Low cost OEO optics may change Internet architecture

For more information on this item please visit the CANARIE CA*net 4 Optical 
Internet program web site at http://www.canarie.ca/canet4/library/list.html
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[The dramatic drop of high speed OEO optics such as the new 10G CWDM and
Infinera's recent announcement may have significant impact on Internet
architectures. Although a lot of optical research is still focused on all
optical (OOO) solutions - these require complex and expensive analog
engineering skills to build and operate. Cheap OEO with CWDM allows the
creation of "optical enterprise networks" which can be then interconnected
with MSPP boxes to create wide area discipline or enterprise specific IP
networks.  A good example of this architecture is the connection of one of
Canada's high energy physics lab (TRIUMF) to the CA*net 4 network. Although
TRIUMF is part of the University of British C campus it has its own 10G CWDM
links directly connecting its servers to the CA*net 4 MSPP switch located in
downtown Vancouver.  The MSPP switch cross connects the CWDM links to
lightpaths on the CA*net 4 network. With User Controlled LightPath software
(UCLP) researcher can then interconnect their lightpaths with other high
energy physics laboratories around the world - in effect creating a
discipline specific IP network. Some excerpts from Lightreading articles --
BSA]

http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=51333
News Analysis: XFP Prices Plummet


Prices are falling rapidly on XFP modules for 10-Gbit/s Ethernet interfaces,
to the point where XFP could get cheaper than Xenpak -- a slightly older
interface -- by the end of the year. 

The price shift could accelerate the already rapid descent of 10-Gbit/s
Ethernet equipment prices. 


Infinera Declares WDM War
http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=52014&site=lightreading


Infinera's system, called the DTN, can do both Wavelength Division
Multiplexing (WDM) and add/drop multiplexing (ADM). The radical part is that
Infinera does this by forcing every wavelength through an
optical-electrical-optical (OEO) conversion. 

That's a break from mainstream WDM thinking, where OEO is considered
cumbersome. "The fundamental assumption of this industry for the last seven
years has been that OEO was expensive," says Infinera CEO Jagdeep Singh.
"The whole industry has been organized around trying to get rid of OEO."

To cheapen OEO -- in a good way -- Infinera designed two densely packed
indium phosphide (InP) chips, one for transmission and one for receiving.
Each crams 10 channels of 10-Gbit/s OEO processing into a space less than 5
mm2 -- in the case of the transmitting chip, that's 10 lasers, 10
modulators, waveguides, and an optical multiplexer.


But what really makes the DTN interesting is one side effect of its OEO
nature. Carriers using the DTN can change add/drop assignments at will,
simply by swapping out linecards, without having to do the planning or
tweaking associated with all-optical WDM. That could be Infinera's trump
card, because it means DTN is not only cheap, but gives carriers a level of
flexibility they've never had. 


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