Picking up where we left off after a successful opening day at ECOC 2018 yesterday, the sunshine-soaked Fiera de Roma continued to welcome thousands of visitors through its doors. And for those searching for the next technological revolution, there was plenty to see.

Global innovator in optical and electrical connectivity, HUBER+SUHNER was among exhibitors launching new solutions, with its new range of Polatis high-density latching protection switches for wireless and metro networks being debuted. The Series 6500 range of high-density latching protection service switches add an autonomous optical layer of 1+1, 1:1 and 2×2 bypass protection to multiple duplex services in a compact form factor.

The company is also presenting its latest extensions to the Series 6000 Ultra range of transparent optical switches for system test and high-performance applications, now with the capability to extend up to 96×96 ports with typical optical loss of just 0.6dB. Enabling even greater flexibility in test lab and monitoring networks, the new 384xCC optical circuit switch doubles the matrix size available in single-sided, any-fibre-to-any-fibre all-optical cross-connect.

Meanwhile, NeoPhotonics showcased its suite of lasers and analog Integrated Circuits (ICs) for uncooled, non-hermetic single laser 100G and 4 laser 400G links within data centres. The product suite includes Electro-Absorptively Modulated Lasers (EML) for 2km PAM4-based links and high-power CW laser sources for 0.5 and 2 km Silicon Photonics based links, along with the photodetectors, drivers and trans-impedance amplifiers required.

Tuesday’s Market Focus was also action-packed, featuring no less than 12 sessions covering subjects from photonics integration to optical network agility. First on the agenda for Day 2 was a much-anticipated session on ‘Photonics integration and digital silicon photonics’, which began with sessions presented by Intel, Lightwave Logic and xPIXfab.

Director of Fraunhofer HHI Martin Schnell explored InP solutions for intra-datacentre connects by highlighting the ability of a single 3” wafer of iridium phosphide lasers to transfer the entire worldwide IP traffic. Ciena’s presentation followed, given by Patricia Bower, Senior Manager, Portfolio Marketing, who drew the audience’s attention to state-of-the-art high performance coherent in complementary metal oxide semiconductors, (CMOS).

The morning sessions ended with Pauline Rigby of LightCounting Market Research, asking attendees where they saw developments in vertical-cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) taking the industry over the next few years.

The afternoon sessions saw global giant Microsoft take to the stage, with an insightful session presented by Optical Network Architect Mark Filer as part of the Optical Network Agility/Software Defined Networks track. Telefonica hosted a session during the afternoon, with ECOC veterans Infinera, Juniper and NeoPhotonics also speaking.

Michael Zammit, VP and GM of Go!Foton Corporation, urged operators to look beyond “outdated methods” and utilize more versatile data centre infrastructure management solutions to control rising energy costs and complex data processing. He highlighted how the horizon is rapidly changing as further complications in data centres begin to arise – from power and cooling factors, to rack space and central processing unit availability:

The mood is good among exhibitors, with many singing ECOC’s praises and enjoying the unique southern European location of Rome.

Doug Busch, Vice President and General Manager, Optical Solutions, at key sponsor and exhibitor Molex, said: “ECOC is perfect for us as it simply brings together some of our most important optical customers, especially from Europe, to one central place.”

Off-site, the Consortium for On-Board Optics, (COBO), used the stunning backdrop of the Vatican to announce a new partnership with the European Photonics Industry Consortium (EPIC). The partnership was signed by Brad Booth, Chair of COBO, backed by its board of directors, in order to bring COBO closer to manufacturers and designers in Europe. The new partnership will give EPIC the opportunity to explore further adoption of COBO into its manufacturing, research and design processes.

ECOC TV was also back in action for Day 2, speaking to exhibitors and being wowed by some fascinating demonstrations! If you see the film crew pass by make sure you say hello and let us know how the show is going for you so far.