What is XR optics?

XR optics is the industry’s first multipoint coherent optical technology. XR optics solves a significant challenge that has plagued the optical networking industry for a long time. Since the inception of optical networks, there has been a significant mismatch between actual traffic patterns and the technology used to transport that traffic. Network traffic patterns, particularly in metro networks, are overwhelmingly hub and spoke – where you have lots of endpoints generating traffic and a much smaller number of locations aggregating that traffic. Traditional optical transmission technology provides only point-to-point solutions – a laser on one end of the fiber and an identical laser on the other end. As a result – by having to bookend every laser – network operators are forced to buy way more lasers than they need and use electrical aggregation solutions – like routers and switches – to aggregate traffic from multiple fibers. XR optics is a technology that enables a single laser to simultaneously communicate with multiple lower-speed lasers. This enables network operators to use a single higher-speed laser at the aggregation locations and collect traffic from numerous end-user locations, cutting the number of lasers required in half and eliminating the need for electrical aggregation devices – routers and switches – at those locations. The result of XR optics is a more cost-effective and streamlined network that is easier to operate and scale.