Vello Systems tells 10-Gbps low-latency story/VI Systems, consortium develop 40-Gbps VCSEL components January 14, 2011

DECEMBER 14, 2010 By Stephen Hardy — On the heels of unveiling its strategy to support cloud networking (see “Vello Systems announces Cloud Switching technology for flexible bandwidth provisioning”), Vello Systems has added low-latency capabilities to the mix. The company has unveiled the 10G CX50T service card, targeted at ultra-low latency, high-density metro applications. It also has begun to publicly discuss the support of low-latency connections over longer distances. The new CX50T card is designed to bring sub-5 nsec latency performance to both the 16-slot CX16000 system or the 5-slot CX4000 system to support intra- and inter-metro low-latency networks, Jeff Baher, Vello’s vice president of marketing told Lightwave last week. That figure is meant to describe the latency through the transponders; Baher acknowledged that the fiber and other network elements within a particular link would add to the total latency figure on a route. (For more on the elements that contribute to latency in optical networks, see “Breaking barriers to low latency” from the June 2010 issue of Lightwave.) Nevertheless, Baher said the low latency of the five-port CX50T card should make the new capabilities extremely attractive to carriers looking to offer low-latency connections to support financial clients and others looking to use cloud-based services. “Cloud computing and cloud-based services are placing significantly greater demands on network infrastructure, not only for capacity, but also for a higher level of responsiveness,” said Rick Talbot, senior analyst, optical infrastructure at Current Analysis. “Vello Systems’ new CX50T addresses the economic, space and low-latency requirements for 10G services that are likely to be the mainstay for connections within service providers’ and enterprises’ cloud infrastructures.” Since latency may be an issue in connections longer than the CX50T can support on its own, Vello Systems also offers a pair of service cards, the CX40A and the CX40M, that support low-latency amplification and dispersion compensation. The capabilities include software-controlled error correction, EDFA and Raman amplification, and dispersion compensation based on fiber Bragg grating technology. The CX50T, which can accommodate SONET/SDH, Ethernet, and Fibre Channel connections via 10-Gbps pluggable SFP+ and XFP optical transceiver modules, should be available very early in 2011, Behar said. JANUARY 14, 2010 — Germany optical components developer VI Systems GmbH says it has successfully completed a project to develop serial 40-Gbps fiber-coupled small form-factor TO-can receiver and transmitter modules, inc