News: Optoelectronics
27 March 2024
Lumentum enhances performance of 800ZR+ transceivers for broader applications
Lumentum Holdings Inc of San Jose, CA, USA (which designs and makes optical and photonic products for optical networks and lasers for industrial and consumer markets) has announced performance enhancements to its 800ZR+ transceivers that enable the modules to serve a wider range of applications, including expanded use in metro and regional networks through the ability to interface directly into routers. Additionally, the enhanced performance modes now make 400ZR+ and 600ZR+ operation suitable for true long-haul applications, with optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) and dispersion tolerance enabling reaches exceeding 2000km at 400Gbps. Lumentum’s 800ZR+ transceivers were recently recognized in the 2024 Lightwave Innovation Review Awards and are being demonstrated in a 400km+ amplified link in booth #2613 at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference & Exposition (OFC 2024) in San Diego, CA, USA (26–28 March).
Lumentum has optimized its latest generation of 800ZR+ modules to maximize performance, while maintaining a compact QSFP-DD and OSFP form factor. Currently available for sampling, the modules employ Lumentum’s latest hybrid photonic integrated circuit (PIC) technology, which incorporates both the company’s indium phosphide PICs and silicon photonics. The performance and use-case flexibility provided by the modules mark a significant step in the evolution of high-speed communications networks, reckons the firm.
“Lumentum’s unique photonic component capabilities and innovative module designs, together with our partners’ latest-generation coherent DSPs, enable us to provide solutions that dramatically increase scalability for both cloud and telecom network operators,” says Wupen Yuen, president of Cloud and Networking at Lumentum. “Our advancements also help address the challenges of scaling data-center interconnects for the bandwidth needs related to artificial intelligence and machine learning,” he adds.
“Our new 800ZR+ and 400ZR+ modules enhance cost efficiency in applications spanning DCI [data-center interconnect] to metro and long-haul applications, with significant improvements in optical power and optical signal-to-noise ratio,” says Marc Stiller, VP of product line management. “They represent a major advance in reducing cost and power per bit versus existing technologies.”
Demand for 400ZR and 400ZR+ modules has surged, particularly for data-center interconnect applications, with the ecosystem of transceiver modules, routers and system software having reached maturity and critical mass for widespread adoption. Escalating demands for bandwidth to support advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning applications are accelerating the need to transition to higher-speed 800Gbps modules. With enhanced performance, including higher output power and reach, these latest coherent pluggable modules are also increasingly able to meet the stringent requirements of traditional telecom metro and long-haul applications, while offering increased deployment flexibility and cost, size and power savings versus traditional solutions.
