Optical interconnect networks for datacom and computercom

Traditional telecom applications spend more at the link end points to maximize spectral efficiency of long-distance fiber links - see for example recent R&D on coherent transmission devices ; For datacom, spectral efficiency tends to be traded for lower power, cheaper transceiver cost and a network fabric with abundant path diversity. ; Within the datacenter, fiber resources are much more abundant, cheap, and easy to deploy. Thus, the transceiver cost must be aggressively reduced ; As we enter an age of network affluence, the focus shifts to quality of service & application awareness ; Five Mega-Trends affect optical network design in the data center: - Big Data Centers - Big Data - PODs (and new network architectures) - Network becomes Smarter & More Open - Network Virtualization ; Virtualization of the network is the next big frontier - Software-defined Networking (OpenFlow + DOVE overlays) are a disruptive technology in this landscape - Application velocity and deployment velocity become equally important ; The most cost effective path forward requires open standards and interoperable networks ; Business process improvement provides more value add for IT than capex/opex reduction.