Infinera announced a Metro Ethernet Platform earlier this week called the ATN or Access Transport Node to complement their current flagship product the DTN or Digital Transport Node which has enjoyed success globally as a versatile WDM platform. The ATN is meant for the Metro portion of a Carriers network, meaning distances of less than 80km and port density to reflect an aggregation position in a network.
But where is the PIC? The PIC or Photonic Integrated Circuit is Infinera’s flagship technology, service enabler and unique selling point. For years analysts (and the author of this blog) have awaited the arrival of an Infinera Metro Platform based on the PIC technology. Such a union should, theoretically, drive costs of service down due to the massive amount of bandwidth in a small footprint that using the chip would promote. Without the PIC in this platform, it feels like a bit of a disappointment.
If the PIC is staying put in the Long-Haul DTN platform then one has to wonder what is around the corner at Infinera regarding 40Gig and/or 100Gig support. “Support” meaning, native, single wavelength 40 or 100 Gigabit solutions, not the multiplexed 10Gig wavelength Infinera has shown in the past.
Does anyone here know what Infinera has up their sleeve?
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