Inphi Corp. (NYSE: IPHI) says it has begun sampling the LightSpeed-III M200, a coherent digital signal processor (DSP) for use with both digital coherent optics (DCO) and analog coherent optics (ACO) optical transceiver applications.
The 16-nm LightSpeed-III M200 is Inphi's first coherent DSP offering derived from its acquisition of coherent DSP pioneer ClariPhy Communications (see "Inphi to buy coherent DSP developer ClariPhy Communications for $275 million"). Inphi asserts the device benefits from the melding of its expertise with that of ClariPhy, including internal analog expertise and SerDes IP as well as DSP and forward error correction (FEC) knowledge.
For example, the DSP supports two host SerDes with selectable 10-Gbps and 28-Gbps NRZ interfaces with 100G client FEC termination. This feature eliminates the need for external gearboxes, Inphi says. Meanwhile, integrated client features such as FIPS-compliant AES256 encryption, Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) monitoring, and OTN overhead processing enable high density and cost optimization for metro and data center interconnect platform applications.
Inphi says it offers a turn-key reference design with a complete suite of hardware design files and software as well.
"With the sampling of our M200 100/200G Coherent DSP product to customers, Inphi is delivering the industry's lowest-power DSP at market-leading OSNR performance, at a time when next generation optical networks are requiring higher capacity solutions for exponential growth," asserts Nariman Yousefi, senior vice president, coherent DSP, at Inphi.
The company foresees the DSP used on line cards with CFP-DCO and CFP2-DCO coherent modules, within CFP2-ACO optical transceivers, and on discrete line card implementations. Inphi expects to announce general availability of the M200 by the end of the year.
"Next-generation coherent DSPs like the M200 are key to enabling the high-density, low-power coherent WDM solutions that are critical for driving network expansion in the metro market," said Heidi Adams, senior research director, Transport Networks at IHS Markit via an Inphi press release. "200G in particular is emerging as a hot technology for metro data center interconnect applications, and with a 5-year CAGR of +87%, is the sweet spot for growth in the metro."
For related articles, visit the Optical Technologies Topic Center.
For more information on communications semiconductors and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer's Guide.