Fiber optic network is a type of communications network that uses glass fibers to transmit information in the form of light.. These networks are characterized by their high speed, high data transmission capacity and reliability.
In 2023, most of the prominent technology trends are related to fast network connectivity. This will lead to further development of networks of Fiber optic cable. Some of the trends to follow in the optical network sector are the following.
Pluggable Optical Components
Sterling Perrin, Optical Network Analyst at Heavy Reading, sees the use of pluggable optical components as an important trend. These include the 400ZR and ZR+ coherent optical modules, small 100G coherent pluggable devices, pluggable devices in 5G XHaul and PON networks.
Transportation in the Data Center
Lisa Huff, Omdia Principal Optical Network Analyst, will be very attentive to see if the transport of 800G and 1.6T will be available in the data centers. According to her, 400G deployments are currently underway at Omdia data centers. As usual, there are many discussions around the next data transmission speed.
Omdia will start deploying 2x400G and 8x100G solutions in data centers in 2023. Nevertheless, no large displays will be seen until around 2025, when DR4 and FR4 mature and 400G starts to slow down. Rollout of the 1.6T could start in 2026, although Lisa Huff affirms that it could be in 2027 or later.
Next Generation DSP
Economic recessions often affect the sales of optical communication systems. Pero Jimmy Yu, Vice President of Dell'Oro, says that the situation could be different in 2023. Supply shortages will be alleviated, which will allow manufacturers to have more shipments and higher revenue.
Cisco has already announced the DSP (digital signal processing) coherent of 1,2 Tbit/s for 2023. Jimmy Yu expects Ciena and Infinera to announce plans for next-generation coherent DSP.
Consistent Routing
Timothy Munks, Omdia Principal Analyst, states that data traffic is growing massively at the edge of the network. Network operators are looking for better solutions to collect this data traffic and move it to the metropolitan and core networks..
The consistent routing can provide cost-effective transport and aggregation for different traffic flows. It can also offer network operators a purely à la carte growth business model..
Smart Fiber Optic Networks
Smart fiber optic networks are networks that use artificial intelligence to optimize performance. Artificial intelligence can be used to automatically identify and correct network problems. This allows for a more efficient and reliable network..
Besides, AI can be used to predict future traffic patterns and demand. This information can be used to configure capacity in advance and ensure that the network can meet demand..
Fiber optic networks are already an essential element of many large network infrastructures. The optical cable communication is a fundamental pillar of the Internet and has ushered in an era of unprecedented technological advances. As technologies like 5G mature, optical networks will continue to play an important role in an increasingly digital world.