Inphi Corp. 4-level Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM4) chipset solutions

This world's first PAM4 IC chipset enables an increase in speed on existing optical links by 2x at the same or lower cost. This is enabled by PAM4 based modulation, where one sends 2x the number of bits per symbol at a lower baud rate. This capability enables product designers to use lower-speed, lower-cost optics while doubling the bandwidth. Designers also will require fewer lasers, again translating into a lower cost solution. By leveraging existing 25G optics, fewer lasers, existing fiber plants and an already deployed switch ecosystem, this first of a kind PAM-based chipset enables designers to meet their cost objectives and reduce capex/opex while offering higher speed services to their customers, translating into more revenue.

The foundation of the PAM4 PHY IC chipset is the highly configurable and adaptable InphiNity Core Digital Signal Processing (DSP) Engine and a media-agnostic dual-mode OmniConnect transmitter architecture. The architecture enables the solution to be targeted to multiple different performance-oriented applications for optical and copper based interconnects, while keeping a low power profile.Judge's comment: "Just making a chip smaller or faster is not necessarily innovative, but this product set is a watershed moment in optical communications as Ethernet moves to PAM modulations and onto 400GbE. Truly innovative and revolutionary."Click here to return to the 2016 Lightwave Innovation Reviews page.