News: Optoelectronics
13 May 2021
NeoPhotonics starts pilot shipments of Class 60 CDM and Micro-ICR for 800G-and-above coherent transmission
NeoPhotonics Corp of San Jose, CA, USA – a vertically integrated designer and manufacturer of silicon photonics and hybrid photonic integrated circuit (PIC)-based lasers, modules and subsystems for high-speed communications – has announced limited availability of Class 60 versions of its coherent driver-modulator (CDM) and intradyne coherent receiver (Micro-ICR). Unveiled last December, these components are now shipping in initial quantities to multiple customers and address the next generation of 96GBaud-and-above systems.
The Class 60 CDM and Micro-ICR are mechanically compatible with the firm’s Class 40 counterparts and provide a natural upgrade path to higher baud rates supporting data rates that include 800G applications. Optical system performance improvements enabled by operation at these increased baud rates enable NeoPhotonics customers to pack more data over longer distances for better economics, lower cost per bit, lower operating expenses and lower power consumption, all under the same hardware envelope as NeoPhotonics’ Class 40 components.
Higher symbol rates increase data capacity while maintaining superior optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) and reach performance, enabling the highest speed-over-distance use. The new components are available in compact form factor packages suitable for use in pluggable modules and compact daughter cards. The Class 60 coherent components extend the highest speed-over-distance performance of NeoPhotonics’ existing Class 40 products by increasing the 3dB bandwidth from 40GHz to 60GHz. These NeoPhotonics components work together to enable customers to implement single-wavelength data transmission near 1 Terabit per second over data-center interconnect (DCI) distances, as well as 400~500Gbs transmission over long-haul distances.
NeoPhotonics’ Class 60 polarization-multiplexed CDM features a co-packaged indium phosphide (InP) modulator with four linear, high-bandwidth differential drivers, and is designed for low modulation voltage (V-Pi), low insertion loss and a high extinction ratio. The compact package is compliant with the form factor of the OIF Implementation Agreement #OIF-HB-CDM-01.0.
NeoPhotonics’ Class 60 high-bandwidth micro-intradyne coherent receiver (Micro-ICR) is designed for 96GBaud symbol rates, essentially tripling the rate of standard 100G ICRs. The compact package is compliant with the OIF Implementation Agreement OIF-DPC-MRX-02.0.
The components are designed to work together with NeoPhotonics’ ‘Nano’ ultra-narrow-linewidth external-cavity tunable laser, which approximately halves the size compared with existing Micro-ITLAs (integrated tunable laser assemblies), while featuring what is claimed to be industry-leading linewidth, low phase noise and low electrical power consumption.
“We are pleased to be shipping initial quantities of our Class 60 coherent modulators and receivers which, along with our ultra-narrow-linewidth external-cavity ‘Nano’ tunable laser, provide a complete suite of components enabling customers to efficiently implement 800Gbps-per-wavelength coherent communications systems,” says chairman & CEO Tim Jenks. “We are further extending the bandwidth of our indium phosphide coherent integration platform by developing Class 80 components for 130Gbaud operation as we continue to serve the highest-speed-over-distance applications.”
NeoPhotonics launches Class 60 coherent modulator and receiver for 100+Gbaud symbol rates
