Nokia compatible optics: decoding 3HE part numbers and the platforms they fit

A Nokia optic arrives with a part number like 3HE09327AA. There is nothing in it that tells you the speed, the reach, the wavelength or the form factor. Compare that with an Arista QDD-400G-SR8-C or a Cisco QSFP-100G-LR4-S, both of which more or less describe themselves, and you can see why sourcing Nokia optics takes longer than it should.

This guide explains where the 3HE code comes from, what it does and does not encode, which Nokia platform families take which form factors, and how to get the right compatible module against a part number that tells you nothing. It is the Nokia companion to our existing platform guides for Catalyst 9300 and 9500, Nexus 9300, the Juniper QFX5120 et Arista.

What 3HE actually is

3HE is not an optics code. It is an item code inherited from Alcatel-Lucent, applied across the IP routing portfolio Nokia acquired in 2016, and it covers hardware, adapter cards and even documentation. Nokia’s own manuals carry 3HE numbers on their cover pages — the SR Linux product overview is document 3HE 18301 AAAA — and Alcatel-Lucent-branded 7705 SAR guides from 2013 carry them too.

The structure is consistent: 3HE + a five-digit item number + a letter suffix. What each part means is where it gets awkward.

• The five-digit block is a sequential item number. It is allocated roughly in order, so a higher number is generally a newer part — 3HE00028AA is a 1.25G SFP from the Alcatel-Lucent era, 3HE16568AA is a 400G QSFP-DD. That is a useful rough guide to vintage and nothing more.
• The two-letter suffix is a variant or revision index, and Nokia does not publish what it means. The only place Nokia documents an incrementing letter block is on documents, where it is an edition index. Anyone telling you confidently that AA means revision 1 and AB means revision 2 on an optic is guessing. Treat 3HE00566AA et 3HE00566CA as related but not automatically interchangeable, and check the specification rather than assuming.
• Genuinely different products get genuinely different item numbers. Nokia’s 800G coherent parts are a clean example: the ZR and the ZR+ variants, which differ in launch power, are separate five-digit numbers rather than suffix variants of one.

One more code to recognise. 3HE is the IP routing family only. Nokia’s optical transport line — the 1830 PSS — uses different inherited prefixes such as 8DG and 3KC. If you are holding an 8DG part number, you are looking at the transport platform, not a router optic.

Which platform takes which form factor

Nokia’s IP portfolio splits into a small number of families, and the family tells you far more about the optic you need than the part number does.

Four things worth knowing that the table does not show.

Nokia leans on SFP-DD more than anyone else

SFP-DD — a double-density SFP carrying two electrical lanes — is rare across the industry and common on Nokia’s newer hardware. The 7750 SR-1x-92S carries 80 SFP-DD ports, and the 7730 SXR-1x-44S carries 40. If you are specifying for those platforms, SFP-DD is not an exotic option you can substitute around; it is the port.

Every data centre box still needs 10G SFP+

Almost every 7220 IXR — including the 800G spines — carries two SFP+ ports for management and out-of-band. It is a small, steady, easily-forgotten requirement on hardware nobody thinks of as a 10G platform, and it is the kind of line that gets left off a bill of materials.

The host is usually specified colder than the optic

The 7250 IXR-e, the 7705 SAR Gen 2 and the 7730 SXR are all rated for extended temperature operation down to −40 °C. Commercial-temperature optics are specified 0 to 70 °C. On a cell site, a cabinet or a substation that gap is not theoretical — it is the difference between a link that survives a winter and one that does not. Specify industrial-temperature modules on those platforms and check the rating rather than assuming.

QSFP-DD cages are backwards compatible; OSFP is not

A Nokia QSFP-DD port will take QSFP+, QSFP28 and QSFP56 modules, so a 400G-capable platform can be populated with 100G optics from day one. OSFP ports need an adapter for QSFP-family modules — an extra part and an extra line item. The full comparison is in QSFP-DD vs OSFP.

SR OS, SR Linux and what the software expects

Nokia runs two network operating systems, and which one you are on changes how optics behave.

• SR OS runs the 7750 SR, 7450 ESS, 7950 XRS, 7210 SAS, 7705 SAR and the service-provider 7250 IXR models.
• SR Linux runs the data centre hardware — 7220 IXR, 7215 IXS, the 7250 IXR-X and modular models, and the new 7730 SXR. Several models are also available with SONiC.

