Infinera, XO Test 100G Coherent PICs in Field Trial

Infinera (NASDAQ:INFN, news, filings) seems to be moving rapidly toward a 100G coherent product.  Today they announced the successful completion of a field trial on the network of XO Communications.  In the Spring, Infinera shifted gears away from its 40G development and chose to immediately chase PICs based on 100G technology.  For Infinera, of course, being first to the 100G game is not the goal – rather by leveraging photonic integration they intend to disrupt the economics.  This time, they hope to do so much earlier in the game than they did with 10G.

The trial used Infinera’s new 500Gbps PIC, which integrates five 100G channels, on the 1348km route between Denver and Dallas.  By doing so, they were able to leverage XO’s existing installation of Infinera’s ILS WDM line system, which is 100G ready.  During the trial, that ILS system carried 10G and 100G channels simultaneously, suggesting an easy path to adoption for Infinera’s existing customer base once they make it into production.

Just when these 5x100G PICs will turn into a commercial product will be a rather important question for Infinera’s traction in the marketplace.  The plan as described in may was for 2012, but the earlier the better!

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Categories: Telecom Equipment