Optical transport systems vendor ECI Telecom says it has begun development of a 4x28G approach for 100-Gbps transmission in metro applications. The design, which is now in the proof of concept phase, uses DSP-based CMOS semiconductors from MultiPhy Ltd.

The development work was at least partially funded by the Israeli Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS) through its Magneton program and based on a Ben-Gurion University research project. However, ECI’s CTO Shai Stein told Lightwave that, despite the recent announcement by Oclaro that it has developed a 4x28G transponder (see “Oclaro unveils tunable 100G DWDM CFP transceiver”),ECI preferred the in-house approach because it will produce a design that is more cost-effective because it leverages 10-Gbps optics. It also will have a standard MSA footprint, which will enable ECI to use the same board layout regardless of whether the line card will use the new 4x28G approach or coherent-based transmission. Stein also allowed that the Oclaro transponder was not yet available for inspection at the time they began working on this effort.

MultiPhy’s MP1100Q receiver, a cornerstone of the design, features a high-performance A/D front end and “fastest in class” MLSE DSP architecture, according to the company. The technology enables the transport of 100G signals for hundreds of kilometers in metro WDM networks over 4 lanes, 28Gbps each, using 4x10G optical transceivers. Each lane is transmitted over an independent WDM wavelength or over 25-GHz subwavelength, allocated in a single 100GHz wavelength or a dual 50-GHz wavelength.

"While attention today is focused on 100G long haul deployments, the metro WDM/packet-optical market is still the fastest growing market. 100G non-coherent will be key for large metro upgrades starting next year," suggests Eve Griliches, principle analyst at ACG Research.