Ensphere Solutions debuts 10-Gbps transceiver and laser diode shunt driver ICs
JANUARY 24, 2011 By Stephen Hardy -- Ensphere Solutions has announced the availability of its ESI-1002 transceiver and the complementary ESI-1010 laser diode shunt driver ICs. The company has targeted both devices at 10-Gbps optical transceiver modules, particularly SFP+, for both 10 Gigabit Ethernet and a variety of Fibre Channel applications.
The ESI-1002 integrates a limiting amplifier and vertical-cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) driver that can supply up to 28 mA of modulation current. It complies with SFF-8472 electrical requirements and supports a SPI processor interface for diagnostics and monitoring of several functions. These include system supply voltage, temperature, laser bias and modulation currents, and transmit power levels, among others. A complete system will have a power dissipation of less than 800 mW, including the laser current.
For longer-reach applications, the ESI-1002 can be used with Fabry-Perot and distributed feedback lasers when paired with an external driver such as the ESI-1010. The ESI-1010 single channel 10-Gbps laser diode driver is designed to support a wide variety of laser RC time constants. It can supply up to 100 mA of bias and 50 mA of modulation currents.
As was the case with Ensphere’s previously announced laser diode driver arrays, the ESI-1010 can be used in a shunt configuration. In this approach, the ESI-1010 drives a low impedance laser diode while presenting a 50-ohm load to the preceding driver. It is available in die form and can be installed adjacent to the laser. This proximity minimizes the length of bond wires. Its pre-driver can be placed further away with no risk of signal integrity degradation, according to Ensphere. Implemented in CMOS, the ESI-1010 has a power dissipation of 50 mW. Taken together, the shunt configuration significantly reduces the overall power dissipation of the system, Ensphere asserts.
While general availability is only now being announced, Ensphere has been shipping the devices for approximately 6 months and modules using the chips have already reached the field, says Al Gharakhanian, Ensphere’s vice president of marketing. All of these applications are using the shunt architecture, he says.
The pair is priced at $5 in high volumes.
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