CALIENT Technologies, a specialist in photonic switching technology, has introduced its new 320-port photonic switch called the S320, the company’s next-generation 3D MEMS switching technology.
S320 Photonic Switch
With features like low power consumption and small form factor, the S320 has become the maiden high-density photonic switch for use in data center applications.
In data center networks, the S320 is utilized to form a flexible, expandable and switched network fabric, with 3.2 TB of total throughput that links core routers and top-of-rack switches. This leads to flat, any-to-any network connections without any extra latency, which can be reconfigured on-demand or cyclically to meet real-time application demands. Every S320 port is able to support data rates of up to 100 Gbps, thus eliminating the necessity of replacing the photonic layer when routers, switches and servers are upgraded.
The basis of the S320 is a novel modular design, which enables CALIENT Technologies to fabricate a family of S-series switches with various form factors and port densities. The MEMS Switch Module (MSM) 320 is the core of the new switch. The MSM320 utilizes the company’s 3D silicon micro mirror array to switch incoming fiber optic signals of up to 320 from any of the ports to any of the output ports. It offers a switching speed of below 25 ms and provides high availability Linux OS carrier-grade OS and redundant control processors. Feedback delivered by the new optical monitoring module (OMM) to the MSM control circuits updates all 320 links dynamically to reduce optical power loss.
The S320 has 80 MTP or LC connectors, which can house 640 fiber terminations that support 1310 and 1550 nm single-mode fiber. Besides data center applications, the switch supports CALIENT Technologies’ all conventional applications such as carrier networks.