uSenlight using MaxLinear MxL93542 Telluride PAM4 DSP in 400G optical transceivers

April 9, 2020

The new optical transceivers will expand uSenlight’s current data center optical module portfolio, which includes 100G QSFP28 PSM4 and 100G QSFP28 CWDM4 devices.

Stephen Hardy

MaxLinear, Inc. (NYSE: MXL) says it has won a deal to supply Taiwanese optical module vendor uSenlight Corp. with the communications semiconductor developer’s MxL93542 Telluride PAM4 DSP. uSenlight will use the device in a line of 400G-DR4 and FR4 optical transceivers.

The new optical transceivers will expand uSenlight’s current data center optical module portfolio, which includes 100G QSFP28 PSM4 and 100G QSFP28 CWDM4 devices. “MaxLinear’s MxL93542 PAM4 DSP with integrated EML driver offers the highest level of integration compared with other DSPs on the market,” said Dr. Charles Wu, president of uSenlight. “The integration and performance of the MxL93542 PAM4 DSP is enabling us to expand our portfolio by developing 400-Gbps optical interconnects for hyperscale data centers.”

The MxL935xx Telluride PAM4 DSPs support 100-Gbps single lambda optical interconnects and, as mentioned in the quote, integrate electro-absorption modulated laser (EA-EML) drivers (see "MaxLinear offers 400-Gbps Telluride MxL935XX PAM4 DSP SoC family"). They also support breakout mode clocking for 400-Gbps DR4 optical modules. The devices leverage a digital pre-distortion (DPD) engine in the transmit direction to compensate for laser non-linearity and to cancel packaging limitations that MaxLinear says may cause reflections and bandwidth degradation. An auto-adaptive signal enhancement engine on the receive end integrates a continuous time linear equalizer (CTLE), automatic gain control (AGC), a feed forward equalizer (FFE), and a decision feedback equalizer (DFE).

“Telluride DSPs offer industry-leading integration, power consumption, and link-margin performance,” asserted Will Torgerson, vice president and general manager of MaxLinear’s High-Speed Interconnect Group. "We are pleased to see that these features will enable uSenlight to develop next-generation 400G-DR4 and FR4 optical modules to address the massive demand to deploy higher-speed networks in next-generation hyperscale data centers.”

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About the Author

Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave

Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.

Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.

He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.

You can connect with Stephen on LinkedIn as well as Twitter.