GigOptix enables sub 1W for 120Gbps parallel optics links

PALO ALTO, USA: GigOptix Inc. announced today that it has successfully demonstrated error-free 10Gbps optical links over 100m of multi-mode fiber (MMF) operating with less than 81mW per channel or 8mW/Gbps.

These links used ‘off the shelf’ 850 nm O/E components and GigOptix’s HXT/R4 series of multichannel VCSEL driver and receiver arrays with a single power supply. This is a major step in parallel optics solutions as it will enable 12 channel links used in SNAP12, CXP, for and 100GBASE-SR10 standards to achieve sub 1W power dissipation.

Commercially available 12 channel parallel optics modules operating at 6.25Gbps per channel offer an aggregate bandwidth of 75Gbps with power consumption of 53mW/Gbps or in the range of 300mW per channel. GigOptix 10Gbps solution offers 120Gbps and results demonstrate more than 6 x improvement over the previous generations with a single power supply.

"Network demand continues to grow at a fast pace and parallel optics provides many benefits over traditional copper connections in broadband networks," commented Daryl Inniss, Vice President and Practice Leader of Communications Component of Ovum. “Continuously driving down the energy per bit is key to accelerating the adoption in the Enterprise segment. GigOptix is setting a significant benchmark with these results.”

“This is a great result that confirms the value of the 10Gb/s implementation with new technology concepts to reduce power. We also have more system optimization ideas which, we believe, can improve on these results with further cooperation with our customers,” stated Joerg Wieland, Vice President and General Manager of GigOptix-Helix.

“System integrators can now produce unprecedented power efficiency for high-density, board-to-board interconnects for high-end servers and routers. This new generation provides higher bandwidths and greatly reduces system power dissipation which will enable data center managers to save significantly on energy costs due to heat management. ”

The HXT/R4 family is designed for use in Active Optical Cables (AOC), SNAP12 and QSFP optical modules while serving the fast growing markets of high performance computing optical interconnects, switch and router optical backplanes and the new 40G and 100G Ethernet standards.