Ribbon, Cisco Demo 1.2 Tbps Interoperability at OFC 2024

Ribbon Communications Inc., a global provider of real time communications technology and IP optical networking solutions to many of the world’s largest service providers, enterprises, and critical infrastructure operators to modernize and protect their networks, has achieved interoperability of 1.2T optical transmission in partnership with Cisco.

The demo, which will be public at OFC 2024, shows interoperability between the Ribbon Apollo 9408 and the Cisco NCS 1014, which both incorporate Acacia’s CIM 8 140Gbaud transceiver, and conforms to the OpenROADM bookended model for transponder interoperability while uniquely extending this model for multiple vendors.

“We’re launching a new era with this demonstration and showcasing a proven interoperable multivendor ecosystem for high performance optical transmission that is a new direction from what has previously been the industry’s focus,’ said Sam Bucci, Chief Operating Officer, Ribbon. “We’re proud to collaborate with Cisco on this critical update, giving operators the confidence to access and deliver 1.2 T transmission speeds without resorting to a single closed solution.”

“This demo marks an exciting development in the high-performance coherent space.” said Kyle Hollasch, Lead Analyst for Transport Hardware at Cignal AI. “Interoperability is a rarity in optical networking, and typically relies upon lowest-common-denominator technology. Network operators will derive tremendous value from the ability to open up their networks to multiple vendors while simultaneously delivering superior performance.”

“With the growth of AI and other emerging technologies, network operators are challenged with the complexity of managing multi-vendor networks to keep up with the growing demand for faster speeds.” said Bill Gartner, SVP/GM Optical Systems and Optics from Cisco.

“Together with Ribbon, we are demonstrating that now our customers can take advantage of interoperability at the transmission level before standards have been put forth, enabling them to stay on the cutting-edge without being locked into proprietary solutions.”