Picolight demonstrates VCSEL-based transceiver for 10GigE links

20 Dec 2006

A power-efficient small-form factor transceiver from Picolight supports the IEEE 802.3aq optical interface standard.

Picolight, a developer of optical transceivers and components, has demonstrated 1310 nm vertical cavity surface-emitting laser transceivers with a small form-factor pluggable (SFP+) design for 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GigE) applications. The device meets the IEEE 802.3aq serial optical interface standard, also known as 10GBASE-LRM, which was developed for 10GigE optical links over legacy multimode fiber.

The transceivers can be used for links of up to 220 m in enterprise networks that exploit electronic dispersion compensation. This extended reach capability is possible from a smaller footprint and with low power consumption than previous comparable transceivers, the developer claims.

The demonstration formed part of an Ethernet Alliance interoperability test at the Cisco Photonics Labs in Monza, Italy.

"This product demonstration further validates the performance benefits that 1310 nm VCSELs deliver for the next-generation 10GigE deployments," said Jack Jewell, founder and CTO at Picolight.

"Our 1310 nm VCSEL-based 10GigE SFP+ transceivers deliver lower power consumption at 450m W, lower electromagnetic interference and lower heat generation compared with distributed feedback lasers, resulting in increased performance and reliability of our transceivers," he added.

Earlier in 2006, Picolight was the first company to demonstrate 10 Gbit/s 850 nm and 1310 nm VCSEL-based SFP+ transceivers at OFC/NFOEC. Since this initial demonstrations in March, Picolight has sampled 8/10 Gbit/s 850 nm SFP+ transceivers to more than a dozen strategic customers and partners.