Today, CableLabs is announcing another addition to our family of Point-to-Point Coherent Optics specifications: The Physical Layer 2.0 (PHYv2.0) specification. This new specification defines interoperable point-to-point (P2P) coherent optics links running at 200 Gbps (200G) on a single wavelength.
Just 9 months ago, in July of 2018, CableLabs announced the release of the P2P Coherent Optics Physical Layer 1.0 (PHYv1.0) specification, which defines operation at 100 Gbps (100G) on a single wavelength. The PHYv1.0 specification is designed to support rapid product development, ensuring the availability of interoperable products quickly. That quick availability was born through the interoperability event we held this past December, in which 9 different suppliers participated and demonstrated 100G interoperability.
In other words, the specification of the Now
The PHYv2.0 specification, on the other hand, is designed to leverage an emerging new generation of silicon and the resulting devices, which are anticipated to arrive by 2020. Those new devices will double the capacity of the cable access network, consume less power, and lower the cost per bit delivered. All on the network that already exists today.
This is the specification of the Future: A future that’s coming very quickly
Further, this new specification is a key part of another future that’s coming soon: the 10G future recently unveiled by the cable industry. P2P coherent optics running at 100G – and now 200G – allows cable operators to leverage the fiber they’ve already deployed to support that future vision as cost effectively as possible by greatly increasing the capacity of their existing hybrid fiber coax (HFC) networks. That, in turn, enables the enhanced services and experiences envisioned as a part of the 10G future.
Whether the connection to the customer is wired or wireless, at some point all of those network connections need to be aggregated together. The CableLabs suite of coherent optics specifications – now highlighted by the PHYv2.0 specification, defining interoperable 200G operation – will serve as a critical piece of enabling our interconnected future. Fill out the form below for more information.