How to Make Coherent Optics Small and Pluggable: Cisco Optics Podcast Episode 21 notes – Cisco Blogs

Episode 21 of the Cisco Optics Podcast is now posted! See below for episode notes.

Podcast episodes are now being added to the Cisco Optics playlist on YouTube!

Cisco Optics Podcast Episode 21

Cisco Optics Podcast Episode 21. How to Make Coherent Optics Small and Pluggable, with Tom Williams. Part 2 of 5.

Coherent optics have been the go-to solution for high-end optical transport systems for years. Eventually these optics were modularized and with recent advances in DSP design and optics manufacturing, this technology is now available in small form factor pluggable modules. Cisco recognized the importance of this technology and acquired the industry’s leader in this space, Acacia Communications in March of 2021. In Episode 21, we continue our conversation with Tom Williams, Director of Technical Marketing, who joined Cisco via the Acacia acquisition. We get into Acacia’s unique approach to making coherent optics.
– Pat Chou, Cisco Optics Product Manager

Tom Williams leads marketing efforts for the Acacia coherent optics team that was acquired by Cisco in March 2021. Tom has spent over 20 years developing optical transmission equipment ranging from 10G to 1.2T. He participates in a variety of coherent standardization activities in OIF, IEEE and Open ROADM and is co-chair of the OpenZR+ MSA. Tom spent nearly 15 years in various management roles at Optium, where he participated in the company’s 2006 IPO and 2008 acquisition by Finisar. Tom joined Acacia in 2015, where his role has included corporate and product marketing responsibility, as well as contributing to product roadmap definitions.

Related links

Cisco Optics-to-Device Compatibility Matrix: https://tmgmatrix.cisco.com/
Cisco Optics-to-Optics Interoperability Matrix: https://tmgmatrix.cisco.com/iop
Cisco Optics Product Information: https://copi.cisco.com/

Listen to Episode 21

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Timestamps

2:22     Acacia’s uniqueness early on
5:45     Solving system problems efficiently
7:14     Advantages of silicon photonics in coherent optics
11:18   Components in early coherent products
13:05   Differences between silicon photonics and indium phosphide integration
18:41   What is a PIC?
19:08   Power consumption of silicon photonics

Music credits

Sunny Morning by FSM Team

Upbeat by Mixaund

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Additional resources

Cisco Optics Podcast
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Cisco Optics YouTube playlist
Cisco Optics landing page