News: Optoelectronics
8 December 2020
Acacia wins ECOC Industry Award for 400G pluggable coherent solutions with 3D siliconization technology
Acacia Communications Inc of Maynard, MA, USA (which develops and manufactures high-speed coherent optical interconnect products) says that its family of 400G pluggable coherent solutions has won the optical integration (Silicon Photonics) category of the first-ever ECOC Exhibition Industry awards, announced at the European Conference on Optical Communications (ECOC 2020) Virtual Exhibition (7–9 December).
Utilizing Acacia’s 3D siliconization technology, the 400G pluggable module family features an expansive list of interoperability solutions (400ZR, OpenZR+, Open ROADM MSA and CableLabs Coherent Optics Physical Layer Specification) in QSFP-DD, OSFP and CFP2-DCO pluggable form factors for cloud data-center (DCI) interconnects and service provider networks. The 400G pluggable coherent solutions were designed to enable network operators to address increasing bandwidth demand through a simplified network architecture to help reduce both capital and operational expenditures.
“For more than a decade, Acacia has been executing on its vision to unleash the full potential of silicon technology in optical interconnects and this award is a testament to our efforts,” says Acacia’s VP of marketing Tom Williams. “By utilizing our 3D siliconization technology, Acacia has been able to move beyond traditional optics manufacturing, utilizing semiconductor processes that are designed to enable these 400G coherent pluggable modules to scale to address higher-volume applications.”
400G pluggable modules represent a key architectural change in high-bandwidth data-center interconnects because they can be plugged directly into switches and routers offering the same density for both coherent DWDM and client optics in the same chassis. As bandwidth demands continue to grow, these solutions are designed to help cloud providers increase the capacity of the optical interfaces that connect their data centers around the globe. The use of coherent optics in switches and routers can simplify architectures, resulting in reductions in capital and operational expenditures, says Acacia. The same technology can be combined with higher performance standards for the potential to drive more traditional transport applications toward CFP2-DCO solutions.
“Congratulations to Acacia for winning one of only six awards being given in honor of ECOC’s 25th anniversary,” says Emma Harvey, commercial director of the ECOC Exhibition’s organizer Nexus Media Events. “Our judges determined that Acacia’s 400G pluggable coherent solutions emphasize technology and product commercialization and highlighted significant achievements in advancing the business of optical communications and silicon photonic integration.”
3D siliconization technology
Acacia’s 400G pluggable coherent solutions leverage its 3D siliconization technology that takes advantage of the firm’s expertise in high-performance silicon photonic integrated circuits (PICs) and low power digital signal processors (DSPs). Acacia’s 3D siliconization applies integration and 3D stacking techniques to enable a single device that includes the high-speed opto-electronic functions necessary for coherent communications. This device, which includes the DSP, photonic integrated circuitry, drivers and transimpedance amplifiers (TIAs), is manufactured using standard electronics packaging processes. Advantages of 3D siliconization include the reduction of electrical interconnects and improved signal integrity, leading to improvements in performance, cost, reliability, power consumption, and size, claims Acacia.
