19 March 2013

GigOptix gives first demo of 100G quad driver and polymer modulator bundle, plus AOC VSR and EDR chipset

GigOptix Inc of San Jose, CA, USA (a fabless supplier of analog semiconductor and optical components enabling high-speed end-to-end information streaming) is showcasing its 100Gbps networking technology in booth 3113 at the Optical Fiber Communication/National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference (OFC/NFOEC 2013) in Anaheim (19-21 March) with live demonstrations of its 100Gbps quad driver and TFPS modulator bundle, and an Infiniband EDR chipset, as well as several new product introductions.

GigOptix is showcasing the following products and bundled solutions:

• GX62455: a 4x32Gbps quad Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM) linear driver designed for 100Gbps DP-QPSK long-haul optical transmitters;

• LX8240: a small-footprint thin-film polymer on silicon (TFPS) modulator for long-haul 100Gbps DP-QPSK and ultra-long-haul 100Gbps coherent optical transponders;

• GLX1411: a bundle assembly containing the GX62455 directly connected to the LX8240 with associated biasing circuitry for 100Gbps DP-QPSK applications;

• HXT6204: a 4x28Gbps vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) driver designed for compact, low-power optical transmitter modules and active optical cables (AOCs);

• HXR6204: a 4x28Gbps transimpedance amplifier (TIA) array designed for high-capacity, optical telecom and datacom links and AOCs such as Infiniband EDR (enhanced data rate).

The setup for demonstrating the GLX1411 bundle solution reference system (containing a GX62455 quad MZM driver and a LX8240 TFPS DP-QPSK modulator) allows for eye-diagram display on a sampling scope or for X and Y polarization observation via optical constellation analyzer. “Customer demand for the bundle solution has been very strong,” says Josh Nakaska, director of marketing of the High-Speed Communications division. “The GX62455 and LX8240 bundled demonstration builds on our experience in dual-channel drivers and TFPS polymer modulator technology for 100Gbps DP-QPSK. With the GLX1411, GigOptix continues to lead 100Gbps high-speed communications system deployments,” he claims.

In February, GigOptix announced its partnership with Germany’s Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI, a research center for communication systems, digital media and services) to jointly develop a full production-worthy reference platform 100Gbps transmit optical sub-assembly (TOSA) based on the LX8240 TFPS DP-QPSK modulator chip, the Fraunhofer HHI tunable laser chip, and the GX62455 driver.

GigOptix is now shipping the GLX1411 reference systems to customers for evaluation of the bundled TFPS modulator chip and the 100Gbps driver.

Of the second-generation HXT6204/HXR6204 28Gbps quad-channel silicon chipset (VCSEL driver and TIA), the HXT6204 is a 4x28Gbps transmitter designed specifically for short-reach VCSEL-based AOCs, and the HXR6204 is a 4x28Gbps receiver to complete the link with customer photo detectors. The demonstration setup includes ribbon-fiber pig-tailing to complete the optical link between transmit and receive evaluation boards. “The HXT6204 and HXR6204 transmitter and receiver chipset opens the door for high-data-rate 4-channel 28Gbps VCSEL applications,” says Martin Bossard, director of engineering & general manager for GigOptix-Helix AG of Zurich, Switzerland. “The HXT/R6204 chipset leverages on our previously demonstrated 25Gbps HXT5204 and HXR5204 devices with performance improvements,” he adds. “The HXT6204 and HXR6204 enable Infiniband EDR AOC links and can also be used in HPC VSR [high-performance computing very short reach] links.”

The 4-channel HXT6204 and HXR6204 devices, as well as the newly released 12-channel HXT6212 and HXR6212 devices based on the similar silicon platform, are also now available for progressive sampling and evaluation.

Tags: GigOptix Mach-Zehnder modulator TFPS modulator TOSA

Visit: www.gigoptix.com