MACOM unveils monolithically integrated EAM laser driver and CDR at OFC 2014

M/A-COM Technology Solutions Inc. (MACOM) has announced what it claims is the industry's first 100-Gbps (4x28-Gbps) electro-absorption modulated laser (EML) driver monolithically integrated with clock and data recovery (CDR) functions.

High-density front-panel networking applications using small form-factor pluggable optical modules require dramatic reductions in component power consumption and footprint. MACOM’s new M37047 supports data rates required for multiple standards, including 100 Gigabit Ethernet, Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) InfiniBand, 32G Fibre Channel, and Optical Transport Network (OTU-4).

By integrating laser drivers with MACOM’s low power CDRs, the device achieves the industry’s lowest power consumption and smallest footprint, the company asserts. The device is optimized for transmitter functions in optical modules and complements the already available M37046 CDR device, which is optimized for receiver functions. Both devices come in ultra-small 4x4.5-mm packages which make them an ideal chip set for small form-factor optical modules.

“The transition of network connectivity to 100 Gbps, combined with the need for high-density front-panel optics drives the need for optical modules such as the CFP-4 and QSFP28 modules. To enable these small form-factor optics, semiconductor suppliers must break through traditional power consumption levels,” said Beck Mason, vice president of R&D for JDSU Corp. (NASDAQ: JDSU; TSX: JDU). “By utilizing their CDR technology and monolithically integrating it with laser drivers, MACOM has been able to deliver a low-power device needed by JDSU to enable a 100GBASE-LR4 CFP4 optical module. We are excited to partner with MACOM and demonstrate a CFP4 module utilizing their semiconductors.”

The new M37047 device expands on MACOM’s family of signal conditioners, cross-point switches and physical media devices (PMDs) for networking and enterprise solutions.

MACOM’s M37047 is exclusively sampling to development partners and will become available for sampling to the general market in the second half 2014.

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