Full Transcript
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlA4PzsmAP0
[00:02] All right.
[00:04] Good afternoon, everybody.
[00:04] My name is Taylor Brummekamp.
[00:06] I'm a fiber network design engineer with Sumitomo Electric Lightwave.
[00:09] Today we're going to be talking about multi-core fiber,
[00:13] which is a new solution for solving some of the challenges with AI scale-up,
[00:19] scale-out, and scale across.
[00:22] For those of you who don't know, Sumitomo Electric Lightwave is a fiber manufacturer.
[00:25] We make all things related to fiber infrastructure, cables, connectors, uh splicers, termination products.
[00:32] We have a booth, I believe it's A22.
[00:34] Come check us out in the exhibition exhibition hall.
[00:39] Before we get into what multi-core fiber actually is, I wanted to touch on, you know, what is the actual challenge the industry as a whole is facing, not just networking, but the challenge with scaling up and out with the current Nvidia or GPU road maps.
[00:59] You can see kind of the previous generation, the current generation here with NVL72, and
[01:03] current generation here with NVL72, and future generations, which the future future generations, which the future ones often change from Nvidia's product ones often change from Nvidia's product release, but the trend remains the same.
[01:12] release, but the trend remains the same.
[01:14] There's a few driving trends or challenges with networking as well as other verticals.
[01:20] Starting on the left with Hopper, as you can see going to the right, basically every generation, every 2 years, the number of GPUs in the scale-up domain or in the rack is doubling.
[01:30] doubling. Um And when that runs out of space, they're going to expand the scale-up domain to multiple racks.
[01:37] So, the GPU density is just ever increasing in every generational release.
[01:44] The other key challenge with overall networking is the the same time bandwidth is increasing and doubling.
[01:49] We're going from 800G to 1.6 today and 3.2 in the future terabits.
[01:59] So, the bandwidth is also increasing. Another third challenge with networking, at least for the fiber and
[02:05] networking, at least for the fiber and cable density, is scale up.
[02:09] Traditionally, scale up has always been copper cuz it's more efficient.
[02:12] But, as the scale up domain gets larger or crosses multiple racks, and you get to these higher 200 gig band bandwidths per lane, you know, Nvidia just officially released.
[02:21] It's been speculated for a while, but optical scale up will now be required in the next couple years.
[02:27] So, that's another huge jump in fiber density per rack, per row, per data hall.
[02:33] So, this is a huge challenge on the networking side, as I'm sure it is on power and cooling.
[02:41] So, what is the available solution set across the entire market today for how do we solve this networking density problem?
[02:49] Well, today what most people refer to as parallel optic scaling, if you need more bandwidth, add more transceivers, add more fiber.
[02:59] That's what pretty much everyone does today, but it's reaching or close to reaching its practical limit.
[03:03] Now, you're talking about, you
[03:06] limit.
[03:06] Now, you're talking about, you know, thousands and thousands of fibers.
[03:08] know, thousands and thousands of fibers per per rack and.
[03:10] per per rack and 50, 60, 100,000 fibers per row.
[03:12] It's 50, 60, 100,000 fibers per row.
[03:12] It's getting unmanageable in terms of space, install time, time to turn up.
[03:14] getting unmanageable in terms of space, install.
[03:16] unmanageable in terms of space, install time, time to turn up.
[03:18] time, time to turn up.
[03:20] The other common solution is wave division multiplexing.
[03:21] common solution is wave division multiplexing.
[03:22] It's been around for a while.
[03:24] while. Basically, uh splitting light into multiple wavelengths and shooting that over a single core fiber.
[03:26] uh splitting light into multiple.
[03:27] wavelengths and shooting that over a single core fiber.
[03:29] single core fiber.
[03:30] Um For AI back end, it's not widely used in the scale up or scale out domain.
[03:34] For AI back end, it's not widely used.
[03:36] in the scale up or scale out domain.
[03:37] It's more costly.
[03:37] It's a power heavy laser.
[03:41] more costly.
[03:41] It's a power heavy laser.
[03:42] Um So, it's not widely used today except for in longer links such as in scale scale cross domain, 2,000 m type links.
[03:44] So, it's not widely used today except.
[03:47] for in longer links such as in scale scale cross domain, 2,000 m type links.
[03:50] But, those uh costs and metrics are coming down every year, so this may get more adoption in the future for sub 500 meter links.
[03:53] But, those uh costs and metrics are coming down every year, so this may get.
[03:55] coming down every year, so this may get more adoption in the future for sub 500.
[03:57] more adoption in the future for sub 500 meter links.
[03:59] meter links. And then the third one, the third bucket here is what I'm calling spatial division uh multiplexing.
[04:01] third bucket here is what I'm calling.
[04:02] spatial division uh multiplexing.
[04:05] Um, uh you know, we're basically putting
[04:06] uh you know, we're basically putting more cores in the same space, but this
[04:08] more cores in the same space, but this is what uh multi-core fiber falls under.
[04:12] is what uh multi-core fiber falls under.
[04:12] So, what is multi-core fiber?
[04:15] So, what is multi-core fiber?
