Xanoptix Inc. and Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation have demonstrated a highly compact optical crosspoint switch. By combining the Xanoptix XTM-1 72-channel optical transceiver and the Vitesse Semiconductor VSC838 36x36 Crosspoint Switch, the two companies have implemented what they claim to be the smallest 100+ Gb/s optical-in optical-out switch. This combination will offer system designers a super compact, fully integrated switch solution.
Vitesse's VSC838 36x36 crosspoint switch is designed to handle high-bandwidth data streams at rates up to 3.2 Gb/s. It has features such as a fully non-blocking architecture with broadcast and multicast capabilities, Input Signal Activity (ISA) monitoring for in system diagnostics, Input Signal Equalization (ISE) for deterministic jitter reduction, programmable on chip I/O termination, 3.3V tolerant I/O, and parallel and serial programming modes. The low drive mode of operation further optimizes power dissipation in this application.
Xanoptix's XTM-1 optical transceiver offers six times higher density and lower power consumption compared to other products. It uses an innovative new design based on a massively parallel array of 6x12 multimode fibers and a novel connector ferrule for MT form factor connectors.
The VSC838 crosspoint switch combined with an XTM-1 transceiver has been demonstrated at Xanoptix. In the demonstration, an input signal was injected into the first of three switches, which fanned it out to 36 of its outputs at a rate of 3.125 Gb/s. Prior to being relayed to the XTM-1 output ports, these random bit streams passed through an array of serpentine delay structures, and then entered the switch for signal regeneration. Once the signals are looped back into the XTM-1, a third crosspoint switch sampled its 36 receivers. This switch may be programmed to sequentially map each receiver output to a single differential node on the printed circuit board. As a result, every input and output channel of an XTM-1 module can be efficiently tested.
Xanoptix demonstrated a Vitesse/XTM-1 crosspoint switch at the National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference (NFOEC) in Baltimore in July. As part of this demo, Xanoptix transmitted video traffic from a computer server and router, over 1.2 km of 72-fiber optical cable, through the XTM-1 transceiver and Vitesse chip, back through 1.2 km of fiber and then out to a series of client computers.
About Vitesse:
Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation is a designer and supplier of high performance semiconductors for the communications equipment manufacturers of next generation DWDM and optical networking, as well as storage area networking ICs and enclosure management products that monitor and communicate critical reliability and availability information. For more information, visit www.vitesse.com.
About Xanoptix:
Xanoptix develops high-speed optical connection products for next generation data links and optical communication applications. For more information, visit www.xanoptix.com.