This white paper explores strategies to address the challenge of providing the highest level of network availability at the optimal cost for each service.

This white paper looks at a new approach to building the metro optical layer based on miniaturizing optical layer functions (e.g. amplification, monitoring, wavelength selective switching, and optical supervisory channel) into compact pluggables. In addition to exploring pluggable optical layer use cases, this white paper examines the benefits of pluggables and provides comparisons with traditional approaches, including individual modules and system-on-a-blade architectures as well as fixed WDM and ROADM.

Aerial fiber plays an important role in the global fiber infrastructure. While cheaper to deploy compared to buried fiber, an obvious challenge for aerial fiber is the exposure to harsh environmental conditions, including thunderstorms. While legacy direct detect transmission technology such as 10Gbps is inherently immune to perturbations caused by severe weather, coherent technology with bit rates exceeding 100Gbps presents new challenges. This white paper discusses the physics of fiber perturbations due to lightning strikes, the resulting challenges for coherent transponders, and how new technology solutions deliver superior resilience to adverse conditions.