Coherent’s high transmit output power 400G QSFP-DD-DCO coherent transceiver will enable true IP-over-DWDM deployments in metro and regional optical transport networks.
Reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers (ROADMs) in existing and emerging DWDM transport networks require a high optical launch power (0 dBm) and high transmit in-band and out-of-band optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) on their add ports.
The emerging OIF 400ZR and OpenZR+ MSA coherent transceivers in QSFP-DD and OSFP form factors generally have low transmit output power (-10 dBm), making them incompatible with ROADM networks. Consequently, to bridge the gap between the switch or router and the ROADM, networks still require transponder or muxponder equipment that uses coherent line interfaces either based on the larger CFP2 pluggable form factor, or on discrete component implementations on line cards.
By plugging Coherent’s high transmit output power 400G QSFP-DD-DCO transceivers directly into their switches or routers, network operators can remove the intermediate transponder/muxponder equipment layer. This immediately reduces capital expenditures for network operators. But even more important, there are tremendous savings in operational expenditures: the IP-over-DWDM architecture enabled by the Coherent QSFP-DD-DCO shrinks the amount of space that needs to be rented in central offices or co-location sites, cuts down overall electrical power consumption, lowers cooling requirements, and simply reduces the number of network elements that need to be planned, installed, managed, and maintained.
