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Optoelectronic chip and module manufacturer JDSU of Milpitas, CA, USA says that it is now shipping an avalanche photodetector (APD) chip designed for gigabit passive optical networks (GPONs) that enable data transmission for fiber-to-the home (FTTH). The new chip provides high functionality at low cost, claims the firm, suiting FTTH deployment.

Network equipment manufacturers (NEMs) and their service provider customers are implementing GPON networks and offering FTTH solutions to consumers as a high-performance option to hybrid fiber coax (HFC) and digital subscriber line (DSL) solutions for combined high-speed voice, video and data transmission. To maintain reasonable costs for these services, the optical components that make up the GPON infrastructure must also be low cost and perform at very high levels to ensure quality of service to consumers.

“The GPON market is starting to take off and is expected to grow at a CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of greater than150% over the next several years, as service providers increase FTTH rollouts to consumers,” says Lynn Hutcheson, VP of Communication Components at Ovum RHK. “It makes sense that JDSU would offer an APD chip for GPON, leveraging its expertise at photonic integration and its strength at developing receiver products to deliver a low-cost solution to the market.”

To make APD chips affordable for the GPON market, JDSU has leveraged its manufacturing expertise to create a new low-cost chip, the firm says. Legacy designs have been updated to reduce manufacturing complexity, while retaining the same high reliability and performance of legacy APD chips. The chip is based on a planar platform, known for higher reliability and easier fabrication. JDSU has previously shipped tens of thousands of APD chips for telecom applications.
“With the new APD chip, JDSU has combined its telecom expertise and manufacturing savvy to enter the high-growth GPON market,” says Alex Schoenfelder, VP and general manager of Integrated Photonics at JDSU.

JDSU is currently developing packaged versions of the APD chip for the GPON space and other telecom markets.

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