Analog Devices, Inc. (NYSE: ADI), a provider of high-performance semiconductors for signal processing applications, announced what it claims to be the optical industry's first single-chip, high-precision thermoelectric cooler (TEC) controller for DWDM (dense wavelength division multiplexing) networking equipment. DWDM is a technology that enables the transmission of signals through many channels over a single fiber, a function key to long-haul optical communications systems.
Based on the integration of several Analog Devices amplifier circuits, as well as other proprietary linear technologies, the ADN8830 is designed to improve control of the TEC, a critical component in maintaining laser temperature in the DWDM process.
High-channel count DWDM systems (up to 160 channels per fiber) require high-precision temperature control in order to stabilize specific laser wavelengths. The ADN8830 addresses enables precise temperature control and laser system stability, and features a switching output architecture and a patented high-precision, auto-zero front end, the combination of which results in very low noise for a "quiet" laser environment, which makes for more accurate signal transmission and reception.
The ADN8830 provides laser temperature control with high temperature stability of 0.01C, greater than 90 percent efficiency and lower than 1 percent ripple noise performance. The chip also features system-supervising functions such as real-time temperature monitoring, temperature lock indication, along with switching frequency and phase control. Its wave-locker input allows design engineers to attain higher wavelength accuracy, critical in DWDM systems. The ADN8830 also is the first TEC controller available in a tiny 5x5 millimeter chip-scale package, which greatly reduces board space.
The ADN8830 is sampling now and is priced at $19 in 1,000-piece quantities.
About Analog Devices:
Analog Devices is an IC supplier with expertise in the analog, mixed signal, DSP and MEMS technologies integral to the design of optical networking equipment. For more information, visit www.analog.com/opnet.