Episode 20 of the Cisco Optics Podcast is now posted! See below for episode notes.
Podcast episodes are now being added to the Cisco Optics playlist on YouTube!
Cisco Optics Podcast Episode 20
Cisco Optics Podcast Episode 20. How to Make Coherent Optics Small and Pluggable, with Tom Williams. Part 1 of 5.
Coherent optics have been the go-to solution for high-end optical transport systems for years. Eventually these optics were modularized and with recent advances in DSP design and optics manufacturing, this technology is now available in small form factor pluggable modules. Cisco recognized the importance of this technology and acquired the industry’s leader in this space, Acacia Communications in March of 2021. In Episode 20, we start a new conversation with Tom Williams, Director of Technical Marketing, who joined Cisco via the Acacia acquisition. We begin our conversation with Tom’s background and the types of problems they solved at Acacia.
– Pat Chou, Cisco Optics Product Manager
Tom Williams leads marketing efforts for the Acacia coherent optics team that was acquired by Cisco in March 2021. Tom has spent over 20 years developing optical transmission equipment ranging from 10G to 1.2T. He participates in a variety of coherent standardization activities in OIF, IEEE and Open ROADM and is co-chair of the OpenZR+ MSA. Tom spent nearly 15 years in various management roles at Optium, where he participated in the company’s 2006 IPO and 2008 acquisition by Finisar. Tom joined Acacia in 2015, where his role has included corporate and product marketing responsibility, as well as contributing to product roadmap definitions.
Related links
Cisco Optics-to-Device Compatibility Matrix: https://tmgmatrix.cisco.com/
Cisco Optics-to-Optics Interoperability Matrix: https://tmgmatrix.cisco.com/iop
Cisco Optics Product Information: https://copi.cisco.com/
Listen to Episode 20
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Timestamps
2:28 Optium days
7:15 Finisar acquisition of Optium
10:34 Joining Acacia
16:05 Problem solving
Music credits
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