Ciena unveils stackable long-haul DCI system with enhancements to Waveserver  

Ciena  has extended the value and benefits of its Waveserver data center interconnect (DCI) platform into long-haul applications with a richer set of reach and capacity options. The industry’s first stackable DCI system for any distance, Waveserver leverages Ciena’s WaveLogic 3 Extreme chipset to maximise transport capacity on the fly and meet surging demand for cloud and content-on-demand requirements. The new technology inside Waveserver can equip today’s networks to provide 200 Gb/s wavelengths at greater than 1,000 km distances and 100 Gb/s wavelengths in excess of 10,000 km.

The web-scale effect is driving network providers to invest heavily in interconnecting data centers not only within metropolitan areas, but across long distances between cities as well. According to Ovum’s global long-haul network DCI forecast, the market is growing at seven percent CAGR and is expected to reach $1.5 billion by 2019. Waveserver’s new long-haul capabilities allow Ciena customers to build long-haul DCI networks with a web-scale operational paradigm.

Waveserver is in customer trials today and will be generally available in October 2015. Long-haul optics capabilities on the platform are expected to be available in the first quarter of 2016.

Waveserver brings an open, programmable and scalable approach to “any-haul’ networks, leveraging Ciena’s intelligent software and analytics tools to allow network providers to read system data in real-time and determine how bandwidth can be maximized. Waveserver easily integrates into data center environments, because it takes an open standards approach to software APIs and interoperates with third-party line systems, helping data center operators and network providers get the most out of existing assets. The platform supports 400G in one rack unit with 16QAM now for extended distances with flexible modulation formats available, including QPSK and now, the latest 8QAM capability available via WaveLogic 3 Extreme, for the longest hauls needed.

Powered by Ciena’s WaveLogic 3 Extreme chipset, Waveserver enables real-time monitoring of network parameters, best-in-class soft-decision forward error correction, signal shaping and recovery techniques to overcome distance challenges when operating across long spans and ROADM sites. With a view into margin levels, channel counts, and grid utilization, Waveserver will have the ability to determine if capacity can be maximized by changing modulation formats and dynamically assigning 100G, 150G and 200G wavelengths on flexible grid networks. This will give network operators the option to automatically gain more capacity while leveraging existing network assets.

These enhancements further cement Ciena’s established DCI market leadership based revenues from Ovum’s last published market share analysis. As the pioneer in coherent technology for commercial optical systems, Ciena has deployed more than 70 million coherent kilometers across the world, the equivalent to more than 90 round trips to the moon.