Industry-Issued Whitepaper Outlines Blueprints for 5G Optical Component Architectures

Lumentum Holdings, II-VI, Sumitomo Electric, Nokia, and Ericsson have jointly released a technical paper on mobile optical pluggables (MOPA), describing a common understanding regarding industry requirements for 5G-related optical solutions. The paper seeks to define specifications for these components to simplify deployment, with the goal of enabling operators, system vendors, and optical pluggable suppliers to develop more compatible system architectures. Such developments would lead to more stable and sustainable supply chains with the potential to save on cost and increase efficiency and timeliness of deployment.

The paper includes mobile optical blueprints that describe specific use cases with optical pluggable and passive optical components, such as wavelength division multiplexing and optical power splitters, along with high-level optical requirements, optimized for their applications. Recommendations address characteristics including data rates, reach, power, and wavelengths, as well as mechanical characteristics such as form factor, heat dissipation, and operational temperature.

The paper can be accessed at www.lumentum.com/en/MOPA.