FEATURE Annual technology forecast 2013 IN THE NETWORKING SECTION of this forecast, we said networks are getting faster, are more flexible, and will need to get smarter. The design of systems, subsystems, and components will have to reflect these realities. As far as faster is concerned, the building blocks for coherent 100- Gbps transmission in the longhaul are in place. As we mentioned, the focus will now turn to the metro/ regional space. For companies with in- house ASIC expertise, the ready opportunity to tweak their systems for metro use puts them in good shape. Those without this type of internal capability will have to rely on technology developed for longhaul, or they’ll have to wait for help from companies like MultiPhy, which has announced plans for a metrofocused coherent ASSP, or the module vendors ( the fact that Acacia Communications has written an article on the subject in this issue is likely not a coincidence). Alternatively, they could jump to direct detect approaches. Oclaro and Finisar have displayed 4 × 25G transceivers and say samples of such modules have reached the hands of customers. Meanwhile, other vendors, such as Menara Networks, promise to have a similar offering in the near future. This conundrum underscores why some observers wonder whether systems houses will start looking to do more in- house technology development at the component/ subsystem level, with Cisco’s acquisitions of CoreOptics and Lightwire pointing in that direction. Certainly for the current and near future generations of coherent transmission systems, it seems unlikely that companies like Alcatel- Lucent, Ciena, and Cisco will move quickly to module- based designs until they’ve squeezed all they can from their ASIC investments. In terms of f lexibility, f lexiblegrid ROADM capabilities to support future 400- Gbps transmission will become more ubiquitous, as Finisar’s display of such a ROADM line card at ECOC illustrated. While no company has all the necessary Equipment design pulls it together __________________________