant step towards commercial availability of 100 GigE services at economic cost levels.

The demonstration can be seen at the Infinera Express mobile display unit on the show floor at the OFC/NFOEC conference and exhibition, which begins tomorrow at the San Diego Convention Center.

The demonstration features a Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR) T1600 Core Router and an Infinera DTN optical system exchanging 100 GigE traffic using 100 Gigabit per second (Gbps) CFP pluggable optical transceiver modules from Finisar and Opnext. The 100 GigE signals are generated by test sets supplied by Exfo and Ixia. The demonstration also includes Reflex Photonics’ 100GBASE-SR10 CFP modules.

Use of interoperable pluggable modules from these industry leaders marks an important step towards implementing the IEEE’s 802.3ba draft standard and the CFP Multi-Source Agreement (MSA).

The availability and interoperability of pluggable CFP modules from multiple vendors will be key to driving economic price points and widespread deployment of 100 Gigabit Ethernet networking equipment such as routers, switches and optical transport gear. Service providers see an increasing need for 100 GigE networks as bandwidth demand continues to grow, driven by trends such as video and cloud computing.

The Infinera DTN 100 Gigabit Ethernet tributary interface and the Juniper 100 Gigabit Ethernet physical interface card in this demonstration are the latest prototypes and are fully compliant with the most recent IEEE 802.3ba draft specification and CFP MSA.

The Juniper Networks T1600 is the only core router on the market today delivering 100 Gbps of slot capacity, a feature necessary to support 100 GigE. The Infinera ILS line system is the only optical line system deployed today that is capable of delivering 100 Gigabit Ethernet transport services.

“Juniper’s vision for the New Network calls for a highly scalable and cost-effective network infrastructure, and 100 GigE will be key to improving the economics and user experience of the next generation of networking technology,” said Sanjay Jotshi, Director, Enterprise & Channels, India & SAARC, Juniper Networks. “Today’s demonstration is more evidence that 100 GigE is moving rapidly toward production deployments, and Juniper is proud to be working with these innovative companies to lead the way.”

“Infinera is focused on working with these industry-leading optics vendors so as to deliver a set of 100 GigE system solutions with the right economics and performance to meet the needs of all our customers,” said Infinera CTO Drew Perkins. “Our leadership in large-scale photonic integration enabled us to begin shipping line cards with 100 Gbps of capacity back in 2004, and photonic integration, combined with our digital architecture, will enable us to deliver 100 GigE services easily and efficiently over many different network infrastructures.”

“Finisar is excited to partner with these optics industry leaders in this 100GE interoperability demonstration,” said Joe Young, Senior Vice President of Research & Development and Operations at Finisar. “For Finisar, in particular, this demonstration of our CFP modules affirms that our vertical integration strategy makes it possible to be at the forefront of the 100GE market and that our volume manufacturing capability will ultimately enable large-scale deployments for our customers.”

“Opnext is pleased to deliver CFP MSA modules based upon IEEE standards to our customers and partners,” said Matt Traverso, director of strategic marketing for Opnext and editor of the CFP MSA Hardware document. “The robust performance of our 100 GigE module is built upon Opnext laser and photodiode technology.”