Ciena Highlights High-Performance AI Networking at ECOC 2026

Demos and speaking sessions explore how hyperscalers and service providers can meet massive AI network demands

At ECOC 2026 taking place September 21-23 in Málaga, Spain, Ciena (NYSE: CIEN) will spotlight innovations for delivering AI data center performance at scale. Ciena’s booth (Hall 1, Booth #1045) will showcase solutions that simplify the delivery of high-speed, high-capacity connectivity services, including 1.6T coherent optics, multi-rail photonics, and high-performance electrical and optical interconnects for scale-up and scale-out applications.

Demonstrations

• Intra-data center networking –Exploring how the Nitro 2004 linear redriver enables a new generation of copper interconnect. The demo also highlights how co-packaged optics (CPO), utilizing the Open CPX compliant Vesta 200 6.4T CPX optical engine, and liquid cooling accelerate the deployment of ultra-high density, power-optimized scale-up and scale-out data center networks.
• Coherent optics –Demonstrating the next generation of coherent connectivity – from WaveLogic™ 6 Nano 800G pluggables to 1600ZR+ to liquid-cooled eXtra-dense Pluggable Optics (XPO) and full-spectrum transponders – providing the right performance, reach, density, and power for every inter-data center application.
• Scale-across: high-density connectivity for AI infrastructure – Showcasing how Ciena combines its high-capacity coherent optics with RLS scale-across configurations, including RLS Hyper-Rail, to address the massive connectivity demands of distributed AI infrastructure. The demo highlights how RLS Hyper-Rail delivers a 32x density improvement, enabling more capacity in less space while simplifying deployment and improving power efficiency.
• Scalable optical transport – Highlighting how Waveserver delivers flexible, high-capacity transport in a compact platform, from quantum-safe 1.6T encryption and integrated photonics to client aggregation and power-efficient 800G coherent pluggables.
• Navigator Network Control Suite (NCS) – Showing how Navigator NCS enables operators to accelerate time-to-market, speed issue resolution, and reduce risk with AI-powered automation, troubleshooting, and digital-twin validation.
• OIF (booth #2126) – Supporting OIF’s 800ZR, OpenROADM 800G, 400ZR, OpenZR+, and Multi-Span Optics and Common Management Interface Specification (CMIS) interoperability demos with Ciena’s WL6n C- and L-band 800G and WaveLogic 5 Nano (WL5n) 400G coherent pluggable transceivers. Ciena is also participating in the Common Electrical I/O demos, showing live 448Gb/s PAM4 and PAM6 multivendor interoperable transmission, helping drive the industry direction toward optimal rate adoption for 448G SerDes. Additionally, Ciena is contributing to a CPO demo showcasing the Vesta 200 6.4T CPX light engine as a key enabler of the overall ecosystem.

Speaking Sessions

Sunday, September 20

• 11:00 a.m. (Auditorium 2) – Bilal Riaz, Senior Director, Interconnects Product Line Management, will present during the “Breaking the Power Wall with Multi-Rail Photonics and Optical Interconnect Innovation” workshop
• 2:00 p.m. (Conference room 1.1) – Robert Keys, VP, Systems Architecture, will present during the “How Will We Manage the Heterogeneous Optical Communication Networks of the Future?” workshop
• 4:00 p.m. (Exhibition Room 1) – Robert Keys, VP, Systems Architecture, will present during the “Will the AI workload require an end-to-end-optimized network infrastructure?” workshop
• 4:00 p.m. (PV-R Multipurpose room) – Bilal Riaz, Senior Director, Interconnects Product Line Management, will present during the “Can fast narrow channels keep rising without limit or will slow and wide become the winner?” workshop
• 4:15 p.m. (Auditorium 1) – Kim Roberts, VP, WaveLogic Science, will present during the “Future role of coherent technology for data-center applications” workshop

Monday, September 21

• 10:00 a.m. (Auditorium 1) – Peter Winzer, VP, Systems Architecture, will speak at the “AI Cluster Communications” plenary session
• 10:40 a.m. (Market Focus Theatre) – Karen Liu, Interconnects Product Line Manager, will speak at the “Accelerating CPO Broad Market Adoption” Market Focus session
• 2:30 p.m. (Conference Room 2.2) – Marc Stephens, Senior Sales Engineer, will present during the “Algorithmically-Optimized Real-Time 18 Tb/s Throughput over a 16,608 km Trans-Pacific Subsea Link” session
• 4:00 p.m. (Market Focus Theatre) – Bilal Riaz, Senior Director, Interconnects Product Line Management, will participate in the “XPO and System Scaling” Market Focus panel

Wednesday, September 23

• 11:40 a.m. (Market Focus Theatre) – Frank Chang, Senior Director, Interconnects Product Line Management, will present “The Future of Coherent Optics in the AI Era” session
• 2:00 p.m. (Market Focus Theatre) – Andrew Kam, Senior Manager, Optical Engineering, will speak at the “Hollow-Core Fiber at Scale: Operational Insights from Multi-Span Transmission Systems” session
• 3:40 p.m. (Market Focus Theatre) – Helen Xenos, Senior Director, Portfolio Marketing, will speak at the “Beyond Connectivity: Real-World Network Sensing with Existing Optical Infrastructure” session

For more information about Ciena’s participation at ECOC 2026 or to schedule a meeting, visit this link or contact pr@ciena.com.

OIF Brings Industry-Wide Interoperability to Life at ECOC 2026, Accelerating Scalable, Efficient Networks for the AI Era
OIF returns to ECOC 2026 with a live, multi-vendor interoperability demo featuring 39 participating companies. Spanning optical, electrical, energy efficient and management interfaces, the demo highlights interoperability across Optical Systems, 448G & 224G Common Electrical I/O (CEI), CMIS, Co-Packaging, Energy Efficient Interfaces and more, advancing scalable, efficient AI-era networks. Visit OIF at booth #2126 or learn more at https://www.oiforum.com/meetings-events/oif-ecoc-2026.

About Ciena
Ciena is the global leader in high-speed connectivity. We build the world’s most advanced networks to support exponential growth in bandwidth demand. By harnessing the power of our networking systems, interconnects, 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 or visit the Ciena website.

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