News

25 March 2009

 

Bookham launches SFF transponder with electronic dispersion compensation

Optical component and module maker Bookham Inc of San Jose, CA, USA has launched the TL9000M, a 300-pin small form factor (SFF) transponder with electronic dispersion compensation (EDC) that should enable increased deployment flexibility and simplification of network design rules, delivering cost savings for network equipment manufacturers.

The 10Gb/s TL9000M combines the size and performance benefits of Bookham’s existing SFF 300-pin transponder with MLSD-based (maximum likelihood sequence detection) EDC to provide significant tolerance to chromatic dispersion (CD), polarization mode dispersion (PMD) and nonlinearities inherent in telecom networks. This should enable product deployment over a greater proportion of installed fiber routes, including those that will not currently support required spans of 80km at 10Gb/s without equalization. The transponder should also eliminate the need for expensive pre-characterizing of fiber paths for poor PMD performance.

The inclusion of MLSD-based EDC into Bookham’s small form factor transponder should allow network engineers to use the technology for all deployments, says Chris Clarke, VP strategy and chief engineer of Bookham’s Telecom Division. “Our indium phosphide building blocks within the transponder allow the real estate to incorporate electronics that give our products a significant advantage in terms of performance,” he claims. “Combining this with the cost, size, and unrivalled power dissipation elements, Bookham will bring this technology from a niche application to potential industry-wide deployment,” he adds.

The transponder incorporates the ClariPhy CL1012 clock and data recovery (CDR) integrated circuit with EDC. The IC uses MLSD technology in a low-cost, low-power CMOS process. The transponder is smaller than competing EDC-enabled offerings and offers lower power dissipation, Bookham claims.

Bookham’s existing TL9000 (launched in 2007) is significantly smaller than competing large form factor tunable 300-pin transponders; the new transponder retains this small form factor transponder footprint, enabled through the combination of Bookham’s indium phosphide modulator technology and the ClariPhy low-power-dissipation single-chip EDC solution.

See related item:

Bookham demos zero-chirp fully qualified tunable SFF transponder

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