NeoPhotonics launches multiplexers and de-multiplexers that increase capacity of DCI optical fibers

NeoPhotonics Corp of San Jose, CA, USA (a vertically integrated designer and manufacturer of hybrid photonic integrated optoelectronic modules and subsystems for high-speed communications) has announced the introduction and initial shipments of new arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) multiplexers and de-multiplexers for high-capacity, high-baud-rate, coherent transmission systems.

The new AWGs are based on NeoPhotonics’ high-volume, high-reliability planar lightwave circuit (PLC) platform and offer channel spacings of 75-150GHz and channel counts of 40-64 channels. The filter response functions have been designed to be broad and flat over the desired passband in order to support new coherent systems operating at 60-128Gbaud. The new product family consists of multiple designs that are optimized around specific system requirements.

Over the last two decades, AWGs have been a key filtering technology used in dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) systems to put different wavelength channels on to and off of transmission fibers. An AWG offers much lower cost and many more channels than a wavelength-selective switch (WSS), and is a suitable wavelength multiplexing and de-multiplexing technology for point-to-point high-capacity systems such as data-center interconnect (DCI). NeoPhotonics is a fully vertically integrated supplier of AWGs with in-house design, wafer fabrication, assembly and test, and has shipped more than half a million AWGs.

The advent of coherent transmission for telecoms greatly increases fiber capacity and is particularly useful for DCI applications. However, it imposes a new set of requirements on AWGs that are quite different from those in traditional direct detection systems. By using higher baud rates and higher-order modulation coherent transmission, the bandwidth of each wavelength channel can be increased to 400Gbps, 600Gbps, 800Gbps or higher. However, these channels require more spectral bandwidth, reducing the total number of channels achievable when the total available optical spectrum is fixed.

Consequently, an optimum design of the DWDM multiplexer and de-multiplexer channel spacing and filter bandwidth is needed to maximize the fiber capacity. NeoPhotonics says that, as a vertically integrated designer and manufacturer of AWGs, it works with customers to efficiently modify the filter shape and channel spacing to maximize total fiber capacity, and can rapidly transition new designs to production, providing high volume to support DCI deployments.

Tags: NeoPhotonics PICs

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