admin, Author at Enlightened Analysis

Broadcom, Cisco, Inphi and the Timing for Co-Packaged Optics: A CIR Research Note

February 17, 2021

In the past few months two important announcements have been made showing different ways forward for the Co-Packaged Optics (CPO) business. One of these announcements came from a duo of Cisco and Inphi. It shows perhaps a certain amount of caution about CPO. For various reasons, Broadcom is a tad more optimistic. However, announcements from

Broadcom, Cisco, Inphi and the Timing for Co-Packaged Optics: A CIR Research Note Read More »

Five Companies to Watch in the Edge Computing Space

February 17, 2021

Participants in the edge computing market include tech giants such as Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Dell EMC, Cisco, HPE and Intel. However, we are also witnessing newer players coming into the market with innovative edge-focused offerings, that are attracting capital from both independent venture capital firms and the venture arms of the biggest players. CIR believes

Five Companies to Watch in the Edge Computing Space Read More »

Edge Computing Platforms will Shape the Next Datacom Revolution

February 11, 2021

In much the way that the past decade in datacom was defined by video applications, the next decade will be defined by smart systems – self-driving cars, Internet-of-Things (IoT) and AI (very smart systems). At the infrastructure level, what CIR thinks this will mean is that the priority will be low latency; the video revolution

Edge Computing Platforms will Shape the Next Datacom Revolution Read More »

Edge Computing Routers – A New Product Trend

February 8, 2021

Edge computing routers are an integral part of the edge computing infrastructure but have received less attention from major supplier who remain largely focused on traditional routers. In many current implementations of edge computing, fairly standard routers are being use but we expect that this will change. Traditional and core routers are not intended to

Edge Computing Routers – A New Product Trend Read More »

Equipment and Chip Opportunities Emerge from Edge Computing in 2021

February 1, 2021

Edge computing (EC) embodies an old and simple idea – siphon of traffic with special characteristics from the main network to a local network. The primary network now has more capacity for general traffic while the local network can be designed specifically for the needs of local users. The newer concepts of edge computing are

Equipment and Chip Opportunities Emerge from Edge Computing in 2021 Read More »

Co-Packaged Optics: Of Form Factors and Future Fights

December 9, 2020

Co-packaged optics (CPO) is flavor of the month right now; the question is, what kind of CPO? There will surely be different form factors for data centers and telecommunications, and interconnects, sensors, and supercomputing. But there will also be different form factors proposed for CPO for within the data center. Based on recent presentations by

Co-Packaged Optics: Of Form Factors and Future Fights Read More »

Open Questions on Co-Packaging Standardization

November 17, 2020

The Co-Packaging Framework IA (Implementers Agreement) effort just announced by the OIF is a strong endorsement for co-packaging; a technology platform whose star is in the ascendant. Co-packaging was – as recently as two years ago — considered a futuristic platform, but much attention has been brought to it as the hyperscale data center managers

Open Questions on Co-Packaging Standardization Read More »

Big Firms Back Co-Packaged Optics

November 17, 2020

Co-packaged optics is the ultimate direction for the long-touted “optical integration” meme. In theory, co-packaged optics wraps up active optics and active electronics wrapped to avoid the thermal/power inefficiencies inherent in conventional approaches to high-speed optoelectronics. A few years back when CIR investigated which technology platforms would take data centers into the 400/800G era, we

Big Firms Back Co-Packaged Optics Read More »

Why Do We Need 800G?

September 24, 2020

In 2020 as the first widescale deployments of 400G are taking place in data centers, the industry is already thinking of 800G networking and beyond. Three technologies are being proposed to support 800G interfaces. One of these is a pluggable option, much like 400G transceivers and the transceivers that preceded 400G. The other two are

Why Do We Need 800G? Read More »

The Future of 400G AOCs in the Data Center

June 29, 2020

This year was supposed to be the big one for 400G. Switches based on12.8T ASICs with a capacity of 32 x 400G ports were released in 2019, potentially enabling significant deployments of 400G in the data center in 2020. Service providers have been experimenting with 200G, 400G and 600G modules for about seven years, but

The Future of 400G AOCs in the Data Center Read More »

The Remote PHY Strategy in the Cable TV Industry

June 3, 2020

The origins of most recent technological innovation in networking can be traced back to the growing need for bandwidth and this in turn to the demand for streamed video, multiple IP devices in homes, etc. Starting almost a decade ago, MSOs began to consider Converged Cable Access Platforms (CCAP) as a way to replace edge

The Remote PHY Strategy in the Cable TV Industry Read More »

25G for 5G: An Emerging Market for 25G Networks in the Mobile Infrastructure

May 26, 2020

Optical fiber in cellular infrastructure was first deployed in the 80s — much the same time that fiber was also creeping into wireline networks for the first time. Then as now, the primary driver for fiber deployment was bandwidth demand, which will soon take a great leap forward as 5G cellular replaces the 4G generations

25G for 5G: An Emerging Market for 25G Networks in the Mobile Infrastructure Read More »