MRV adds data center interconnect 200G digital muxponders to OptiDriver line via CFP2-DCO optical transceivers

MRV Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRVC) has announced the addition of 200G coherent digital muxponders to its OptiDriver WDM optical transport family. The company sees the new capabilities as applicable to data center interconnect (DCI) and other fiber-optic network applications. The muxponder cards use CFP2 Digital Coherent Optics (CFP2-DCO) optical transceiver modules.

The new muxponders include a 600-Gbps "triple muxponder," which integrate a trio of independent 200G muxponders in 1RU configuration. The design approach of the muxponders, as well as that of the available 100G transponders, enables chassis-based modularity across the OptiDriver line. Management options include Ethernet and OTN/FEC PM, OTN OAM&P, as well as remote management capabilities based on GCC channels, MRV adds.

The use of pluggable optics means that a failure in a single module will affect only the module's port, not the entire line card as well as "pay as you grow" capabilities. MRV's use of CFP2-DCO optical transceivers – in which the coherent DSP silicon is embedded within the module, rather than hosted on the line card as is the case with the CFP2 Analog Coherent Optics (CFP2-ACO) optical modules – is among the first (if not actually the first) announced implementations of this transceiver type. MRV declined to identify its source for the modules or how many suppliers it has. The company is "keeping our strategy to be open for any pluggable optics from low to high speed," an MRV source wrote in response to Lightwave queries. Acacia Communications is known to be working on CFP2-DCO devices (see "Acacia Communications samples CFP2-DCO with internal coherent DSP").

The addition of the muxponders, which the MRV source wrote should become generally available this July, enables the OptiDriver platform to address end to end network requirements, from access networks to large metro and regional infrastructures, via the same set of modules and chassis, the company asserts. For example, the new modules can enable 1.2 Tbps in the 1RU OD-4-DCI chassis and up to 18 Tbps in the 10RU OD-48-HD.

"MRV is advancing flexible solutions for DCI and telco applications alike," stated Tim Doiron, principal analyst for ACG Research, via an MRV press release. "With the introduction of multiple next-generation 100G and 200G coherent DWDM transponders and muxponders for their unique, modular architecture, MRV is helping service providers in four essential areas: lower power, pluggable versatility, wire-speed encryption capability, and simplified operations."

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