Precision OT, an expert in optical transceivers and related active/passive optical components, has announced what it contends is a breakthrough in delivering 100G DWDM to the edge of modern access networks.
The company has unveiled its PAM4 Access Reach (P4AR) transceiver, billed as the only commercial 100G DWDM, QSFP28 switch pluggable product that does not require dispersion compensation modules (DCM) for transmission up to 40km. With the new transceiver as its first in-house design, Precision OT says it is meeting access network operator demand for "enormous yet affordable performance boosts that are still compatible with existing network infrastructure."
"We're really excited to launch our P4AR product line, which was built specifically to meet the evolving needs of our customers," says Chris Page, CTO at Precision OT. Page continues, "Compared to existing 100G and DWDM 100G solutions, P4AR is in another league altogether. While there are a few other products in this space, the P4AR, with its 4TB max capacity, 40km reach without external equipment, QSFP28 form factor, and bidirectional capabilities, is the only product that checks off all of the boxes. Because the QSFP28 form factor is so important to our customers, we wanted to develop a product that would leverage this standard while offering a combined reach and capacity that other offerings cannot match. It's never been done before."
According to Precision OT, the P4AR transceiver will yield significant benefits for access networks bringing fiber to the edge, data centers connecting different facilities, service providers leveraging expensive dark fiber routes to join multiple sites and any other kind of network operator looking to future-proof their networks. Using the P4AR transceiver enables network operators to eliminate the use of external transport equipment, amplifiers and filters for distances up to 40 km, adds the company.
As noted by a product announcement:
Businesses and individuals are consuming rapidly growing amounts of data. As reported in Capacity Media, 5G networks will carry almost half of the world's mobile data traffic by 2025. In the same year, IDC also predicts that the world will have produced a total of 175ZB of data. As a result, access network operators are hard pressed to continue advancing their capacity and speed capabilities while keeping capital and operational expenditures manageable.
Until today, network operators have generally chosen between coherent and direct detect (DD NRZ) solutions for 100G, which Precision OT also offers. However, each has limitations. While DD NRZ solutions come in the QSFP28 form factor, they do not support the use of 100G DWDM. However, using coherent detection solutions for 100G DWDM brings its own set of challenges such as higher costs and the inability to leverage the QSFP28 form factor. P4AR solves for both sets of issues, offering network operators an attractive alternative.
"Never before have network operators and service providers had so much power in one type of transceiver," concludes David Halladay, president and CEO of Precision OT. "Our Advanced Engineering Group has worked incredibly hard to create a product that allows our customers to leverage 40 channels of 100G DWDM to handle up to 4Tbps of traffic simultaneously – all using existing switches, routers and QSFP28 ports. We believe this will be a game changer for the optical networking industry as our customers gear up to meet the demands of 5G, edge/cloud computing and the Internet of Everything."
Precision OT plans to offer initial demos of its P4AR transceivers in late Q1. To learn more, visit https://www.precisionot.com/.
