Network Innovation Insights, Issue 12

With this edition, we celebrate a full year of exploring the tech topics you care about, directly from the innovators building the infrastructure for our future. In this issue of Network Innovation Insights, we dive into a recent global survey on networking needs for the AI era, a behind-the-scenes demo video from OFC, network sustainability and more.  

The rapid growth of AI workloads is driving a major transformation in data center network infrastructure, with global data center experts anticipating a significant increase in interconnect bandwidth needs over the next five years, according to a study commissioned by Ciena. 

The survey, conducted in partnership with Censuswide, queried more than 1,300 data center decision makers across 13 countries. More than half (53%) of respondents believe AI workloads will place the biggest demand on data center interconnect (DCI) infrastructure over the next 2-3 years, surpassing cloud computing (51%) and big data analytics (44%). 

To meet surging AI demands, 43% of new data center facilities are expected to be dedicated to AI workloads. With AI model training and inference requiring unprecedented data movement, data center experts predict a massive leap in bandwidth needs. In addition, when asked about the needed performance of fiber optic capacity for DCI, 87% of participants believe they will need 800 Gb/s or higher per wavelength. 

AI workloads are reshaping the entire data center landscape, from infrastructure builds to bandwidth demand," said Jürgen Hatheier, Chief Technology Officer, International, Ciena. "Historically, network traffic has grown at a rate of 20-30% per year. AI is set to accelerate this growth significantly, meaning operators are rethinking their architectures and planning for how they can meet this demand sustainably.

Read more in Ciena Global Survey Explores Networking Needs for AI Era > 

Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) saw early adoption from communications service providers (CSPs) looking to deliver services on-demand, and it continues to gain momentum as operators seek to tap into the monetization opportunities afforded by network APIs. This unique ability to modernize operations and support new business models positions NaaS as the foundation for strategic ‘telco to techco’ transformation initiatives.  

OSS modernization and network monetization are top priorities for CSPs, and, as Blue Planet's Kailem Anderson explains, NaaS provides a solid foundation for both of these efforts. With a standardized framework that facilitates autonomous operations at carrier scale, NaaS enables high-value on-demand services and drives new network platform models using network APIs. 

Read more in The evolution of NaaS: from standardization to monetization > 

Sustainability continues to gain priority with network operators of all kinds, overland and undersea. It permeates every part of any business, but for communication service providers (CSPs), the network represents the largest source of carbon emissions and the greatest opportunities for reduction. While energy efficiency is an incontestably critical factor in network sustainability, CSPs can benefit from expanding their environmental stewardship by applying a green lens to all their network initiatives and processes. 

Delivering more with less has been an underlying challenge in the networking industry for several decades. Growth in bandwidth has driven the digital economy forward and enabled new use cases that have boosted global productivity and overall well-being. However, it has come at the cost of constant network infrastructure investments by CSPs, who must balance modernization efforts with the need to keep costs and environmental footprint in check. The increased capacity often means higher power demand, intensifying the pressure to control energy consumption. 

Ciena’s Francisco Sant’Anna details why taking a holistic approach to network sustainability helps network operators achieve their sustainability goals and aspirations while also meeting accelerated network demands with profitability. 

Read more in Taking a holistic approach to network sustainability > 

To remain competitive and address unpredictable surges in bandwidth demand, you need to scale quickly and cost-effectively to speed up the delivery of new services. Ciena’s coherent routing brings together the latest in IP and optical innovation, with cutting-edge multi-layer operations, automation, and services. Our solution works with existing infrastructure to dynamically scale and optimize multi-layer, multi-vendor network environments—simplifying architecture, satisfying bandwidth demand, and streamlining performance.  

Learn how to optimize network performance and service levels across a multi-layer, multi-vendor environment at speeds of 400G, 800G, and 1.6T in our recent blogs.  

Read Need 800G routing? Meet Ciena's 8192 coherent router! >  

Read Ciena's WaveRouter unleashes unprecedented speed and capacity with coherent routing technology > 

AI is transforming the way we live and work, much like the internet did over 30 years ago. While AI is revolutionizing our daily lives, it's also bringing disruptive change to the networks enabling it.  

Explore market trends, strategies, and enabling technologies to learn how you can leverage AI network opportunities in your business today.  

Check out our new interactive AI guide here > 

During OFC this year, Ciena, HyperLight Corporation, and McGill University announced the attainment of the first 3.2Tb/s (8×448Gb/s) O-band IMDD transmission over distance, showcasing how data throughput can be doubled utilizing existing fiber infrastructure. 

The industry-first milestone was achieved with both 8-WDM and DR8 configurations using Ciena’s 224 GBaud DAC to generate the 448Gb/s PAM4 signal and HyperLight’s 140 GHz thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) modulators to transmit the optical signal. The experiment was performed at McGill University using its transmission system and associated digital signal processing software. 

The need for higher transmission speeds is being driven by massive AI factories, which require scalable networks that leverage high-speed optics with lower power consumption. To address these requirements, the demonstration shows how transceiver design can be improved using advanced CMOS processes and integrated photonics to reduce power and complexity. 

Read more about how this successful demonstration paves path to next frontier of data center networking > 

Visit Ciena.com/Insights to view all articles in full and explore other popular topics.