Acacia Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACIA) last week announced it now offers a 100G DWDM coherent transceiver for edge and access applications and a bidirectional module that targets fiber-limited networks. Both modules should appeal to cable MSO operators, according to the company.
The DWDM optical module comes in a QSFP-DD form factor. Tom Williams, vice president of marketing at Acacia, says the DWDM optical transceiver should meet emerging aggregation and 10G upgrade requirements in such edge and access applications as 5G mobile fronthaul/midhaul/backhaul as well as the networks of cable operators, particularly as they move to Distributed Access Architectures.
“The edge of the network is evolving, and we’re bringing new solutions to market designed to provide scale and ease of use for new applications around IoT and edge computing,” commented Jörg-Peter Elbers, senior vice president of advanced technology at systems house ADVA, via an Acacia press release. “As service providers upgrade their access and aggregation infrastructure, it is only a matter of time before coherent technologies make inroads in this space. Acacia has been a leading provider of pluggable coherent optics and their latest innovation provides interesting possibilities.”
The bi-directional coherent 100G module targets applications where operators can’t afford to devote separate fibers to transmit and receive. Williams again pointed to cable network operators as a likely user of the optical transceiver, which comes in a CFP2-DCO package.
“Cignal AI recognized an opportunity for 100G coherent in the edge and access market back in 2018, and Acacia is the first to aggressively pursue it,” said Scott Wilkinson, lead analyst at Cignal AI, via a second press release. “The time is right for network operators, such as cable MSOs, to bring coherent technology to their fiber-constrained networks, where Acacia’s bi-directional module can help them increase capacity.”
Williams says Acacia has a roadmap toward 200G and 400G for all three of the new 100G coherent modules. However, he declined to discuss the timing for such upgraded devices, as 100G will meet market needs for now, he said.
