ClariPhy unveils 100G Lightspeed-II SoC for coherent CFP transceivers

Optical communications IC specialist ClariPhy Communications, Inc. has unveiled the second member of its recently announced LightSpeed-II family of coherent silicon. The LightSpeed-II CL10010-Z system on a chip (SoC) is targeted for 100-Gbps CFP applications. It follows the 200-Gbps CL20010 (see “ClariPhy samples LightSpeed-II SoC for single-carrier coherent 200G”).

The CL10010-Z is designed to be integrated within the CFP optical transceiver to support data rates of 40G and 100G at unamplified reaches of 80 km in ZR applications as well as 1200 km in other metro DWDM links. It features an integrated 100G Ethernet to Optical Transport Network (OTN) mapper that enables its host transceiver to plug directly into existing CFP ports on Ethernet switch or router line cards, the company asserts.

In addition to the OTN framer/mapper, the 28-nm CMOS device features a high-speed analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and support for multiple forward error correction (FEC) schemes. Its DSP accommodates both QPSK and 16-QAM modulation formats. Dr. Paul Voois, co-founder and chief strategy officer at ClariPhy, told Lightwave he expects his clients and their carrier customers to use 16-QAM in 100-Gbps applications that require better spectral efficiency and power dissipation than DP-QPSK typically provides. He acknowledged these applications are likely to be in shorter-reach metro applications, due to the fact that 16-QAM won’t support the transmission distances that DP-QPSK can.

ClariPhy is sampling the device now, including to Sumitomo Electric Device Innovations (SEDI), with whom it showcased the technology behind the CL10010-Z at OFC in 2013 (see “ClariPhy, Sumitomo Electric pair to demo 100G coherent CFP technology”). “We are pleased to partner with ClariPhy to bring to market a coherent CFP based on the CL10010?Z,” said Nobu Kuwata, general manager of the Technology and Marketing Department of SEDI via a ClariPhy press release. “By combining ClariPhy’s SoC with SEI’s world class indium phosphide optics technology and deep experience in volume manufacturing of pluggable optical modules, we will deliver the benefits of coherent technology to metro and datacenter networks. We will provide first samples of our 100G coherent CFP next quarter. We believe indium phosphide is the most mature and viable optics technology to enable coherent optics for high volume applications.”

Voois predicted that the CL10010-Z will not only be in the production by the end of the year, but also in fielded systems, based on the aggressive schedules of some of his customers.

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