It is understood that in order to meet the needs of the carrier backbone network expansion, 400G will be the backbone of the network upgrade and new direction. At present, 400G related Standards Organization IEEE, ITU-T and OIF three major international standards organizations and China's CCSA in the 400G standard-setting work has made a phased progress.

To this end, Ofweek Optical Communication Network editor exclusive interview with the EXFO transmission product line manager Karim Fahim, to explore the challenges and opportunities facing 400G, the following is the transcript of the interview:

400G out of the picture: EXFO offers complete testing solutions In the network transmission aspect, 100G is moving toward 400G evolution, what is behind the impetus?

What is the current situation of 400G deployment abroad? Karim Fahim: Most people think that 100G just appeared, why should launch 400G? In fact, 100G technology appeared 7 or 8 years ago. At present, the demand for 400G is mainly from the network demand for more bands. Along with the rapid development of the network, many applications need more and more band support.

For example, the transition from 4G to 5G requires more bands, and the rapid development of global data centers also requires more bands. To this end, more and more large-scale systems suppliers and equipment manufacturers around the world have begun to develop 400G solutions, and many data center companies are looking to change through these solutions.

Meanwhile, large operators are actively planning to evolve to 400G. What is your opinion on the development trend of 400G? What are the issues facing the current 400G deployment process?

What are the latest developments at home and abroad? Karim Fahim: I think the biggest challenge for developing 400G now is the emergence of new technologies. On the Internet, there are 400G and new flex technologies that did not appear before. The same is true for OTN, although we have a new definition of OTUCN structure and usage, but Flex Otn is still a novel technology. In addition, the need to transfer 400G optical modules, new technologies and new products are also being introduced.

Therefore, for 400G development, there is a need to quickly integrate a large number of new technologies and make them available to deploy to the network to provide users with the best capacity of the system. In the specific deployment of 400G process, will also face many problems, the first is to reduce the cost of new technology. For carriers, the biggest challenge for deploying new technologies is the cost of upgrading upgrades for deployed networks. Completely abandon the old network to adopt a new network certainly unrealistic, network evolution needs smooth transition. Deployed networks must be reliable, efficient, and cost effective.

Therefore, for 400G applications of the optical module, must be reliable and low-cost. At present, China's several major equipment manufacturers in the 400G system development in a leading position, many operators also want to transfer the network to 400G as soon as possible, which is the consensus of global development. Among them, North America and China have great interest in 400G, and many large enterprises and manufacturers in the world are planning the future deployment of 400G.

EXFO maintains close partnerships with these global customers. With the rapid development of data center, what are the opportunities and challenges for optical communication enterprises?

How does EXFO help companies cope with challenges? Karim Fahim: As I mentioned earlier, one of the drivers of network value and demand growth is the data center, which is using a lot of fiber and bandwidth. For EXFO, there are many opportunities for testing and developing solutions for fiber and related protocols. As the data center plays an increasingly important role in the definition of network technology.

The data center will be one of the most important drivers for 400G, which also offers new opportunities for EXFO and other companies to offer relevant optical solutions. For EXFO, our solutions can help customers build more reliable, efficient, and cost effective networks. For example, in 100G deployment, both the transport network and the data center customer are faced with the challenges of transceiver exceptions. To this end, we have launched a very simple test application--ioptics solution that allows customers to quickly evaluate the transceiver's work. There will be more time and more efficient troubleshooting, which significantly reduces downtime and the probability of failure. In addition, we have many success stories in improving the stability and reliability of our customers ' network operations.

At the same time, we extend these successful experiences to 400G areas. The upcoming 5G and IoT era will bring about explosive growth in data and connectivity.

How does EXFO help companies uncover the value behind their data? Karim Fahim: On this issue, I think we should look at two different aspects. On the one hand, 5G and IoT will bring more data requirements to the network, this also means more bandwidth, which in turn speeds up the development and deployment of 400G, and, on the other hand, EXFO has developed additional solutions for the management and analysis of massive amounts of data, helping users to understand these massive data and extract important information.

To further improve its network performance. What are the main products that EXFO shows in this exhibition?

What are the characteristics and performance advantages? Karim Fahim: In this light Expo, we show the main products for the new 400G Network testing program. Based on a new ftbx-88400nge model, with full 400G testing capabilities, including 400G Ethernet, Flex E, OTUCN, Flex Otn, and CFP8. The program also has ioptics test applications for testing new 400G transceivers. As a result, it is a complete solution to help system vendors and device manufacturers develop 400G solutions. At the same time, the data center and transport network through the implementation of these solutions to achieve a seamless 400G transition.

What is EXFO's plan for future development?

What is the direction of focus? Karim Fahim: Technology never stops progressing, there are always new technologies emerging. For example, about 7-8 years ago, EXFO was one of the first companies to launch a 100G test solution for the market. We have also launched the 400G test solution at the early stage of the 400G deployment. We will continue to develop and add more features and features to our test equipment. Our aim is to provide the best tools for our customers: to shorten the product development cycle and accelerate time-to-market for equipment manufacturers, to ensure smooth operation and the reliability of the network as far as the data center and carrier customers are concerned.

This is also the impetus for us to continuously provide the best innovation and solutions for the market. At present, our main focus is on 400G.

Because the technology is still in its infancy, many development work is needed, which is our focus in the future. As the industry is booming, it seems that we were talking about 100G yesterday, and today we are starting to talk about 400G. I am very much looking forward to the innovations and the advantages of the 400G, which we will continue to exert.