- News
18 September 2017
4WDM MSA for 100G optical networks extended from 10km with specs for 20km and 40km reach
The 4WDM MSA (4-wavelength Wavelength Division Multiplexing Multi-Source Agreement) Group has released the first specifications for 100G optical networks with 20km and 40km reaches using forward error correction (FEC). The specs are said to be critical for enabling cost-effective and low-power 100G networking in data-center interconnects, mobile backhaul and other switch, router and transport client-side interfaces in core/metro/access networks where reach longer than 10km is required.
“Sales of 100GbE 10km-reach transceivers are likely to exceed $1bn in 2017 and demand for longer-reach 100GbE optics is picking up,” comments Dr Vladimir Kozlov, founder & principal analyst at LightCounting Market Research. “The new 20 and 40km specifications are an important milestone to enable this market, which we expect to reach $300m by 2020,” he adds.
“The 4WDM-20 specification, which is an extension of the 100G-4WDM-10 10km specification, enables customers to increase their reach using the same kind of optical components as 100GBASE-LR4 products,” says MSA chair Jeffery Maki of Juniper Networks. “Similarly, the 100G-4WDM-40 enables 40km reach with lower power consumption and in a smaller form factor than existing 100GBASE-ER4-compliant products that utilize a power-hungry SOA (semiconductor optical amplifier).”
The wavelengths used in the new 20 and 40km specifications are based on the LAN-WDM grid, which is the same as used by the existing 100GBASE-LR4 and 100GBASE-ER4 standards. To enable low cost, the new specifications use IEEE Std. 802.3 ‘KR4’ RS FEC on the host port.
The 4WDM MSA Group is an industry consortium dedicated to defining optical specifications and promoting adoption of interoperable 100G (4x25G) optical transceivers for 10km based on the CWDM4 wavelength grid, and for 20km and 40km based on the LAN-WDM wavelength grid, over duplex single-mode fiber (SMF). These extended reaches are important for modern data-center interconnects and mobile backhaul applications. The 4WDM MSA Group says that it is responding to previously unmet industry needs for longer reaches, lower costs and lower power consumption compared with previously available standards such that they are implementable in small form factors.
Members of the 4WDM MSA include Applied Optoelectronics Inc, Broadcom Ltd, Brocade, Ciena, ColorChip, Dell Inc, Finisar Corp, Foxconn Interconnect Technology Ltd, Huawei Technology Co Ltd, Inphi Corp, Intel Corp, Juniper Networks, Kaiam Corp, Lumentum, MACOM Technology, NeoPhotonics Corp, Oclaro Inc, Skorpios Technologies Inc, Source Photonics, and Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd.
4WDM MSA Group formed to drive development of 10, 20 and 40km low-cost 100G optical specifications
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