Picolight introduces 1310-nm VCSEL transceivers for extended-reach Ethernet and SAN applications

Aug. 5, 2003

5 August 2003 Boulder, CO Lightwave -- Picolight has begun sampling small-form-factor pluggable (SFP) transceivers employing 1310-nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) sources. Long-wavelength VCSEL transceivers bring the economic and performance benefits of 850-nm VCSEL transceivers used in enterprise and storage networks to extended reach, singlemode fiber applications, while setting a new price-performance benchmark across the entire industry.

5 August 2003 Boulder, CO Lightwave-- Picolight has begun sampling small-form-factor pluggable (SFP) transceivers employing 1310-nm vertical cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) sources. Long-wavelength VCSEL transceivers bring the economic and performance benefits of 850-nm VCSEL transceivers used in enterprise and storage networks to extended reach, singlemode fiber applications, while setting a new price-performance benchmark across the entire industry.

"1310-nm VCSEL transceivers leverage our high-volume, proven technology and extend the benefits of enterprise optics to campus, SAN-extension, metro-access and optical Ethernet applications," said Stan Swirhun, chief executive officer for Picolight. "VCSEL-based optics dominate enterprise and storage networks due to their inherent performance and reliability advantages, and our patented 1310-nm VCSEL transceivers are poised to deliver the same cost advantages and new performance benefits."

According to Picolight, the 1310-nm VCSEL transceivers reduce power consumption to a fraction of the power of Fabry-Perot source transceivers, double the reach distance, and deliver reliability, manufacturing, test and packaging economy as well as drive circuit simplicity. Picolight's patents cover several VCSEL design and manufacturing process technologies.

Picolight's initial 1310-nm VCSEL transceiver offering extends the reach of the following specifications: 100-Mbit/sec Ethernet access 100bLX10; Gigabit Ethernet 1000bLX (10-plus km standard); and 2-Gbit/sec Fibre Channel (200-SM-LC-L 10 km, and 200-SM-LL-V 20-km standards) in small-form-factor packages. Future products will support 10 Gbit/sec, SONET and parallel arrays for access aggregation. Picolight's VCSEL-based 1310-nm transceivers join the company's existing
Extensus transceiver family, which includes products employing edge-emitter sources at speeds from 100 Mbits/sec to 2.488 Gbits/sec.

Sampling now, Picolight's 1310-nm VCSEL transceivers will begin production in the fourth quarter of 2003. Pricing for sample units varies by application starting below $50, and volume pricing will be at or below competing Fabry-Perot solutions, according to the company.

In an interview on Friday, Warner Andrews, the company's vice president of marketing, said that he foresees 1310-nm VCSEL transceivers playing a role in fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) networks. However, rather than deployment in the passive optical network (PON) architectures now associated with the BellSouth/SBC/Verizon FTTP initiative, VCSEL-based transceivers should see their first application in point-to-point networks. These networks would likely be deployed to provide Ethernet services, particularly for high-end real estate developments, Andrews said. Application to PONs would require more power than current 1310-nm VCSELs can provide.

Looking to the future, increased power certainly takes a central place in future development plans, Andrews said.