While touting record sales of 40-Gbps QSFP+ and 100-Gbps QSFP28 ICs, GigPeak, Inc. (NYSE MKT:GIG) reveals that it has begun shipping samples of driver, transimpedance amplifier (TIA), and CDR/retimer silicon for 200-Gbps short-reach (SR) and long-reach (LR) PAM4 Ethernet applications. The devices, which support 56-Gbps lanes, come in several varieties to support multiple distance and lane requirements.
GigPeak (formerly GigOptix) has developed PAM4 chipsets to cover reaches of 300 m, 2 km, and 10 km. Within each reach category, the company offers linear drivers for one- and four-channel applications, linear TIAs for one- and four-channel designs, and CDR/retimers for two- and four-channel needs. The company says it expects significant sales for PAM4 devices no later than 2020.
Meanwhile, there's plenty of life left in lower-speed applications. "We are delighted to see a record quarter of shipments of our data center connectivity ICs, reflecting our market share domination as the sole-merchant provider of ICs for the current generation of 40-Gbps NRZ ICs and our strong position in the initial shipments of our complete production chipsets for 100-Gbps SFP+ and QSFP+ form factors, addressing active optical cables (AOCs) and transceivers for short reach (SR) and long reach (LR) Ethernet applications," said Dr. Raluca Dinu, COO of GigPeak. "While we are encouraged by the initial demand from data center optical module customers for the 100Gbps NRZ complete chipset, we continue to see ever-growing demand for the current generation of 40Gbps NRZ, which will remain the workhorse for data center connectivity for the next few years."
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