SR Linux derives port speed from the transceiver on insertion: unless a port speed or breakout mode is configured, the system sets the port to the speed of the module it finds, using a documented form-factor map. That is convenient, and it is also why an incorrectly-identifying module produces a port at the wrong speed rather than an obvious error — a failure mode worth recognising.

New optics support arrives in SR OS and SR Linux releases, so a current release matters when you are fitting current optics. Nokia does not publish a per-part-number minimum-release matrix in public, so the honest advice is to confirm the release with your Nokia support channel before committing to a design that depends on a recent module.

DWDM on SR OS: the detail that catches people out

If you have provisioned DWDM on other vendors’ platforms, Nokia will surprise you twice.

1. Frequency is configured directly, in MHz — not by ITU channel number. You enter a frequency in the C-band range; there is no channel table to select from, and no frequency is configured by default. If your channel plan lives as a spreadsheet of ITU channel numbers, someone has to do the conversion. The underlying grid is ITU-T G.694.1, the same one described in our comparison of CWDM vs DWDM.
2. Coherent compatibility defaults to long-haul. Metro mode is a separate setting and requires a port restart to change. A link that will not close on a short metro span with apparently healthy optics is very often this.

The connector also has to be administratively disabled before you change frequency or compatibility mode. None of this is difficult; all of it is different enough from other platforms to burn an evening the first time. For the wider tunable-versus-fixed argument, our article on why tunable transceivers reduce complexity in DWDM networks covers the stock side, and 400ZR vs OpenZR+ covers the coherent pluggables now going into router ports directly.

Does Nokia block third-party optics?

No — and Nokia’s own documentation is unusually clear about it. SR OS states that for non-Nokia transceivers, digital diagnostics information may be displayed but that Nokia is not responsible for its formatting or accuracy. That is a support disclaimer, not a lockout. Nokia publishes no qualified-optics list and documents no EEPROM enforcement mechanism.

What still matters is that the module identifies itself correctly. The optical and electrical behaviour of a transceiver is standards-defined — IEEE 802.3 for the Ethernet interface, the SFF specifications maintained through SNIA for the management memory map — but the vendor identification string written into the EEPROM is not. A module coded for Nokia reports correctly in the interface table, returns full diagnostics and lets SR Linux derive the right port speed. An uncoded one may not. The mechanism is explained in full in transceiver coding explained, and the warranty question is answered in do third-party optical transceivers void your warranty?

Nokia-coded optics Carritech stocks

Tested modules coded for Nokia platforms, mapped to their 3HE part numbers. This is a representative selection rather than the complete list.

155M and 1.25G SFP

At 155M, 3HE00027AA et 3HE00027CA are 850 nm multimode to 550 m, with 3HE00024AA at 1310 nm for 2 km. These are the legacy SONET/SDH-era parts that keep 7210 SAS and 7705 SAR estates running — see our guide to 100M duplex SFP transceivers.

At 1.25G, 3HE00028AA covers 1000BASE-LX to 20 km, 3HE00867AA extends to 40 km and 3HE00029AA is the 1550 nm ZX part for 80 km. For single-fibre working there is the dual-channel CSFP 3HE08314AA — an unusual form factor covered in 1.25G CSFP transceivers — plus the CWDM part 3HE04939AA and the copper RJ45 SFP 3HE00062AA. Full 1.25G duplex SFP, 155M SFP et 1.25G CWDM SFP ranges.

10G SFP+ and XFP

The 10G SFP+ family is the densest part of the Nokia range. 3HE04824AA et 3HE09326AA are 850 nm SR parts; 3HE04823AA et 3HE09327AA are 1310 nm LR to 10 km; 3HE09328AA is the 1550 nm ER part for 40 km; and 3HE09329AA is a DWDM C-band module on the 100 GHz grid.

For single-fibre working, 3HE05037AA et 3HE05037AB are the upstream and downstream halves of a BiDi pair — and they must be ordered as a pair, which is the rule explained in our guide to BiDi transceivers. Note that these two share a five-digit block and differ only by suffix, which is exactly the case where the suffix matters.

On older 7750 SR and 7450 ESS line cards the 10G port is an XFP: 3HE00566AA et 3HE00566CA for short reach, 3HE00564AA for 10 km. Browse the 10G SFP+ et 10G XFP ranges, or the 10G SFP+ and XFP overview.

