13 March 2014

MACOM's M37040 and M37041 CDRs reach volume shipment; demoed with Molex’s transceivers in 100G zQSFP+ AOC

M/A-COM Technology Solutions Inc of Lowell, MA, USA (which makes semiconductors, components and subassemblies for analog, RF, microwave and millimeter-wave applications) says that its M37040 and M37041 4x28Gbps clock & data recovery ICs (CDRs) have achieved a production release status. Also, at the Optical Fiber Communication conference & exposition (OFC 2014) in San Francisco (11-13 March), they have been demonstrated with silicon photonics based transceivers from high-speed fiber-optic interconnect firm Molex Inc of Lisle, IL, USA, as part of a fully re-timed 100Gbps parallel single-mode (PSM4) zQSFP+ active optical solution.

High-density front-panel applications (using quad small-form-factor pluggable (QSFP) modules and on-board optical engines driving optical backplanes) require dramatic reductions in component power consumption and footprint, says MACOM. The firm’s four-channel CDRs support data rates required for multiple standards, including 100G Ethernet, InfiniBand enhanced data rate (EDR), and 32G Fibre Channel and optical transport network (OTU-4). The low-power CDRs integrate key features, such as a limiting amplifier with what is claimed to be industry leading input sensitivity, output de-emphasis to optimize link performance, as well as test pattern generation and checking for system-level diagnostics. The devices are reference-free, eliminating the need for reference crystal oscillators (reducing the number of components and cost required to implement a re-timing function).

The M37040 and M37041 CDR devices are the industry’s lowest-power production CDRs, claims Gary Shah, VP of marketing, High Performance Analog, at MACOM. “With our roadmap commitment to low power, we are also demonstrating MACOM’s next-generation, lower-power M37046 and M37049 CDRs.” Low power consumption and small footprint make MACOM’s CDRs a suitable chip-set solution for CFP-2, CFP-4 and small-form-factor QSFP optical modules such as the transceivers demonstrated by Molex, Shah adds.

“Molex’s silicon photonics-based solutions, in combination with MACOM's low-power CDRs, deliver 100Gbps optical connectivity up to distances of multiple kilometers in small-form-factor optical modules with the option of re-timing in both transmit and receive directions,” says Adit Narasimha, director of active optics at Molex. "This solution overcomes the challenges that interconnect manufacturers face when trying to meet the footprint, power consumption and thermal constraints that the market demands.”

MACOM’s CDR devices are a part of growing family of signal conditioners, cross-point switches and physical media devices (PMDs) for networking and enterprise solutions. The M37040 and M37041 are available in 7mm x 7mm packages and are now shipping in volume production. The M37046 and M37049 are available in what is claimed to be the industry’s smallest-footprint package (4mm x 4.5mm) and are shipping in sample quantities. The devices are being showcased at OFC in MACOM’s booth #631 as well as in Molex’s in booth #3863.

See related items:

MACOM launches first monolithically integrated EML driver and CDR

Tags: M/A-COM Molex AOC

Visit: www.macomtech.com

Visit: www.molex.com