Achieving Interoperability at 400G and Beyond: Showcasing Real-World Coherent Connectivity at OFC 2025
The Ethernet Alliance continues to serve as a vital forum for validating Ethernet technologies in real-world scenarios, as recently demonstrated during OFC 2025. In this guest blog, Daniel Gonzales, Sr. Field Applications Engineering Manager at Anritsu, discusses the critical role of interoperability as the demand for high data rates continues to surge.
As global demand for data continues to surge, fueled by the growth of cloud computing, AI, and edge services, high-speed connectivity standards like 400G Ethernet are increasingly essential to ensuring performance and scalability. However, achieving higher data rates isn’t only about raw speed, it also hinges on interoperability. This is where industry collaboration facilitated by organizations like the Ethernet Alliance shines.
At the Ethernet Alliance’s OFC 2025 demo, the live 400G ZR coherent display illustrated how multi-vendor solutions can reliably support high-speed transmission over long distances, even when challenged by complex optical environments. Here’s why this matters and what it means for the future of Ethernet.
Beyond Speed: Interoperability as the Key to 400G Success
Modern high-speed Ethernet networks, particularly in data center interconnects (DCIs) and metro networks, are evolving quickly. Standards such as 400G ZR enable coherent optical transmission over long-haul fiber, addressing the need for high-capacity links capable of handling massive data loads efficiently.
In practice, these networks rarely rely on a single supplier. Instead, they involve components – switches, transceivers, amplifiers, and test instruments – from multiple vendors that must work together seamlessly. This makes interoperability crucial not just for basic functionality, but also for signal integrity, ease of deployment, and consistent performance.
Live demonstrations like the Ethernet Alliance’s OFC 2025 showcase serve as a vital platform for testing and validating multi-vendor ecosystems under realistic conditions.
A Closer Look at 400G ZR Coherent
During OFC 2025, multiple Ethernet Alliance member companies – Anritsu among them – united to highlight real-world interoperability through a 400G ZR coherent demo. Participants contributed key components like transceivers and amplification systems, with our own MT1040A serving as a 400G ZR coherent test endpoint. This setup successfully simulated a high-speed, long-distance fiber span with several Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifiers (EDFAs), providing a representative testbed for coherent optical technologies.
This demo emulated some of the complexities that are common in real-world deployments:
- Long-haul transmission over fiber
- Multi-stage optical amplification
- Signal degradation and recovery
- Cross-vendor device integration
Despite these challenges, the diverse multi-vendor components worked together seamlessly, achieving stable, error-free 400G transmission. The demo was also positive proof of 400G ZR’s interoperability, maturity, and readiness. By integrating technologies from multiple vendors, the demonstration validated the ability of interoperable solutions to handle real-world optical transmission challenges.
Driving Ethernet Interoperability
The Ethernet Alliance is instrumental in propelling Ethernet innovation forward by fostering collaboration among key industry stakeholders. Through multi-vendor interoperability demos and plugfests, the organization ensures that standards are both defined and implemented in a way that reflects real-world needs.
These efforts help bridge the gap between specification and deployment. By participating in these events, member organizations like Anritsu help promote confidence in coherent Ethernet technologies, as well as its scalability and reliability as the industry moves to ever-higher speeds.
Future Forward: Scaling Ethernet Through Collaboration
As the industry races toward 800G and beyond, network complexity will only grow. Coherent transmission, tighter signal margins, and flexible optical networking architectures will all require a heightened focus on interoperability. Continued collaboration through events like the Ethernet Alliance’s demos will remain essential to proving that disparate systems can not just work together but scale and evolve to meet the demands of the digital future.
Anritsu is pleased to be part of the Ethernet Alliance and its multi-vendor demonstrations, reaffirming our commitment to industry collaboration, open standards, and next-generation Ethernet innovation.
To learn more about the Ethernet Alliance at OFC 2025, click here.
To learn more about Anritsu, click here.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Ethernet Alliance.
