Kaiam launches LightScale2 transceiver platform at ECOC

Kaiam says its LightScale2 platform, launched at ECOC 2016 this week in Dusseldorf, Germany, uses a planar approach to combine multiple transmit and receive blocks in a very dense architecture. The approach promises better performance and scalability than standard TOSA/ROSA designs, the company asserts.

Kaiam is sampling CWDM4 100-Gbps QSFP28 optical modules based on this architecture and expects to deliver 200, 400 and higher transmission rate on-board optics via the platform in the future.

The company has been shipping 40- and 100-Gbps optical transceivers in volume since 2014 that leverage standard TOSA/ROSA packages based on LightScale1, a MEMS-aligned hybrid optical integration approach. The latest platform flattens the internal architecture of the transceiver to further improve density, RF signal integrity, thermal management, power consumption, and manufacturing simplicity.

"Today, most single-mode transceivers use legacy telecom-type approaches that result in bulky packaging of components," says Bardia Pezeshki, Kaiam's CEO. "This not only increases cost and manufacturing complexity, but degrades performance, as electrical and optical signals and heat must traverse multiple interfaces.

"Kaiam's MEMS-based packaging is intrinsically dense, combining best-of-breed components such as InP lasers, silicon photonics, and silica-waveguide integrated optics. By liberating our technology from outdated telecom architectures, we can manufacture very dense and high-performance multi-wavelength transceivers and modules," Pezeshki added.

For related articles, visit the Optical Technologies Topic Center.

For more information on optical modules and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer's Guide.