Network service providers face challenges in determining how to scale while leveraging existing network assets and re-architecting the network to cope with the connectivity issues triggered by cloud computing and 5G deployments. Infinera believes the solution is XR optics technology.

Infinera originally developed XR optics and then contributed it to the Open XR Forum, which was founded in June. The vendor touts it as a “game-changing innovation for next-generation networks.” 

“The latest innovation in DSP [digital signal processor] and feature integration are now enabling coherent pluggable to do more than just point-to-point connection at a high rate,” Fady Masoud, director of solution marketing at Infinera, said in his presentation at LightReading’s Optical Networking Digital Symposium. “We believe that it makes business and operational sense to deploy XR optics for today's point-to-point connections.”

XR optics represents a class of pluggable solutions that enable a single laser to be divided into independently routable data streams using Nyquist subcarriers, providing point-to-multipoint coherent optical subcarrier aggregation solutions, according to Infinera.

The technology can improve the network’s capacity, flexibility, and service agility. It supports three connection modes: point to point, point to multipoint, and 4X100-Gb/s breakout, Masoud explained.

He added that deploying XR modules and the point-to-multipoint model could cut the number of transceivers required in half.

The network from the cell tower to the data center typically consists of 52 transceivers in 26 network elements and XR optics can reduce the number of transceivers required there to seven and cut switches or routers to four, Masoud said. 

XR optics also reduce capex and opex, and free up space and power that can be used to scale for 5G deployment, cloud, and edge computing, he added.

Infinera contributed XR optics to the Open XR Forum, which mandates operational tests to ensure interoperability among pluggable from different vendors, and has conducted over 30 trials to engage 150 customers, Masoud said. 

XR optics also simplify the network and enable service providers to more rapidly increase the bandwidth at the edge without rolling trucks out to sites to rip and replace hardware, according to Infinera. 

“From our perspective, XR is going to be more in the access or edge of our network,” Buddy Bayer, chief network officer at Windstream, said during the symposium. He envisions the use of XR optics modules for cell tower deployments, enterprise deployments over passive optical networks (PON), or 10 Gb/s symmetrical PON (XGS-PON).

Masoud expects 100/400XR pluggable coherent modules to be commercially available by mid-2022, and Infinera plans to introduce 800XR pluggable transceivers later in 2024.