[04:15] Uh on the top uh right here you can see
[04:17] Uh on the top uh right here you can see the traditional single-core fiber that's
[04:19] the traditional single-core fiber that's been around for decades and decades.
[04:22] Uh been around for decades and decades.
[04:22] Uh I'm sure everyone's uh really familiar with it.
[04:23] I'm sure everyone's uh really familiar with it.
[04:23] You have one fiber core uh and one cladding uh in one one cable.
[04:25] really familiar with it.
[04:25] You have one fiber core uh
[04:27] fiber core uh
[04:27] and one cladding uh in one one cable.
[04:30] and one cladding uh in one one cable.
[04:30] Uh what multi-core fiber is uh
[04:32] what multi-core fiber is uh
[04:32] is uh now we're able to draw multiple cores in that same exact uh a cladding.
[04:35] is uh now we're able to draw multiple cores in that same exact uh a cladding.
[04:39] cores in that same exact uh a cladding.
[04:39] And it's actually the same size uh for the four-core.
[04:41] And it's actually the same size uh for the four-core.
[04:41] Um This allows you to effectively 4x your number of fiber pipes um with a very similar OD as the single-core product.
[04:43] the four-core.
[04:43] Um This allows you to effectively 4x your number of fiber pipes um with a very similar OD as the single-core product.
[04:45] This allows you to effectively 4x your number of fiber pipes um with a very similar OD as the single-core product.
[04:47] number of fiber pipes um with a very similar OD as the single-core product.
[04:47] Uh so, you get a huge increase in fiber density.
[04:50] single-core product.
[04:50] Uh so, you get a huge increase in fiber density.
[04:51] huge increase in fiber density.
[04:51] Unlocks a lot more bandwidth uh scaling.
[04:54] Unlocks a lot more bandwidth uh scaling.
[04:54] Um it saves on weight and space.
[04:56] Um it saves on weight and space.
[04:56] And the um four-core design has a pretty similar characteristics in terms of insertion loss and um uh uh
[04:59] And the um four-core design has a pretty similar characteristics in terms of insertion loss and um uh uh
[05:02] similar characteristics in terms of insertion loss and um uh uh
[05:03] insertion loss and um uh uh
[05:06] uh uh
[05:08] attenuation loss as the single-core.
[05:10] attenuation loss as the single-core.
[05:12] So, it's uh it's very similar in terms of the
[05:13] the uh metrics there.
[05:15] Um uh metrics there.
[05:18] Um As with all new uh technologies, uh
[05:20] as the ecosystem develops there's no
[05:22] standards yet, but as of last month
[05:24] there was a MSA agreement reached with
[05:26] all the major manufacturers of these
[05:27] products,
[05:28] um which uh they're all working together to
[05:31] to develop the standard for the
[05:33] four-core multi-core fiber, which uh I
[05:35] think is being released sometime this
[05:37] summer, June or July.
[05:41] Um it's a huge uh win for this ecosystem because as a
[05:44] customer or a hyperscaler you want
[05:45] everything to be uh
[05:48] interchangeable, compatible, no matter
[05:49] whose product you're buying,
[05:51] uh as well as all the other
[05:53] ecosystem of manufacturers, whether it's
[05:54] connectors,
[05:56] um uh you know, transceivers, uh
[05:57] waveguides, whatever it is, there's
[05:59] going to be a ton of manufacturers that
[06:00] need to make products for this
[06:02] ecosystem.
[06:04] So, the MSA is uh
[06:06] and uh standards are huge uh
[06:09] and uh standards are huge uh uh benefit to this.
[06:12] And uh uh benefit to this.
[06:14] And uh there'll be more coming in June and July there'll be more coming in June and July on that.
[06:16] on that.
[06:17] Uh so, here's a quick chart on like space savings.
[06:19] Uh you can see my quick math there, but effectively, you have the same outer diameter cladding, uh you have 4x the number of fibers, so it's it's pretty much a 60 to 80% reduction in in uh cable space.
[06:30] in in uh cable space.
[06:33] Uh so, it's a huge unlock for whether you're doing outside plant, your conduits are full, uh you're doing long haul DCI, whatever, you can now retrofit without having to, you know, do a huge construction trench project.
[06:43] You can 4x your number of fiber fiber cables in your existing conduit.
[06:47] Um so, it's a huge uh unlock there for scaling bandwidth.
[06:50] bandwidth.
[06:52] Um similarly, on the weight side, there's also space on this one, too, but on the weight side, you have similar uh savings.
[06:57] So, you have a uh uh 40 50% uh savings in weight as well.
[07:03] Uh so, you know, as of recent years, uh whether it's cable tray conveyance in the row, cantilevered off the rack, or
[07:09] the row, cantilevered off the rack, or cable tray,
[07:11] cable tray, uh you know, running throughout your
[07:12] uh you know, running throughout your data center, weight's been an issue the
[07:14] data center, weight's been an issue the last few years cuz uh the cable density
[07:16] last few years cuz uh the cable density is increasing as the previous slides
[07:18] is increasing as the previous slides showed.
[07:19] So, uh weight reduction is really important.
[07:21] uh weight reduction is really important.
