Reach limitation of direct detection technologies at higher speeds will expand the need for coherent detection, said Bill Gartner, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Cisco’s Optical Systems and Optics Group, speaking in a Tech Talk webinar hosted by Evercore ISI. This possibly includes the need for coherent optics inside the data center when line rates exceed 1.6 Tbps.
The discussion, which focuses on Cisco’s optical strategy, portfolio evolution and market dynamics, tracks $6 billion in acquisitions that Cisco has completed over the past decade: Core Optics (2010), Lightwire (2012), Leaba (2016), Luxtersa (2019) and Acacia (2021).
Looking ahead, Gartner says the combination of massively-scalable routers and DWDM pluggables will lead to a simplified, flat, hop-to-hop architecture for Internet backbones.
The discussion also covers 400ZR momentum, the competitive landscape, co-packaged optical (CPO) switch technology, the Acacia acquisition and Cisco’s role as an independent component supplier.
An archive of the webcast is posted on Cisco’s Investor relations website.
