QSFP+ 40G chipset designed for reduced power consumption
Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. (NASDAQ: MXIM) has introduced a two-chip 40-Gbps transmitter chipset for 40GBase-LR4 QSFP+ optical transceivers. The chipset includes the MAX3948 DC-coupled laser driver and the DS4830 optical microcontroller.
The 40GBase-LR4 QSFP+ chipset is designed to enable lower power consumption per 10-Gbps channel than a single SFP+ module. For example, the MAX3948 laser driver consumes less than 2 W for four transmit channels, enabling less than 3.5 W QSFP+ module power consumption. Meanwhile, the DS4830’s on-chip 13-bit ADC with dedicated round-robin offloads 16-bit microcontroller core and lowers clock speed to saves 75 mW to 100 mW versus competitive alternatives. Its single-cycle multiply accumulator (MAC) enables the DS4830 to quickly perform filter calculations and maintain four average power control (APC) loops.
“Power consumption has emerged as the single most critical constraint in today’s data center,” said Karen Liu, principal analyst at Ovum, via a Maxim press release. “It limits density and performance which, in turn, determine cost. Maxim’s chip innovation tackles this key problem.”
The MAX3948 is available in a 3x3-mm 16-pin TQFN package and is specified for the -40°C to +95°C temperature range. Pricing starts at $5 (1000-up, FOB USA). The DS4830 comes in a 5x5-mm 40-pin TQFN package. Its pricing starts at $2.85 (1000-up, FOB USA).
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