News

22 June 2009

 

GigOptix enables sub-1W for 120Gb/s parallel optics links

GigOptix Inc of Palo Alto, CA, USA, which designs optical modulators, drivers and transimpedance amplifier (TIA) ICs based on III-V materials, says that they have demonstrated error-free 10Gb/s optical links over 100m of multi-mode fiber (MMF) operating with less than 81mW per channel (8mW/Gb/s). These links used ‘off the shelf’ 850nm optoelectronic components and GigOptix’s HXT/R4 series of multi-channel vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) driver and receiver arrays with a single power supply. This should enable 12-channel links used in SNAP12, CXP, and for 100GBASE-SR10 standards to achieve sub-1W power dissipation.

Commercially available 12-channel parallel-optics modules operating at 6.25Gb/s per channel offer an aggregate bandwidth of 75Gb/s with power consumption of 53mW/Gb/s (about 300mW per channel). GigOptix’s 10Gb/s solution offers 120Gb/s, and results demonstrate more than a six-fold improvement over the previous generations with a single power supply.

“Network demand continues to grow at a fast pace and parallel optics provides many benefits over traditional copper connections in broadband networks,” says Daryl Inniss, VP & practice leader of Communications Component at market research firm Ovum. “Continuously driving down the energy per bit is key to accelerating the adoption in the enterprise segment. GigOptix is setting a significant benchmark with these results,” he adds.

This confirms the value of the 10Gb/s implementation with new technology concepts to reduce power, GigOptix says. “We also have more system optimization ideas which, we believe, can improve on these results with further cooperation with our customers,” says Joerg Wieland, VP & general manager of Zurich-based subsidiary GigOptix-Helix AG (which makes TIAs, limiting amplifiers and VCSEL drivers). “System integrators can now produce unprecedented power efficiency for high-density, board-to-board interconnects for high-end servers and routers,” he adds. “This new generation provides higher bandwidths and greatly reduces system power dissipation, which will enable data-center managers to save significantly on energy costs due to heat management.”

The HXT/R4 family is designed for use in active optical cables (AOC), SNAP12 and QSFP (quad small-form-factor pluggable) optical modules while serving the fast-growing markets of high-performance computing optical interconnects, switch and router optical backplanes, and the new 40G and 100G Ethernet standards.

GigOptix launches 12.5Gb/s NRZ modulator driver

GigOptix has made available samples (along with an evaluation board) of the GX6159, a high-voltage 12.5Gb/s NRZ/DPSK (nonreturn-to-zero differential phase-shift-keying) modulator driver for 10Gb/s long-haul and metro optical transponders that use lithium niobate (LN) Mach-Zehnder modulators (MZM) to encode data onto the fiber. The hybrid device consists of two wideband pHEMT amplifiers in a compact ceramic package and is footprint compatible with GigOptix’s GX6155 LN driver.

Key features include: 9Vpp output amplitude with low power dissipation; pin castellation for improved soldering reliability verification at assembly & test; ceramic package compatible to common RoHS reflow temperatures; non-inverting polarity; and low RMS jitter degradation.

The GX6159 augments GigOptix’s driver portfolio by providing a solution that can drive the high voltages required not only for 10Gb/s DPSK but also 40Gb/s DP-QPSK (dual-polarization quadrature phase-shift keying) transponders in a form factor that is compatible with lower-voltage drivers such as the GX6155. Market research firm Ovum expects the 40Gb/s market “to grow 48% annually through 2013” and indicated that the 40Gb/s DP-QPSK market accounts for 45% of the overall 40Gb/s market.

“This higher-drive-voltage version of our popular LN modulator driver was requested by one of our customers, a leading European transponder maker,” says VP of marketing Julie Tipton. “The driver is well suited for a 40Gb/s DP-QPSK transponder which combines four 10Gb/s modulated signals to generate the 40Gb/s data stream,” she adds. “A major benefit of this is that it brings a 40Gb/s capability over the existing 10Gb/s infrastructure, thus minimizing the cost for upgrade and making this technique attractive to service providers.”

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