Acacia Builds Upon its Coherent Pluggable Leadership with a Comprehensive 400G Portfolio

Designed with interoperability support for 400ZR, OpenZR+, Open ROADM and CableLabs to enable customers to address a wide range of applications


MAYNARD, Mass., March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Acacia Communications (NASDAQ: ACIA), a leading provider of high-speed coherent optical interconnect products, today announced it is sampling multiple variants in its family of 400G pluggable optical transceiver modules including 400ZR, OpenZR+, and Open ROADM MSA. Acacia’s 400G pluggable module family features an expansive list of interoperability solutions in QSFP-DD, OSFP and CFP2-DCO pluggable form factors for cloud data center interconnects (DCIs) and service provider networks. These pluggable solutions were designed to enable network operators to address increasing bandwidth demand through a simplified network architecture, reducing both capital and operational expenditures.

“Acacia’s vision has always been focused on driving down the level of power consumption, size and cost of coherent interconnects and we are proud of the significant advancements we have made in low-power digital signal processor (DSP) and 3D Siliconization technologies,” said Mehrdad Givehchi, Acacia’s Vice President of Hardware and Software and a Founder. “By supporting both QSFP-DD and OSFP form factors, our DCI customers are able to choose their preferred solution to access our technology.”

“Our new 400G pluggable modules are based on our Greylock 7nm DSP, which is our 3rd generation of coherent DSP supporting low-power pluggable modules,” said Torben Neilsen, 400G Pluggable Product Line Manager at Acacia. “Our 3D Siliconization approach, which leverages high volume electronics manufacturing processes, benefits from the maturity of our silicon photonics technology and our vertical integration strategy.”

Acacia’s new 400G pluggable module family builds upon the technology leadership that Acacia has demonstrated in the coherent module market having shipped the following products since 2014:

  • > 200,000 coherent silicon photonic integrated circuits
  • > 400,000 coherent DSP ports
  • > 125,000 pluggable DCO modules

400G pluggable modules represent a key architectural change in high-bandwidth data center interconnects because they can be plugged directly into switches and routers offering the same density for both coherent DWDM and client optics in the same chassis. This architectural change helps network operators support their growing bandwidth demands in a more cost-efficient manner.  

“We’re excited to be successfully passing traffic in the lab with the Acacia 400G-OSFP-ZR module in our 7000 Series switches and routers,” said Hacene Chaouch, Distinguished Engineer at Arista Networks. “400ZR is critical to meeting customer demand for growing data center interconnect bandwidth and we believe the thermal and optical performance of Acacia’s coherent platform in the OSFP form factor will provide network operators with a very reliable and power efficient solution.”

“Acacia is reinforcing its coherent pluggable leadership by sampling 400G technology in multiple form factors,” said Andrew Schmitt, Directing Analyst at Cignal AI. “Interoperable 400G solutions have the potential to transform cloud DCI and traditional operator architectures and create new applications for coherent optics at the edge of the network.”

Acacia’s 400G pluggable module family is sampling today and is expected to begin volume production in the second half of 2020.

Additional Resources:

About Acacia Communications
Acacia Communications develops, manufactures and sells high-speed coherent optical interconnect products that are designed to transform communications networks through improvements in performance, capacity and cost. By implementing optical interconnect technology in a silicon-based platform, a process Acacia Communications refers to as the “siliconization of optical interconnect,” Acacia Communications is able to offer products at higher speeds and density with lower power consumption, that meet the needs of cloud and service providers and can be easily integrated in a cost-effective manner with existing network equipment. For more information about Acacia, visit www.acacia-inc.com or follow on Twitter at @AcaciaComms.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release includes statements concerning Acacia Communications and its future expectations, plans and prospects that constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. For this purpose, any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Without limiting the foregoing, the words “may,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “could,” “intends,” “target,” “projects,” “contemplates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential,” “will” or “continue” or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions are intended to help you identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release are only predictions. The events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements may not be achieved or occur and actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Acacia Communications has based these forward-looking statements largely on its current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that the Company believes may affect its business, financial condition and results of operations. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions including, without limitation: the Company’s expectations around market adoption of the Company’s family of 400G pluggable optical transceiver modules; the ability of these products (and 400G pluggable form factors) to (i) meet the needs of and benefit DCI and service providers network operators and their ultimate end-customers and (ii) simplify network architectures and (iii) support growing bandwidth demands in a more cost-efficient manner, thus reducing the level of capital and operating expenditures of these customers; our customers’ expectations around market positioning and market acceptance of products into which Acacia’s family of 400G pluggable optical transceiver modules will be incorporated, as well as the anticipated performance, reliability and cost-savings benefits that may be realized by our customers and their ultimate end customers with respect to such products; expectations around the potential of interoperable 400G solutions to transform cloud DCI and traditional operator architectures and create new applications for coherent optics at the edge of the network; and other risks set forth under the caption “Risk Factors” in the Company’s public reports filed with the SEC, including the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 to be filed with the SEC and in other filings that the Company may make with the SEC in the future. Acacia Communications assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

For further information:

Public Relations Contact:
Kelly Karr
Office: 408-718-9350
PR@acacia-inc.com

Acacia Investor Relations Contact:
Monica Gould
Office: (212) 871-3927
Email: IR@acacia-inc.com

Lindsay Savarese
Office: (212) 331-8417
Email: IR@acacia-inc.com 

The Acacia name and logo and the Acacia logo are registered trademarks of Acacia Communications, Inc. in the U.S.A. and other countries.  All other trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective companies.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c335926f-b9dd-42af-8064-4b6b74a68d98

Acacia 400G Pluggable Portfolio