CALIENT Technologies, Inc., a global provider of Optical Circuit Switching technology, has launched its S160, a new smaller port-count version of its Optical Circuit Switching System for data center and service provider applications.
The S160 is a 160-port addition to CALIENT’s S-Series product family, which also includes the 320-port S320 switch. Both switches would provide very low latency, high-speed fiber-optic overlay networks for persistent data-flows, extended L2/L3 network boundaries and remote physical layer reconfiguration.
CALIENT’s S160 is optimized for data center interconnect, hosting and colocation interconnect, service provider network, network equipment lab automation and media production network applications.
Like CALIENT’s S320, the S160 would allow any-to-any network connections with almost no latency and can be reconfigured on demand through an SDN controller or network manager via an array of open APIs, including TL1 and OpenFlow.
Each switch port is transparent to bit rate supporting data speeds to 100 Gbps and beyond for a total throughput of more than 16 terabits per second.
MEMS Optical Switching
The heart of the S160 is the MEMS Switch Module, which would switch up to 160 fiber-optic signals from any input port to any output port. The module uses CALIENT’s patented micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) optical switching technology to deliver typical switching speeds of 25 milliseconds with redundant control processors.
“We’ve gained a great deal of traction in the data center and service provider markets with our S320 product, but we also see a strong segment of opportunity in smaller colocation, hosting and media facilities where a reduced port count product makes sense,” said Daniel Tardent, CALIENT’s Vice President of Marketing. “The S160 is optimized for these customers and with its release we’re looking forward to expanding our addressable customer and application base.”
The CALIENT S160 chassis fits in a 19-inch rack. Maximum power consumption is 45 watts, and the switch has 80 LC or MTP fiber connectors for a total of 320 fiber terminations supporting 1310nm and 1550nm single-mode fiber.
CALIENT Technologies designs and builds its systems using its own MEMS Fab facility located at its corporate headquarters in Santa Barbara, California.
