Applied Micro Circuits Corp of Santa Clara, CA, USA (which provides silicon-based computing and connectivity solutions for next-generation cloud infrastructure and data centers), BrPhotonics (BrP) of Campinas-SP, Brazil (a joint venture between GigOptix Inc of San Jose, CA, USA and independent Brazil-based research center CPqD that provides high-speed optoelectronic devices and digital microelectronics for high-density form-factor integrated transceivers and subsystems) and MACOM Technology Solutions Inc of Lowell, MA, USA (which makes semiconductors, components and subassemblies for analog RF, microwave, millimeter-wave and photonic applications) have announced the first demonstration of 100Gb/s PAM4 (4-level Pulse Amplitude Modulation) single-wavelength (lambda) technology over single-mode fiber.
The solution features AppliedMicro's 16nm FinFET 100Gb/s PAM4 digital signal processor (DSP), BrPhotonics' newest ultra-high-bandwidth Thin Film Polymer on Silicon (TFPS) modulator and MACOM's high-bandwidth, low-noise transimpedance amplifier (TIA). The demonstration illustrates that the complete eco-system for 100Gb/s over a single-wavelength technology is ready now, with deployments expected in 2017.
It is expected that single-wavelength 100Gb/s will transform the market for 100Gb/s and 400Gb/s intra-datacenter interconnects by enabling deployments of 100Gb/s QSFP, 400Gb/s double-density QSFP and 800Gb/s CFP8 modules. For 100Gb/s, this technology reduces the number of lasers to one and eliminates the need for optical multiplexing. For 400Gb/s implementations, only four lasers are needed, representing a major opportunity for data-center operators to reduce capital expenditure (CapEx) and operating expenses (OpEx) with an extremely compact module form factor.
"As data-center and access network developers demand lower costs and higher port density, we've seen huge market interest in our single-wavelength PAM-4 technology," says AppliedMicro associate VP Omar Hassen. "AppliedMicro's technology is fundamental in enabling 400Gb/s connectivity in a QSFP family of transceivers. This is a feat that has not been achieved previously," he adds.
"This 56 Gigabaud TIA, developed in silicon, demonstrates our leadership in physical media devices as we enable the next generation of data-center optical interconnects," says Gary Shah, MACOM's VP, High-Performance Analog.
"The industry requires significantly lower-cost optical 100Gb/s connections for data-center and access network applications and will be moving to 400G in data centers during 2018/19," comments Simon Stanley, founder & principal consultant at Earlswood Marketing Ltd and analyst-at-large with Heavy Reading. "Single-wavelength PAM4 100Gb/s promises a cost-effective solution for 100Gb/s and enables high-density 400G connections in the data center," he adds. "This demonstration shows that this technology is coming faster than many people think."
AppliedMicro, BrPhotonics and MACOM are showcasing live demonstrations of the new technology in AppliedMicro's booth MR6 at the European Conference on Optical Communications (ECOC 2016) in Düsseldorf, Germany (19-21 September).