40G QSFP+

3HE06485AA is the CWDM LR4 part for 10 km over duplex single-mode; 3HE11240AA extends to 40 km with APD receivers; 3HE11241AA is a four-lane PSM4 module over an MPO ribbon, which brings polarity into play — see MPO polarity types A, B and C. Full 40G QSFP+ range.

100G QSFP28, CFP, CFP2 and CFP4

In QSFP28, 3HE10051AA et 3HE10551AA are SR4 parts over MPO multimode; 3HE10550AA et 3HE12229AA are LAN-WDM LR4 to 10 km; and 3HE11239AA-80 et 3HE16558AA are ZR4 modules reaching 80 km with FEC. The trade-offs between those reaches are in 100G ZR4 vs LR4 vs ER4.

Earlier 100G line cards used the larger CFP family, and Nokia estates hold a lot of it. 3HE04821AB, 3HE05935AA et 3HE06699AA are CFP LR4 parts, with 3HE06699BA as the 40 km ER4. In CFP2, 3HE08217AA is LR4 and 3HE09255AA is ER4; in CFP4, 3HE09498AA is LR4. Browse the 100G QSFP28, 100G CFP, 100G CFP2 et 100G CFP4 ranges, or the 100G CFP/CFP2/CFP4 overview. Holding CFP-based line cards is exactly the situation our article on optics going end-of-sale before your switch does was written about.

200G and 400G QSFP-DD

At 200G, 3HE13854AA et 3HE13854AA01 are 2 × SR4 modules over MPO-24 multimode — two independent 100G links from one QSFP-DD port rather than a single 200G interface, which is a distinction worth getting right before you order. Our article on 200G QSFP-DD as an upgrade path covers where that fits.

At 400G the range covers all four common optical interfaces: 3HE15211AA for 400GBASE-SR8 over multimode, 3HE15271AA for DR4 at 500 m — the module behind most 400G breakout designs — 3HE15272AA for FR4 at 2 km, 3HE16568AA for LR4 at 10 km, and 3HE15212AA for LR8. Which of those you want is the question answered in choosing 400G optics. Full 400G QSFP-DD et 200G QSFP-DD ranges.

800G and 1.6T

The newest 7220 IXR-H and 7250 IXR-X platforms take QSFP112-DD and OSFP112 at 800G, and the IXR-H6 takes OSFP224 at 1.6T. Carritech covers both from the 800G OSFP et 1.6T OSFP ranges, including the coherent CT-8QDD-ZR-P et CT-8OSFP-ZR-P. If you are planning that step, start with 800G and 1.6T migration: what to check before you buy optics.

Inside the rack

For leaf-to-server and leaf-to-spine runs of a few metres, two optics and a patch lead is the expensive way to move three metres. A passive direct attach cable does it for a fraction of the cost with no lasers to fail and effectively no power draw; an active optical cable extends the idea to tens of metres. The comparison is in DAC vs AOC, and the power argument is in optical transceiver power consumption.

Five checks before you order

1. Match the full part number, suffix included. Because the 3HE code carries no description, the suffix is doing work you cannot infer. Never order against a truncated part number.
2. Confirm the form factor from the platform, not the part number. A 7750 SR-1x port and a 7750 SR-a port are two different worlds, and the item code will not tell you which one you are buying for.
3. Check the temperature rating against the site. Commercial optics in a −40 °C-rated cabinet is a failure waiting for a cold snap.
4. Verify the fibre. SR-family modules need multimode, everything else needs single-mode — see single-mode vs multimode fibre — and work the optical link budget before assuming the datasheet distance applies to your route.
5. Confirm the software release if the module is recent and the platform is not.

Getting Nokia optics without the OEM price

Carritech Optics supplies Nokia-coded modules across the full transceiver range, from 155M to 1.6T. Every module is coded for the target platform and tested before despatch — see the 22 checks a module passes and our transceiver testing process — and carries a garantie à vie, with UK and EU stock and support behind it. If you are weighing compatible against OEM, our comparison of compatible optical transceivers and OEM answers the usual questions.

If your estate mixes Nokia with Cisco, Juniper or Arista, the coding string is what forces you to hold the same optical part four times over. The Carritech Opticode coding box lets you hold one SKU per optical type and code it at the point of deployment instead — the argument set out in building a smarter transceiver stock strategy.

Have a list of 3HE part numbers and no idea what they are? Our compatibility checker returns the tested Carritech equivalent in seconds, or upload the whole list and we will decode and price it for you — request a quote.