Kinetic Successfully Trials Ultra Low Power 100G Digital Transceiver

Kinetic is excited to the successful trial of the 100G ZR QSFP28 digital coherent optical (DCO) transceiver over a live, existing network in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Kinetic continues to push the boundaries of innovation, partnering with Coherent Corp. to deploy the new pluggable transceiver, which requires less equipment to expand network capacity. The technology offers a simpler, more efficient way to bring high-speed internet to more homes and businesses across America while reducing carbon costs and offering an opportunity for smarter fiber investment in communities.

The 100G (DCO) transceiver is as much as ten times more energy efficient and requires a fraction of the space and power of traditional transport solutions. When plugged into a router, it eliminates the need for additional transponder hardware—and the need to purchase, install, and power that equipment.

“Kinetic is committed to bringing fiber connectivity to businesses and homes across rural America. This innovation will accelerate the scale of our network in a sustainable way,” said Jeff Austin, Chief Technology Officer at Kinetic. “Not only does its small form factor reduce our carbon footprint, it is also interoperable with legacy networks, eliminating the need to rebuild costly network infrastructures.”

Kinetic is leading the way in demonstrating the efficacy of the 100G DCO, proving through an extensive live field study that the transceiver performs across existing DWDM transport systems. Results of the study show that the technology can seamlessly be integrated into the existing Kinetic network without replacing current equipment.

“We’re proud to partner with Kinetic on the development of the 100G DCO,” said Matthias Berger, vice president, Coherent Corp. “Validating the transceiver’s performance across more than 800 km across an existing transport system gives our industry a definitive conclusion to the questions surrounding the achievable performance at low cost, lower power dissipation and small form factor of the transceiver. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Kinetic and continuing to define world-first technology with this industry leader.”

The successful trial of the 100G DCO validates the ability to use this new technology across a large percentage of our footprint. The module is currently a prototype and is set to be released in 2024.