SAN DIEGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/OSA?src=hash” target=”_blank”gt;#OSAlt;/agt;–The global optical communications community assembled in San Diego 3-7
March 2019 for OFC (Optical Fiber Communications Conference and
Exhibition). This year’s event featured the market’s prevailing topics
in standing-room only business and technical sessions; technology and
product demonstrations and announcements
from the world’s leading companies; plenary
talks that explored open networks, communications between
self-driving cars, and optical integration for higher data rates; and
dynamic presentations on real-world 5G
deployments and network build-outs.

“As our world becomes increasingly more connected, the optical
communications infrastructure that supports it needs to evolve to be
more robust and efficient, and at the same time, cost-effective,” said
Gabriella Bosco, Politecnico di Torino, Italy, and OFC 2019 General
Chair. “The industry gathered at OFC to debate these business challenges
and identify potential technical solutions to meet customer demands.”

Driving Business Solutions

This year’s OFC convened nearly 15,400 attendees from around the world
to celebrate successes, debate new opportunities and push the boundaries
of innovation. The show boasted 683 exhibitors on a floor encompassing
189,607 net square feet (500,000 gross square feet). Overall, the OFC
exhibit served as a platform for important industry announcements,
including developments in coherent DWDM networking, silicon photonics
and 400ZR advancements.

“OFC is the place to make major announcements because the whole industry
comes together,” stated Yves LeMaitre, Chief Strategy Officer, Lumentum.
“Whether you’re working in data centers, telecom networks or access
networks, all optical technologies for communications are here.”

OFC 2019 offered a unique experience for attendees, both showcasing
technical research and debuting commercial solutions. For example,
several live multivendor interoperability
demonstrations took place on the exhibit floor: Coherent Transceiver
Interoperability, Ethernet Alliance, OIF and Open ROADM MSA SDN.
Technologies from approximately 40 companies were featured in the demos,
including: 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE), 25GbE, 50GbE, 100GbE, 400GbE; Open
Source Open ROADM SDN Controller; pluggable CFP2-ACO and CFP2-DCO
modules; and Common Electrical I/O (CEI)-112G, FlexE (Flex Ethernet) and
400ZR.

“The sessions, panels and demonstrations at OFC impress me every year,”
said Woo Jin Ho, technology analyst, Bloomberg Intelligence. “Vendors
continue to push the envelope on driving higher transmission rates in
smaller form factors. Key emerging trends to look out for the industry
and vendors based on the conference include 600G/800G optics and systems
and 400ZR for the hyperscale cloud data centers.”

Leading Technical Vision

Conference content, which included more than 450 peer-reviewed papers,
180 invited and tutorial presentations, 10 workshops, 6 panels and 55
short courses, focused on the latest discoveries. For example,
technological breakthroughs in data center connectivity, 5G and IoT. In
addition, advanced integrations of optics and electronics will open
doors for reaching new data limits.

“From solving the open network challenge to advances in modulation
formats and the move toward faster optical interface speeds, the
discussions at OFC this week explored what’s happening now, what will be
possible in the near-term, and where we need to head in the long-term,”
continued Bosco.

Moving the Industry Forward

Leaders in the field agree that OFC 2020, being held 8-12 March in San
Diego, will serve as a springboard for the next round of innovations.

“Next year at OFC, we expect to see samples of 400G ZR, with deployment
coming later in the year,” predicts Benny Mikkelsen, Chief Technology
Officer, Acacia Technologies and conference plenary speaker. “OFC is a
great opportunity to get people together to have a fruitful discussion.”
(Watch
a video interview featuring additional insights from Benny
Mikkelsen.)

About OFC

The Optical Fiber Conference and Exhibition (OFC) is
the largest global conference and exhibition for optical communications
and networking professionals. For more than 40 years, OFC has drawn
attendees from all corners of the globe to meet and greet, teach and
learn, make connections and move business forward.

OFC includes dynamic business programming, an exhibition of more than
700 companies, and high impact peer-reviewed research that, combined,
showcase the trends and pulse of the entire optical networking and
communications industry. OFC is managed by The Optical Society (OSA) and
co-sponsored by OSA, the IEEE Communications Society (IEEE/ComSoc), and
the IEEE Photonics Society. OFC 2019 will be held from 3-7 March 2019 at
the San Diego Convention Center, California, USA. Follow @OFCConference,
learn more at OFC
Community LinkedIn, and watch highlights on OFC
YouTube.

Contacts

Leah Wilkinson
Wilkinson + Associates for OFC
703-907-0010
[email protected]