DriveNets and Ciena Complete Joint Testing of 400G ZR/ZR+ optics for Network Cloud Platform
DriveNets and Ciena have
The successful tests demonstrate how the integrated solution optimizes service provider networks and builds more efficient converged infrastructures. The solution also includes enhanced network configuration and management software capabilities and ensures the Ciena WaveLogic 5 Nano (WL5n) pluggables can be tuned, configured, and managed by DriveNets Network Cloud software.
This solution will be on display at OFC Conference, March 26-28 in San Diego, CA, as part of the University of Texas in Dallas (UTC) – OpenLab OFCnet demonstration.
Last year, DriveNets announced that Network Cloud was the first Disaggregated Distributed Chassis/Backbone Router (DDC/DDBR) to support ZR/ZR+ optics as native transceivers for Network Cloud-supported white boxes. Today’s announcement demonstrates that two market leaders and innovators are working together to offer a fully tested and validated solution that advances and expands the adoption of open, disaggregated networking solutions.
Efficient Converged Infrastructure:
“Today’s announcement is another step in the growing adoption of disaggregated networking solutions, supporting operators’ desire to lower their operational costs by simplifying the network architecture and building networks like cloud,” said Dudy Cohen, Vice President of Product Marketing at DriveNets. “Operators are looking for open solutions that allow them to mix and match elements from multiple vendors as well as reduce the number of networks they need to support. The converged IP/Optical solution enabled by this announcement delivers on both goals.”
“As a leading provider of both optical networks and coherent optical modules, Ciena continues to innovate and give our customers greater choice in how they create open and robust networks, without compromise,” said Joe Shapiro, Vice President, Product Line Management, Ciena. “The combined solution – a converged IP/Optical white box – can achieve longer unregenerated reaches while also being simple to manage, resulting in improved cost and operational efficiencies.”
Simplifying the network by collapsing network layers:
The integrated solution delivers significant cost savings by collapsing Layer-1 to Layer-3 communications into a single platform. The use of ZR/ZR+ also eliminates the need for standalone optical transponders, lowering the number of boxes in the solution and reducing operational overhead, floorspace, and power requirements.
This collaboration ensures that the DriveNets NOS (DNOS) supports the WL5n coherent pluggable transceivers beyond simply plugging them into the box. It will support multiple modes of operation, including 400ZR, ZR+, as well as higher performance modes to extend 400G connectivity across more links in the network. The combined solution was tested across a Ciena open line system, representing a real networking environment.
This integration goes beyond interoperability validation. DriveNets Network Cloud will offer software support for Ciena’s optical solution, including configuration (channel and power), monitoring and troubleshooting for Ciena transceivers.
Future planned enhancements involve standards-based integration with Ciena’s end-to-end intelligent network control system – the Ciena Navigator Network Control Suite (NCS) – for better visibility and optimization of the optical infrastructure.
About DriveNets:
DriveNets is a leader in high-scale disaggregated networking solutions. Founded in 2015, DriveNets modernizes the way service providers, cloud providers and hyperscalers build networks, streamlining network operations, increasing network performance at scale, and improving their economic model. DriveNets’ solutions – Network Cloud and Network Cloud-AI – adapt the architectural model of hyperscale cloud to telco-grade networking and support any network use case – from core-to-edge to AI networking – over a shared physical infrastructure of standard white-boxes, radically simplifying the network’s operations and offering telco-scale performance and reliability with hyperscale elasticity. DriveNets’ solutions are currently deployed in the world’s largest networks. Learn more at www.drivenets.com
References:
KDDI Deploys DriveNets Network Cloud: The 1st Disaggregated, Cloud-Native IP Infrastructure Deployed in Japan
IEEE/SCU SoE May 1st Virtual Panel Session: Open Source vs Proprietary Software Running on Disaggregated Hardware
DriveNets raises $262M to expand its cloud-based alternative to core network routers
AT&T Deploys Dis-Aggregated Core Router White Box with DriveNets Network Cloud software
DriveNets Network Cloud: Fully disaggregated software solution that runs on white boxes
LightCounting reports from the OptiNet China Conference 2024, Tom William and Vlad Kozlov
The 24th OptiNet China conference was held at the JW Marriott Hotel Beijing Central, on June 19 and 20, 2024. The Grand Ballroom was packed with industry leaders, experts, scholars, and business representatives from the computing and telecommunication industry who gathered to support the development of China’s computing power networks and intelligent computing centers around AI-enabled high-speed and ultra-high-speed optical communication technologies.
LightCounting hosted its annual start-up competition at the event. Four Chinese companies and four start-ups from Europe and the US were selected as finalists and presented their stories to the audience and a panel of judges. Aloe Semiconductors received the award for Best Business Strategy, Latitude Design Automation Systems secured the Best Product award, and Silux Technologies won the Best Technology Award at the event.
Mr. Wei Leping, Director of the Science and Technology Committee of China Telecom and Chairman of the OptiNet China Conference gave the opening keynote speech as always. The title of his speech this year was “Development Trends and Thoughts on the Two Hot Areas of Optical Communication”. The two hot areas are:
Upgrades of telecom networks in China to 400G, which finally started in the end of 2023.
Accelerated expansion of datacenter networks in China and a much faster pace of innovation in this market segment.
China Telecom is the latest of the three major operators in deploying 400G and plans to start it this year. The plan includes 400G QPSK transmission across C+L band with new WSS modules and using an internally developed end-to-end network management and control system.
China Mobile started 400G deployments in September 2023 and China Unicom in early 2024. Both companies are also using 400G QPSK, enabled by 120G baud rate components and new 5-7nm DSPs. The majority of the components are manufactured by Chinese vendors, but few companies were willing to comment on the details.
Mr. Wei Leping also noted that Marvell, Acacia, Infinera and Nokia are already offering 1.2Tbps solutions and Ciena is introducing 1.6Tbps this year. Ciena’s new products use 180G baud components and 3nm DSPs. The next rate to expect is a 240G baud rate. The OIF plans to standardize 1.6T ZR/ZR+ in 2026, and start commercial use in 2027, sooner than originally anticipated.
The pace of optical network upgrades and expansion in data centers is a lot faster compared to the telecom networks. Upgrade cycles of telecom networks stretch to 15 years. Current deployments of 400G should support telecom operators until 2035-2040, according to Wei Leping. Cloud companies started deployments of 400G ZR/ZR+ in 2022-2023 and plan to adopt 800G ZR/ZR+ pluggable and 1.2T or 1.6T non-pluggable modules in 2025.
Deployments of AI clusters will further accelerate the upgrade cycles in DCI networks. Higher bandwidth accompanied with low latency will require all-optical networking between the data centers and even the end users. Whether this trend will accelerate upgrades to telecom networks remains to be seen.