Transmode, a supplier of packet-optical networking solutions, has launched a family of High Density Design Hex transponder units, each of which contains six independent transponder functions in a single slot. The new units are suited to high density and low power applications, such as data centre applications, with up to 192 ports / 96 transponders in a single 11u chassis and power consumption as low as 5W per 10G transponder function including optics.
Following quickly after the company's recent announcement of the high-density and low power Metro 100G Solution, this new announcement extends the company's existing high-density 10G capabilities by a further 50 per cent with the move from Quad cards to Hex cards. The new family includes three versatile plug-in units for the widely-deployed TM-Series. The range of new units includes a Hex OTN Transponder, a Hex Transparent Transponder and a Hex Intelligent WDM (iWDM(TM)) Transponder.
The Transparent Transponder supports any service from 614 Mbit/s CPRI to FC-16 Fibre Channel. Using the same ultra-low latency and Superior Sync design as its predecessors, this unit is ideal for applications that require a high performance operation such as mobile fronthaul and low latency data centre interconnect, with latency of less than 4ns, according to Transmode.
The OTN and iWDM framed Transponders support a wide range of 10G services such as 10G Ethernet, OTN, SDH/SONET and Fibre Channel and are ideal for networks requiring OTN or Transmode's own iWDM capabilities.
The range of new units will bring better economics to metro 10G applications as well as greater flexibility due to the broad range of services supported over a single unit. Each unit supports totally independent operation of each transponder function with no constraints on operation or supported services.
Real-world deployment scenarios require more than just transponders in a chassis. These new units support highly-dense configurations with either 40 channels in a single TM-3000 chassis (11u) or 80 channels in two chassis, with plenty of space for all necessary common components and spare room for future upgrades to 100G services. In some scenarios, such as data centre interconnect where a smaller number of common components are required, it is possible to fit all 80 channels into a single chassis 13u configuration providing ultra-dense 10G networking.