Apparently, Xtera Communications’ desire to exit the optical business can no longer be characterized at all as graceful, but as somewhat frantic. There had been…
Category: Cables
Google Fiber Fizzles as Predicted
In March, we posted an article called “Google’s Fiber: Laugh All the Way to Bank,” in which we stated: “While [Alphabet’s] Google has made a…
Submarine Festoons Needed in US
Although undersea festoon networks can be found in many parts of the world, one would be hard-pressed to locate a single case in the States.…
Broadcom’s Tomahawk 3: An Optics Riddle
There is a mystery concerning stranded capacity as Broadcom’s StrataXGS Tomahawk 3 next-gen switching chipset offers quite a bit of bandwidth with a total capacity…
Multicore Fiber: Just a Cool Design for Now
Research on MultiCore Fiber (MCF) was first conducted almost four decades ago. It is definitely a real and a cool technology, and a user could…
Microsoft’s Flatter Data Center Difficulty
Despite the greater efficiency of the newer networks of the hyperscalers, as their infrastructure continues to grow in size, they will gradually start grappling with…
AOCs: Unappealing Choice Up to 30 Meters
Assuming Microsoft goes ahead with a proposed project of a flattened switch architecture in its data centers, the use of Active Optical Cables (AOCs) for…
100G PSM4 Pricing at $2/Gig and Lower
At the Rump Session at OFC 2017, the topic for debate will be “Sub $0.25/Gbps Optics; How and When will Fiber Finally Kill Copper Cable…
Higher Stakes with Web 2.0 Undersea Apps
One of the most interesting discussions at the OIDA Executive Forum Program will be the panel on “Internet Content Providers Building Out Undersea Networks –…
Mellanox: Dreadful Timing on “SiPh” Halt
The day after it became public that Mellanox Technologies’ biggest shareholder, Starboard Value, sent a letter along with slides to the CEO and the Board…