Infinera, service providers create Open XR Forum

June 8, 2021

David Welch, founder, director, and chief innovation officer at Infinera, said he envisions the forum rolling out an evolutionary series of specifications and use cases.

Stephen Hardy

Infinera has taken another step toward deployment of its point-to-multipoint XR optics technology with the creation of the Open XR Forum. Founding members alongside the optical communications technology developer include BT, Verizon, Lumen Technologies, Windstream, and Liberty Global. Infinera expects additional service providers, as well as systems and component/subsystem vendors, to join as well.

David Welch, founder, director, and chief innovation officer at Infinera, said he envisions the forum rolling out an evolutionary series of specifications and use cases. The Open XR Forum launched with a focus on service providers because the first step is to establish use cases for XR optics as well as requirements for management plane integration and related software integration parameters. Welch says that network operators have expressed interest in such applications as support of edge computing requirements, 5G mobile network support, as well as PON overlay.

The results of the service providers’ efforts will be addressed by the eventual systems members, who will work to ensure their XR optics enabled systems meet these requirements. Welch said he expects that further specifications will then be created that cover such elements as DSP supply, licensing of IP, and related parameters that will result in multiple sources of XR optics enabled optical transceivers.

Discussions about joining the Open XR Forum are already underway with systems vendors, including routing and switch vendors, as well as the optical component and subsystem suppliers, Welch added. Infinera had previously announced II-VI and Lumentum as technology partners in the development of XR optics (see “Infinera reveals II-VI, Lumentum as XR optics partners”).

Infinera unveiled the XR optics concept at ECOC 2019 in Dublin, Ireland (see “Infinera unveils XR optics single-source coherent point-to-multipoint transmission technology”). The company recently revealed some of its plans to deliver XR optics enabled optical modules (see “Infinera to offer ICE-XR optics coherent pluggable transceivers in 2022”). Additional information about the Open XR Forum is available on the group’s website.

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About the Author

Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave

Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.

Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.

He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.

You can connect with Stephen on LinkedIn as well as Twitter.