Optical and routing systems provider Ciena has launched a 1.6Tb/s coherent-lite pluggable to help cloud and data centre providers cope with the expected growth in cloud, machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI) related traffic.
Ciena’s WaveLogic 6 Nano (WL6n) will also now be offered as both 1.6Tb/s and 800G coherent pluggable solutions to address data centre fabric and campus applications.
The 3nm coherent ASIC used in WL6n enables the 1.6 Tb/s Coherent-Lite pluggable offering through support of dual 800G data paths within a single DSP chip.
Coherent-Lite refers to the power and latency-optimised coherent design, intended for shorter reach, data centre applications, according to Ciena.
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“The rapid adoption of AI and machine learning applications will create a new wave in global bandwidth demand,” said LightCounting chief analyst Dr. Vlad Kozlov.
“Cloud and data centre providers are responding by creating high-capacity connections inside and around data centres. Ciena’s 1.6 Tb/s coherent pluggable offering, powered by advanced 3nm CMOS, brings new levels of scale and flexibility in how data centres are built.”
“As capacity scales to higher rates, traditional data centre technologies will start to hit physical limits, and coherent technology will begin to make its way into and around the data centre. We saw the same phenomenon play out in wide area networks,” said Ciena senior vice president of global research and development Dino DiPerna.
“Building on the success of our WaveLogic innovations, our 1.6Tb/s coherent pluggable will deliver the performance, footprint, and power efficiency that our customers are looking for to support new data centre designs.”
Last week, Telstra achieved a 1.6Tb/s through a single optical channel over 700km with Ericsson using Ciena’s WaveLogic 6 Extreme (WL6e).
Last August, Ciena and Arelion hit the world’s first 1.6Tb/s wavelength data transmission in a live network field trial, which took place over Arelion’s 470km route connecting its Ashburn, VA (Equinix) and Telxius’ Virginia Beach cable landing station, Zacks Equity Research reported.
Ciena’s WL6n Coherent ASIC will be available for electro-optic integration by the end of this year. The WL6n 1.6 Tb/s pluggable prototype will be showcased in Ciena’s booth at ECOC 2024 (A14).