Inphi, NeoPhotonics collaborate on 100G modules

Inphi Corp. (NYSE: IPHI ), a provider of high-speed semiconductors, has partnered with NeoPhotonics Corp. (NYSE: NPTN) to develop 100G next-generation optical modules for high-density data center and cloud computing applications as well as 100G optical transport.

NeoPhotonics says it plans to leverage "technology expertise in photonic integration to develop and design next-generation 100G optical solutions." The company is a manufacturer of planar lightwave circuits (PLCs) and gained capabilities in indium-phosphide integration through its purchase of Santur towards the end of last year (see "NeoPhotonics agrees to acquire Santur").

Inphi, for its part, will offer its portfolio of 100G silicon, which includes physical layer (PHY) and clock data recovery (CDR) chipsets along with transimpedance amplifiers (TIAs), for NeoPhotonics to use in its 100G optical product development. Inphi says its mixed-signal semiconductor devices are designed to provide higher performance and lower power consumption than competing parts.

Inphi was one of the first suppliers to announce 100G chips manufactured in CMOS process technology (see "Inphi sampling CMOS 100-Gigabit Ethernet PHYs"). The company claims that its CMOS PHYs and CDRs offer a substantial savings in power – three times less than currently available offerings – in half the area footprint, while improving reliability without sacrificing performance.

"Our next-generation 100G optical solutions can benefit from Inphi's technology leadership position in the 100G market and help us deliver high levels of performance and low power consumption for our PIC-based product portfolio," said Tim Jenks, chairman and CEO of NeoPhotonics.

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