Coriant announced it will team with Inphi and Dell EMC to demonstrate an 80-km direct-detect interconnect application for optical data centers at OFC 2017 this week. The partners expect the demonstration to highlight the operational value of open, plug-and-play optical layer configuration flexibility in data center interconnect (DCI) and other DWDM transport applications.

The team plans to show interoperability among Coriant's 1RU Coriant Groove G30 open line system, Inphi's ColorZ PAM4 QSFP28 optical transceiver design, and Dell EMC Networking's Z9100-ON multi-rate top-of-rack switch. The demonstration will highlight how the use of open systems and QSFP28-based direct-detect optical transmission can decrease interconnection costs by lowering power and increasing density and meet hyperscale traffic demands, the group expects.

Coriant is ensuring that it has all its DCI bases covered. The direct-detect demonstration comes shortly after the company announced it has developed a CFP2-ACO with help from silicon photonics startup Elenion Technologies to supply a coherent transmission approach to the same short-reach DCI applications the ColorZ targets (see "Coriant offers 200-Gbps short-reach CFP2-ACO for Groove G30 platform").

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