[07:23] So, now you don't have to build huge uh intense uh
[07:25] intense uh cantilever structural things to support
[07:27] cantilever structural things to support uh fiber cables.
[07:30] So, uh this will also help uh
[07:31] help uh ease uh installation.
[07:33] ease uh installation.
[07:35] Um so, what does the deployment actually look like?
[07:37] So, on the top right here, you have the single core fiber uh uh
[07:40] you have the single core fiber uh uh deployments that everyone uses today.
[07:42] deployments that everyone uses today.
[07:44] You have the single fiber trunks, they hit some consolidation point, probably
[07:46] hit some consolidation point, probably top of rack typically or end of row, and
[07:48] then they fan out to uh transceivers.
[07:51] then they fan out to uh transceivers.
[07:52] Um I think uh the middle one I'm calling a
[07:54] I think uh the middle one I'm calling a hybrid approach
[07:55] hybrid approach uh um
[07:56] uh um probably either used in uh you know,
[07:59] probably either used in uh you know, first first time pilots or uh prior to
[08:02] first first time pilots or uh prior to multi-core fiber transceivers being
[08:04] multi-core fiber transceivers being available, where you have uh multi-core
[08:06] available, where you have uh multi-core fiber trunk in the middle, and then it
[08:08] fiber trunk in the middle, and then it uh transitions back to single-core fiber
[08:10] uh transitions back to single-core fiber uh transceivers.
[08:13] This is used uh this is uh transceivers.
[08:13] This is used uh this is done using uh what's called a FIFO or fan-in fan-out device.
[08:14] You basically take multi-core fiber, and you transition it back to single-core.
[08:16] It's not ideal, but I think it will be a hybrid approach in the in the near term.
[08:20] And then the bottom is the uh the ideal scenario where it's end-to-end multi-core fiber uh products, where you have uh multi-core fiber trunks, multi-core fiber fan-outs, and transceivers.
[08:23] Um it has the most benefit for the uh data center.
[08:26] So, if you look on the top uh versus the bottom, uh another huge driver of multi-core fiber adoption is uh is labor, labor saving.
[08:27] Um I think in most geographies around the world, there's a lack of uh skilled labor to install, terminate, and test all these cables.
[08:30] So, for an apples-to-apples comparison, you have 1/4 the amount of trunks, you have 1/4 the amount of uh connectors, uh 1/4 the amount of transceivers.
[08:32] Uh so, it saves uh uh a lot of uh time uh to time on install and time to turn up by reducing
[09:12] and time to turn up by reducing the overall number of cabling.
[09:13] the overall number of cabling connectors.
[09:15] connectors. Uh so, what do the connectors look like?
[09:17] Uh so, what do the connectors look like?
[09:19] Uh like I mentioned in the beginning, uh um.
[09:19] um you know, one of the reasons why the industry is coalescing on four-core fibers is it's it's utiliz- utilizing the same size cladding.
[09:24] So, uh from an installer or integrator perspective, you can use essentially the same form factor connectors, whether it's MPO or uh you know, the MMC shown here on the right.
[09:38] Um you know, physically from an installer looking at the end of the connector you probably won't be able to tell.
[09:42] Um, but your MPO 24 would turn into a, you know, MPO 96 and your, you know, in this example your MMC 16 turns into a MMC 64.
[09:52] So, same form factor for connectors which makes the uh transition uh fairly straightforward from an installer perspective.
[09:58] Um,
[09:59] you know, there's a bunch of challenges uh around the ecosystem.
[10:03] You know, one of them being um uh you know, there's the business challenge of yes, this product is more costly on a on a per foot basis than the single core.
[10:12] on a per foot basis than the single core equivalent.
[10:14] Uh however, the total cost of ownership is is less uh cuz you save on labor and termination and time to turn up.
[10:21] Um, because of the four core design,
[10:23] design, you know, repairing or uh repairing damaged cables during uh install is uh a little bit more costly, a little bit more timely than traditional single core products uh cuz with a single core there's no uh need to worry about orientation of the core.
[10:37] They just splice together. Whereas multi core, I don't think it was shown in the slide, but the multi core will have basically a little marker core inside the uh fiber because uh you can't just splice it together any which way.
[10:48] It has to be oriented uh to the correct um rotational uh uh angle in order to splice it.
[10:52] So, um the splicers are uh a little bit more expensive uh but that's one downside of of multi core.
[11:03] Uh Like I said, there's some challenges with uh manufacturing with yield and then um if in the short term multi core fiber native transceivers uh aren't able to scale, like I mentioned, you'll have
[11:13] To scale, like I mentioned, you'll have to use a fan-in, fan-out device to go.
[11:15] To use a fan-in, fan-out device to go back to single core.
[11:16] Back to single core.
[11:18] Um, but yeah, I think I have uh 2 minutes left if anyone has any questions.
[11:21] That's the end of my presentation.
[11:24] Thank you.
[11:25] Thank you.
[11:30] And again, uh stop by the booth if uh anyone has any questions or wants to check out some of our new products.
[11:33] Anyone has any questions or wants to check out some of our new products.
[11:37] Thank you.