Commitments and Contingencies (Details 2) (Graywire LLC)	0 Months Ended
Mar. 16, 2012 claim	May 29, 2008 defendant
Graywire LLC
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of defendants other than reporting entity		4
Number of claims settled	2

Loss Contingency, Number of Defendants Other than Reporting Entity

No definition available.

Name:	cien_LossContingencyNumberOfDefendantsOtherThanReportingEntity
Namespace Prefix:	cien_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration