CEO Gary Smith to speak at the Optica Executive Forum on March 31

At OFC 2025, happening March 30–April 3 in San Francisco, Ciena will demonstrate how its innovations—including the industry’s only coherent 1.6Tb/s solution—are powering AI networks. Visitors to Ciena’s booth (#2443) will learn how to set new performance and economic benchmarks, achieve new levels of scalability and flexibility in data center design, and use intelligent software control and disruptive photonic layer innovations to thrive in the AI era.

Speaking Sessions

Ciena CEO Gary Smith will take part in the CEO Panel at the Optica Executive Forum on Monday, March 31, at 2:30 PT, which will discuss optical networking industry trends and economics.

Additionally, Ciena’s subject matter experts will participate in various speaking sessions and panel discussions throughout the conference. See here for the full agenda.

Demonstration Highlights

  • New innovations in and around the data center: Featuring industry-first coherent optical and IMDD technologies, such as 1.6T Coherent-Lite pluggable transceivers and 448Gb/s PAM4 transmission, that bring new levels of scale and flexibility to data center designs; learn more here.
  • Programmable photonics from edge to core networks: Showcasing the highly instrumented, massively scalable ELS and RLS photonic line systems.
  • Highest connectivity optical transport: Demonstrating leading performance for AI traffic growth with WaveLogic 6 Extreme (WL6e) 1.6Tb/s coherent networking and sustainable, multi-vendor interoperability with WaveLogic 6 Nano (WL6n) 800G coherent pluggable transceivers.
  • Liquid cooling: Featuring coherent pluggable transceivers with integrated cold plate/liquid cooling in an advanced technology demonstration.
  • Coherent routing and broadband: Showing live demonstrations of:
    • WL6e 1.6Tb/s interoperability between WaveRouter and 6500, enabling highest capacity connectivity across converged IP/optical networks
    • 25GS-PON broadband service supporting enterprise and campus environments
  • AI-driven multi-layer operations: Demonstrating AI-enabled, automated, lifecycle operations featuring simplified capacity planning and management of pluggable coherent optics across multi-vendor converged networks with Navigator Network Control Suite (Navigator NCS).
  • Ciena Services: Presenting robust capabilities that ensure peak network capacity and performance plus multi-vendor process automation for quicker issue resolution.
  • OIF (booth #5745): Supporting OIF’s 800ZR, 400ZR, OpenZR+, and Multi-Span Optics and Common Management Interface Specification (CMIS) interoperability demos with Ciena’s 8192 coherent router, WaveLogic 5 Nano (WL5n) 400G coherent pluggable transceivers, and Navigator NCS. Additionally, Ciena is participating in the Common Electrical I/O demos, showing live 448Gb/s PAM4, PAM6, and PAM8 transmission, helping drive industry direction toward optimal rate adoption for 448G SerDes.

For more information about Ciena’s activities at OFC, visit Ciena at OFC 2025 or contact pr@ciena.com.

OIF Unites Interoperability and Innovation at OFC 2025: Driving Industry Progress in Performance, Efficiency and Capacity for Future-Oriented Data Centers
OIF continues to lead the charge in advancing interoperability, with 35 member companies at OFC 2025 showcasing innovative solutions that redefine performance, efficiency and capacity. The work being demonstrated—including 800ZR, 400ZR, OpenZR+, Multi-span optics, EEI & Co-Packaging, Common Electrical I/O (CEI) CEI-448G, CEI-224G & CEI-112G and CMIS—is collectively enabling the industry to move forward toward future-oriented data centers and laying the foundation for hyperscalers to scale AI networks seamlessly. Visit OIF at booth #5745 to experience these groundbreaking solutions live. For more information, visit: https://www.oiforum.com/meetings-events/oif-ofc-2025/.

About Ciena

Ciena is the global leader in high-speed connectivity.

We build the world’s most adaptive networks to support exponential growth in bandwidth demand. By harnessing the power of our networking systems, components, automation software, and services, Ciena revolutionizes data transmission and network management. With unparalleled expertise and innovation, we empower our customers, partners, and communities to thrive in the AI era. For updates on Ciena, follow us on LinkedIn and X, or visit the Ciena Insights webpage and Ciena website.

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