NeoPhotonics quadruples integrated coherent receiver manufacturing capacity

In another sign that coherent technology is ramping up, NeoPhotonics Corp. (NYSE:NPTN) says it has quadrupled manufacturing capacity for its Integrated Coherent Receivers (ICR) for 40- and 100-Gbps coherent fiber-optic transport systems.

NeoPhotonics sees expanded demand for the receivers, which are based on photonic integrated circuit (PIC) technology, as more systems and module designers pair coherent detection with dual-polarization quadrature phase-shift keying (DP-QPSK) modulation to enable transmission at 40 and 100 Gbps over infrastructure originally designed to handle no more than 10 Gbps. The coherent receivers, when combined with high-speed analog-to-digital converters and digital signal processors, are better able to recover signal information than conventional receivers in the face of the increased impairments high-speed signals face from such sources as polarization-mode dispersion.

Ciena’s recent announcement that it will deploy coherent technology across its optical transport portfolio is indicative of this trend (see “Ciena expands packet-optical transport line”).

The NeoPhotonics ICR is designed to support the OIF Implementation Agreement for Integrated Dual Polarization Intradyne Coherent Receivers. The company says it has garnered multiple design wins for the ICR with its Tier 1 customer base. ICRs are now shipping, with or without an internal polarizing beam splitter, to multiple customers.

“The rapid increase in the use of coherent transmission technology for 40 Gbps on the line side, coupled with an initial ramp of 100 Gbps coherent systems, necessitates a significant increase in volume shipments of ICRs while maintaining stringent optical performance requirements,” said Tim Jenks, chairman and CEO of NeoPhotonics. “Our photonic integration technology utilizes our semiconductor-based wafer manufacturing capabilities and is inherently high quality, scalable, and cost-effective, which positions us ahead of the demand curve for this important technology.”