23 March 2016

Mellanox announces first 200Gb/s silicon photonics devices, doubling performance in QSFP form factor

In booth 3425 at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference & Exhibition (OFC 2016) in Anaheim, CA, USA (22-24 March), Mellanox Technologies Ltd of Sunnyvale, CA, USA and Yokneam, Israel (a supplier of end-to-end InfiniBand and Ethernet interconnect solutions and services for servers, storage and hyper-converged infrastructure) is demonstrating 50Gb/s silicon photonics optical modulators and detectors. Since the devices are the key component in 200Gb/s and 400Gb/s LinkX cables and transceivers, the demonstration is an important milestone toward providing end-to-end solutions for HDR 200Gb/s InfiniBand and Ethernet interconnect infrastructure, according to the firm.

"Silicon photonics is the enabling technology for 200Gb/s InfiniBand and Ethernet networks," says Amir Prescher, executive VP of business development & interconnect products. "The QSFP56 doubles the front-panel density for next-generation switches; enables 200G copper DACs and 50G breakout cables for adapters and inside-the-rack applications; and silicon photonics transceivers supports all data center reaches to 2km," he adds. 

Mellanox plans to offer 50Gb/s and 200Gb/s direct-attach copper cables (DACs); copper splitter cables (QSFP56 to 4x SFP56); silicon photonics-based active optical cables (AOCs) for reaches to 200m; and silicon photonics transceivers for reaches to 2km. Mellanox's 200Gb/s cables and transceivers will seamlessly support previous generations of 40 and 100Gb/s networks.

"The transition from 40G to 100G networks inside the data center has begun in earnest," comments Dale Murray, principal analyst at LightCounting Market Research. "This announcement comes just as the cloud and hyperscalers are planning their migration to 200G and 400G."

Mellanox's LinkX interconnect product family includes 10, 40, 25, 50 and 100Gb/s copper cables, active optical cables and transceivers for both single-mode fiber and multi-mode fiber applications. The newest LinkX additions, introduced at OFC, are 25Gb/s transceivers and active optical cables, and use the SFP28 form factor.

Tags: Mellanox silicon photonics AOC QSFP

Visit: www.mellanox.com