MultiPhy details 100-Gbps metro coherent DSP transceiver plans

MultiPhy Ltd., which previously has focused on developing semiconductors for direct-detect 100-Gbps metro applications, has offered glimpses of its plans to develop a CMOS coherent DSP transceiver for the same applications.

Like its newly expanded direct-detect metro 100G semiconductors, the MP2100C coherent DSP transceiver will offer the ability to meet 100-Gbps applications using lower-speed optics. The company’s expertise in DSP and maximum likelihood sequence estimation (MLSE) electronic dispersion compensation will be key to this effort, Neal Neslusan, MultiPhy’s vice president of sales and marketing, told Lightwave. The DSP will use the company’s patent-pending “1 sample per symbol” approach, with a 28G analog-to-digital converter (ADC). The MLSE will clean up impairments created by over-revving the lower-speed components, he said.

The company will target pluggable transceiver form factors, which the company believes will be important for acceptance of coherent technology in the metro. Neslusan declined to reveal the company’s goal for power consumption, but said it will enable coherent module designers to design 24-W CFP transceivers.

The chip will support dual-polarization quadrature phase-shift keying (DP-QPSK) with coherent detection.

MultiPhy is working with lead customers on the design, as well as with other partners. He said that the company is engaged with both systems houses and module vendors, although he expects the latter to be the primary customers for the device.

The chip should be in customers’ hands by the end of next year, Neslusan said.

“The worldwide metro 100G deployment thus far has been a mix of coherent and direct detect deployments," said Eve Griliches of ACG Research via a MultiPhy press release. “While we expect to see some creative direct-detect solutions in the marketplace, some metro networks already require coherent detection and deployment will commence as it becomes viable both from an economic and power consumption perspective.”

MultiPhy will discuss its metro coherent plans at ECOC in Amsterdam next week in Booth #617.

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