Inphi Porrima 100-Gbps single lambda PAM4 silicon reaches sampling

Inphi Corp. (NYSE: IPHI) says the single-lambda 100-Gbps members of its Porrima PAM4 silicon family is now sampling. The 100-Gbps/56-GBaud 16-nm device aims to support 100 Gigabit Ethernet applications via QSFP28 and SFP-DD DR/FR optical transceivers, including those designed to align with the 100G Lambda MSA.

The devices include:

• The Porrima 100G PAM4 DSP ICs, which will operate with both 4x25-Gbps NRZ and 2x50-Gbps PAM4 electrical interfaces. The former is associated with 100G QSFP28 DR optical transceivers, while the latter is common with QSFP28/uQSFP/SFP-DD optical modules. The DSPs leverage the fifth generation of the company’s InphiNity DSP Engine, which uses a mixed-mode DSP architecture. The devices incorporate self-test and loopback modes as well as 100G forward error correction (FEC) capabilities.
• The IN5630DE Linear Driver family is a 56-GBaud, low-power, single-channel linear driver for PAM4 optical modules. It is designed to provide what Inphi terms “excellent” linearity, high bandwidth, and adjustable gain in bare die form.
• The IN566x Linear Transimpedance Amplifier (TIA) offers 56-GBaud, low-power, single-channel linear performance. It offers wide dynamic range and the signal integrity necessary for PAM4 modulation applications, says Inphi.

Overall, the new single-lambda 100G Porrima devices perform with the low power consumption necessary to enable <3.5 W DR/FR optical modules per IEEE standards and MSA specifications, Inphi asserts. The chips leverage the foundation Inphi established with the original 400G Porrima devices unveiled at OFC 2018 this past March and described in the video below.

Several optical transceiver vendors demonstrated 100G single-lambda transceivers at OFC 2018, but said that further maturity within the supporting semiconductors would be necessary before such modules could reach the market. The Inphi announcement represents a step in the right direction.

“The industry shipped upwards of 3 million 100-Gbps optical modules last year and is expected to double that in 2018, with the largest share of them being four-laser 100-Gbps CWDM modules for single-mode fiber,” said Dale Murray, principal analyst for LightCounting Market Research, via an Inphi press release. “The Inphi 100G Porrima platform will enable single-laser, full-duplex single-mode 100-Gbps optical modules that could be more cost-effective than the four-laser variants and will also support breakout with 400G-DR4 for dense 100-Gbps fabrics.”

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