NeoPhotonics Corp. (NYSE: NPTN) says it has demonstrated the ability of its 400ZR+ QSFP-DD coherent pluggable transceiver to transmit a 400-Gbps wavelength 800 km in a 75-GHz DWDM grid system. The optical signal showed more than 3.5 dB of OSNR margin, the company adds. The company believes the demonstration shows the suitability of its 400ZR+ QSFP-DD optical module to serve the needs of cloud-based metro 5G networks as well as a variety of IP over DWDM use cases into metro-core and regional fiber networks
NeoPhotonics says its QSFP-DD modules are in the final stages of qualification and have passed 2000 hours of High Temperature Operating Life (HTOL) and other tests per Telcordia requirements. The company expects the modules to achieve general availability in the second quarter of this year. The 400ZR+ optical transceivers leverage NeoPhotonics’ silicon photonics based Coherent Optical Subassembly (COSA; see "NeoPhotonics touts customer traction of 64-GBaud coherent optical components") and its ultra-narrow linewidth Nano-ITLA tunable laser. The high performance of these components, alongside a commercial digital signal processor (DSP) using proprietary forward error correction (FEC), accounts for the 800-km reach capabilities, according to NeoPhotonics.
The company also had developed a C++ laser module that can be used in the optical transceiver to maximize the amount of data that can be transported down a single fiber. Meanwhile, the QSFP-DD transceiver design operates at a case temperature of up to 80 degrees Celsius. This figure is 10 degrees higher than conventional telecom modules, says NeoPhotonics, which means a reduction in air flow requirements.
“We are excited to extend the operation of our QSFP-DD coherent transceiver into metro and regional applications in this 400ZR+ configuration,” commented Tim Jenks, chairman and CEO of NeoPhotonics. “Advances in our ultra-pure light tunable laser, our silicon photonics integrated COSA, and electronic DSPs have inexorably decreased the size, power, and cost of coherent transmission such that a coherent transceiver capable of up to long-haul distances can fit in the same form factor as a current generation high-density client-side pluggable module, such as a QSFP-DD. This has been a sea change for data center interconnect networks, and we believe it will also bring fundamental changes to metro and regional networks.”
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