OCTOBER 3, 2006 -- BroadLight today announced the availability of the BL2901 GPON PHY (GPHY) ASIC for delivering what it claims is breakthrough ONT cost reductions. The BL2901 integrates the GPON ONT transceiver's functions of PMD, control and diagnostic functions into a single ASIC.
Together with BroadLight's BL2000 ONT system-on-chip (SoC), makers of GPON ONTs now can eliminate the traditional costly transceiver module and replace it with lower cost Bidirectional (BiDi) or Planar Lightwave Circuit (PLC) optical devices, say company representatives. Furthermore, this lower bill of materials (BOM) cost can be realized through the use of BroadLight's cost-optimized GPON ONT reference design.
The new BL2901 is sampling today and is being unveiled at the FTTH Conference this week in Las Vegas. Also shown will be BroadLight's BL2000 and BL2901 combination chipset in a cost-optimized GPON ONT reference design.
"ONT cost is the number one feature in the PON market, and the BL2901 will enable BroadLight's customers to be successful with the major GPON rollouts," contends Andrew Vought, CEO of BroadLight. "We are very pleased to be first again with such silicon and software innovation that is easy to implement in time for the GPON volume ramp."
"A GPHY device, like this one from BroadLight, was needed to drive down the price of the costliest section of the ONT, the optical block," explains Jeff Heynen, directing analyst of Broadband and IPTV for Infonetics Research "BroadLight's approach--by coupling it with its BL2000 SoC--even allows improvements in operational lifecycle costs, giving service providers the ability to monitor the ONT's optical link over time and take any necessary measures."
The BL2901 is an analog front-end for the BL2000 ONT SoC for interfacing with and controlling BiDi and PLC optical devices. The BL2901's functions include a limiting amplifier supporting a choice of PIN or APD diodes and burst-mode laser driver for FP or DFB lasers. BroadLight's GPHY application software enables compensation for aging, temperature, and tracking variations during operation. In manufacturing test, the large variance in optical device parameters is compensated by automatically tuning the optics for optimum performance--thus cutting down the testing time and labor cost, claims the company. Taking advantage of the intelligence in the BL2000 SoC, a rich set of flexible controls and diagnostics are available to the designer and the service providers during the operations of the ONT, providing for additional cost savings, says Broadlight.
The BL2901 is available with a complete reference design that enables OEMs and ODMs to develop GPON ONT products quickly and at low risk. The reference design features BroadLight's BL2338 GPON SoC and BL2901 GPON PHY. The reference design is targeted for GPON CPE markets for single-family unit (SFU) ONT as well as optical network units (ONU) for Fiber-to-the-Building/Curb (FTTB/FTTC) applications. The reference design includes the GPHY application software for diagnostics and calibration for manufacturing test as well as an extended API as part of BroadLight's PONMaker Software Suite.
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