To address the needs of data centre operators, Ekinops has introduced its new 200G muxponder. Powerful, compact and with very low energy consumption, this 200G muxponder enables a substantial increase in capacity of optical transport networks to meet the needs of the data centre interconnect (DCI) market.
Because energy consumption is one of the major concerns for data centre operators and cloud service providers, the new Ekinops 200G muxponder was designed to be as energy efficient as possible. With a consumption of just under 130W per 200G, it is the most energy-efficient equipment available on the market, the company claims.
The Ekinops 200G muxponder is a plug-in card, compatible with existing 2RU or 7RU chassis which could already be equipped with 10G or 100G solutions. With its small footprint, it enables substantial upgrades, packing 2x200G in a 2RU space and 6x200G in a 7RU space.
The company says the product provides a powerful response to capacity constraints. Thanks to its single-channel interface, the Ekinops 200G muxponder allows 37.5GHz channel spacing, so that it can deliver 128 x 200G channels in the C-band and therefore carry 25.6Tb/s per fibre. It is also compatible with 50GHz or 100GHz configurations.
Moreover, thanks to its small footprint, 88 muxponders can be placed in a 44RU rack, bringing the total capacity to over 35Tb/s per rack.
The 200G muxponder uses 16QAM modulation and Ekinops coherent technology, which provides a range of 160km (100 miles) without signal regeneration.
Compatible with 8G Fibre Channel or 10G, 40G, and 100G Ethernet ports, the new Ekinops 200G muxponder allows operators to use a single type of optical pluggable for all client configurations. It allows them to opt for a gradual ramp up of their investment on a ‘pay-as-you-grow’ basis.
“As more and more data and business applications migrate to the cloud, keeping up with the explosion of data transport is a huge challenge for data centre operators and cloud service providers,” said Francois Xavier Ollivier, chief operating officer of Ekinops. “Our new 200G solution allows them to grow the capacity of their networks to meet growing demand while preserving the granularity and flexibility for lower rates, such as 8G and 10G.”