Coherent Optics

A wide range of cloud and video applications, together with the increased access speeds enabled by 5G, DAA, and next-generation PON, are driving the need for ever more optical bandwidth. To deliver this bandwidth, optical vendors are developing a broad range of coherent optical transceivers addressing different segments of the market, each with its own set of design considerations.

This paper describes how silicon photonic (SiPh) opto-electronic integration and packaging, with its improved RF performance, is designed to enable next-generation coherent transmission beyond 100Gbaud and provide network operators with the ability to avoid “half-step” capacity upgrades and allow them the full step upgrades they need without sacrificing reach or stranding network bandwidth when migrating from current-generation solutions.

This white paper explains how an ultra-high baud rate, innovative features, and a high modem signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) enable Infinera’s 800G generation Infinite Capacity Engine (ICE6) optical engine to maximize wavelength capacity-reach – the maximum wavelength data rate that can be achieved for a given reach requirement.