Menara Networks has started volume shipments of its flagship 100G CFP pluggable optical module using direct detection for metro and data centre interconnection.
Menara’s 100G CFP module is based on the dispersion-tolerant optical duo-binary modulation format (ODB), which provides extended reach of up to 300km. This technology allows existing 10G DWDM infrastructure to be upgraded to 100G without the prohibitive cost, footprint and power of a coherent solution, the company says.
The module offers dual-rate, full C-band tunable optics in a standards-compliant CFP form factor with a standard CAUI interface. The module accepts either 100 Gigabit Ethernet or OTU-4 client signals, and provides four 25Gb/s or 28Gb/s DWDM wavelengths on the line side. Each DWDM channel can be independently tuned across the entire C-band 50-GHz grid. The module also includes built-in PRBS generation and link checking, consumes less than 24W and is compatible with all major routers and MPLS switches.
“There is a genuine need for cost-effective 100G solutions for the metro and data centre interconnect markets,” observed Andrew Schmitt, research director for carrier transport networking at IHS. “While coherent cost and power consumption continues to improve, there is definitely an opportunity for other approaches. We expect direct detection 100G and 400G solutions to play a significant role in the 80km and below market in the coming few years.”
Siraj Nour ElAhmadi, Menara co-founder and CEO said: “With several hundred units shipped to date, we have successfully enabled our Internet exchange providers and data centre operator customers to quickly and efficiently turn-up 100G services between their data centres. Across Europe, USA and South America, our customers deployed our metro DWDM CFP directly into their routers without the need to dedicate valuable space in their data centres for 100G DWDM transponders.”
Menara Networks is also introducing the Wave Master, a companion product to its 100G DWDM CFP designed to simplify and streamline the turn up and testing of 100G links. The compact device comes with a simple graphical interface to allow the user to tune each channel wavelength individually, run full diagnostics on the DWDM CFP and run bit error rate (BER) tests for link characterisation.