1. Serge Melle VP, Technical Marketing Infinera smelle@infinera.com
Photonic Integration: A Key Enabler for Reconfigurable Digital Optical Networks
Serge Melle
VP, Technical Marketing
Infinera

2. ROADM Benefits Any wavelength at any node
Simplify engineering and deployment compared to fixed OADM
Remote provisioning and reconfiguration
Eliminate truck rolls to intermediate sites
Reduce cost through OEO elimination – end-end wavelength networking
The underlying premise: less electronics + more optics = lower cost
But…

3. Wavelength Blocking in ROADM Networks
Allocate bandwidth on ROADM ring using available l’s
Extending ROADM consumes l’s end-end across network…
Blocking consumes extra l’s or requires OEO for l conversion…
..or creates stranded bandwidth and faster capacity exhaust
This does not scale with….
Protection; Hundreds of demands; Larger networks; Nodal connectivity
Note that animations 13 and after are just automated
32-40 l WDM

4. Sub-Wavelength Traffic in ROADM Networks
Typically many sub-l end-end demands: GbE or OC-48/STM-16
Use “Muxponders” to aggregate 8-10 x 1G or 4 x 2.5G per wavelength
Creates many point-point connections and complex planning
New demands either strand bandwidth, or consume extra wavelengths
Different muxponders for 1G and 2.5G compound complexity
Option 1:
New end-end l and muxponders
Inefficient wavelength fill
Stranded capacity & faster capacity exhaust
Note that animations 13 and after are just automated
New A-Z demand
Option 2:
Use existing l’s and muxponders
Added cost from extra interfaces
Manual inter-connects at back-back sites require truck rolls and extra OpEx
8 x 1G
2.5G
4 x 2.5G 1G 1G

5. Lets Step Back: Benefits of Electronics in Optical Networks
Reconfigurable Switching
Wide choice of switching/grooming granularity (VC-4, ODU-1, packet)
Fundamental to managing and grooming customer services
Highest level of reconfigurability
Cost per chip: 10’s to 100’s of €
Dispersion Compensation
FFE and DFE can compensate upwards of 1000ps/nm
MLSE can correct upwards of 3000ps/nm dispersion
Significant space savings vs. DCF
Cost per device: 10’s of €
Reach Improvement
G.709 standard defines 6dB gain FEC (Reed-Solomon)
High-gain FEC provides optical gain of 8dB to 9dB
Corrects BER of 10-3 to BER of 10-17
Cost per chip: 10’s to 100’s of €
PM and Operations
OTH and SONET/SDH Overhead
Extensive digital PM at all OEO nodes
J0/B1, BIP-8
FEC bit error rate monitoring
Communication channels for OAM&P
SONET/SDH DCC and OTH TCM

6. Relative Costs of OEO – The “O” vs. the “E”
Accessing the Data
Manipulating the Data
High cost of OEO conversion compared to the cost for manipulating the data
Implementing feature-rich network & service functionality incurs a cost premium
Silicon cost is not the problem…
…it is the conversion cost from Optical to Electronic
Relative Costs per 10G

7. Why are OEO’s Expensive? Discrete Optics
100 Gb/s Transmit
100 Gb/s Receive

8. Infinera’s Photonic Integrated Circuit Innovation
100 Gb/s Transmit
100Gb/s Transmit
100Gb/s Receive
5mm
DIRECT BENEFITS:
Reduce size, power, cost and improve reliability
STRATEGIC BENEFITS:
Low-cost OEO conversion re-enables digital networking
Result: Lower CapEx, lower OpEx, more flexible reconfigurable optical network
100 Gb/s Receive

9. Photonic Integration Enables a “Digital” ROADM
Use (analog) photonics for what it does best: transmission
Use (digital) electronics for everything else – more functionality / lower cost
Consistent with other network elements: SONET/SDH, switches, routers …
Integrated Photonics
Digital Electronics
& Software
Integrated Photonics
Signal regeneration
Error correction
Performance monitoring
Sub-l add/drop
Sub-l Grooming & switching
Multi-Service Multiplexing
Protection
optical (analog)
electrical (digital)
optical (analog)

10. Infinera DTN: First PIC-based Digital ROADM
100G per line card
Digital ROADM WDM system
Distributed electronic OTU1 switch fabric
SONET/SDH, Wave and Ethernet-based add/drop
End-end GMPLS control plane
Broadly deployed since 2004

11. Reconfigurable “Digital” Add/Drop
Switched WDM with sub-l grooming at all nodes
Removes wavelength blocking constraints – any point to any point
Maximizes WDM capacity on every link - no stranded bandwidth
“Switched WDM” eliminates back-to-back transponder connections
“Mix and match” of 1G, 2.5G, 10G and 40G services on any wavelength
Scales with network capacity, number of nodes, network size/distance
N x 100G WDM
N x 100G WDM
N x 100G WDM
N x 100G WDM

12. Digital ROADM Service Provisioning & Engineering
Full Digital OAM&P at each Digital Node
Optical link and impairments management isolated between nodes
Optical service layer independent of optical transmission layer
Eliminates all constraints on end-end service path
Enhance access to PM and OAM&P data at all nodes
Simplify network planning, system engineering and service turn-up
“4R” OEO-based
management
Digital
Node
Digital
Node
Digital Link
Optical link management isolated between nodes
A – Z Service
Demand
Digital
Node
Digital
Node
Digital
Node

13. GMPLS-Enabled Networking at Every Node
UNI signaling for IP-optical inter-networking
GMPLS restoration capability in the transport layer with sub-l circuit granularity
UNI
Fiber
Cut
GMPLS auto- discovery of circuit & physical topology of network & services
GMPLS-enabled end-end auto- provisioning between all nodes

14. Architecture Impacts of Digital ROADMs
Unconstrained reconfigurability at every node
Sub-l granularity for grooming, switching and add/drop
Consolidate DWDM transport & switching in core
Topology/distance-independent service activation
Support linear, ring and mesh topologies
Integrated sub-l protection & restoration
End-end GMPLS control plane enables service automation
Extensive digital PMs and diagnostics
Robust digital protection

15. Integration: Heart of a New Strategy
100 Gb/s Transmit
OTH & Packet-Centrism
O-E-O: Manage Digital Bits
PMs, Protect, Switch, Reconfigure
Space, Power, Cost, Reliability, Scale
Device Elimination
Ethernet- GigE, 10G, 100G; GMPLS
100 Gb/s Receive

16. Thank You