Luxtera’s OptoPHY transceiver leads industry as low cost optical interconnect for 40G Ethernet apps

OFC/NFOEC 2010, CARLSBAD, USA: Luxtera, a leader in Silicon CMOS photonics, announced OptoPHY’s support for 40G Ethernet applications.

As 10G Ethernet connections migrate to server connectivity, 40G Ethernet is emerging as a preferred solution for switch interconnect, delivering the bandwidth necessary for aggregation of multiple servers.

To enable wide deployment of 40G Ethernet, a low cost optical interconnect is required. OptoPHY is the first CMOS Photonics-based single chip transceiver for on-board deployment. Breaking cost barriers traditionally associated with optics, OptoPHY delivers low power consumption and long reach to surpass legacy copper and VCSEL-based multimode fiber transceivers.

OptoPHY features a smaller form-factor than traditional MSA modules and is ideal for switch interconnect and network interface controller (NIC) applications on servers. The solution complements standard MSA transceivers, specifically Luxtera’s award-winning 40G QSFP Active Optical Cable, Blazar.

At OFC, Luxtera will work with technology partners, Tektronix and NetLogic Microsystems, to display its optical technology through live and static demonstrations. Luxtera will have a live demonstration of OptoPHY inside the Tektronix booth and will showcase OptoPHY as well as Blazar with NetLogic.

“Tektronix is proud to be supporting a live demonstration of the OptoPHY solution for 40G Ethernet. The Tektronix DSA8200 Series Oscilloscope is ideal for characterization and IEEE 802.3 compliance of 40G designs like Luxtera’s CMOS Photonics technology,” said Brian Reich, general manager, Performance Oscilloscopes, Tektronix. “We are excited to showcase the high bandwidth optical connectivity in our testing of Luxtera’s CMOS Photonics technology.”

OptoPHY is also ideal for server-to-switch interconnects in the emerging datacenter applications. OptoPHY’s board-mountable, optical transceivers provide a reliable solution, extending 4,000 meters at industry leading power consumption under 200mW per 10G and benefits of fiber-optic EMI immunity. As datacenters continue to strive for energy efficiency to reduce operation costs and to comply with emerging “green” laws and regulations, OptoPHY leads the charge as a low cost, high performing datacenter connectivity solution.

“NetLogic’s industry-leading low power 10GbE SerDes technology, interoperating with Luxtera’s Silicon CMOS Photonics technology, provides an ideal solution for datacenter connectivity where low power, low latency links are required,” said Shantanu Mitra, vice president of marketing for Physical-Layer products at NetLogic. “Next-generation 40Gbps links based on Luxtera’s QSFP+ modules and NetLogic’s 40G PHY devices are now being developed to address the immediate need for 40Gbps connectivity.”

“Luxtera has already proven the success of Silicon Photonics transceivers in QDR InfiniBand applications and now we are bringing the benefits Silicon Photonics to the 40G Ethernet market. We are looking forward to the demonstration of product capabilities for Ethernet applications at this year’s OFC conference,” said Marek Tlalka, vice president of marketing for Luxtera. “NetLogic and Tektronix are leaders in their respective markets and we are very excited to have the opportunity to showcase our products together with joint demonstrations.”