ClariPhy ‘first’ to develop 16nm coherent networking platform

15 Mar 2016

Optical comms systems developer claims to have “shattered fiber and system capacity barriers”.

ClariPhy, a developer of ultra-high-speed systems-on-chip for multi-terabit data and telecom networking, says it has established a leadership position in progressing “next-generation” coherent optical networking. It has achieved this by developing what it calls “the world’s first complete 16nm complete ADC and DAC platform enabling 64QAM modulation to achieve up to 40 Tbps per fiber and more than 50% power reduction to double system capacity”.

The migration of analog front end design to 16nm CMOS technology is acknowledged by the industry to be a significant milestone for next generation of coherent DSPs (digital signal processors) required to drive up fiber capacities and reduce power needs while keeping down the cost-per-bit, which are all critical factors in addressing the rapidly-expanding Web 2.0 and telecom networks worldwide.

“Infonetics is projecting annual coherent port shipments to triple by 2018, as Web 2.0 and telecom operators seek to achieve exponential bandwidth growth,” said Andrew Schmitt, optical communications market analyst at consultancy Cignal. “This can only happen, however, with the availability of development platforms based on 16nm ADC/DAC solutions.

Features and highlights

• Game changing performance and power reduction – 40 Tbps per fiber and 6.4 Tbps per line card;
• Industry leading innovation velocity – World’s first 16nm coherent analog front end platform;
• Strategic alliance with leading optics ecosystem partners – Complete 64QAM reference design;
• Ground-breaking performance – 400G and beyond per wavelength; and
• Slashes power demand by more than 50% – 2x increase in system capacity per line card.

ClariPhy’s coherent test platform is said to establish a critical foundation for the company’s forthcoming LightSpeed-III family of SoC devices that will enable 40 Tbps per fiber with more than 400G per wavelength, drive more than 50% power reduction, and offer ground-breaking performance for next-generation data center interconnect, long haul and metro networks. The 16nm coherent platform highlights ClariPhy’s strength in vertical integration of all critical IP necessary to develop and manufacture Coherent SoC rapidly and cost effectively.

The developer says platform is the first of its kind to enable 64 QAM modulation. Its full-speed, 4-channel analog-digital converter (ADC) and (its opposite) DAC support variable baud rates to enable a “FlexCoherent” solution, which is programmable up to 400G per wavelength while delivering a performance that meets critical analog specifications such as bandwidth, effective numbers of bits and jitter.

Nariman Yousefi, CEO of ClariPhy, said, “This innovation enables the exponential capacity growth being demanded by next generation optical networks. We believe we have achieved an industry-leading result that enables significant time-to-market, performance and power consumption advantages over competing products.”

On show at OFC 2016

ClariPhy will conduct live demonstration of its 16nm coherent platform as part of a complete reference design comprising its best in class optical components to meet the exacting bandwidth, linearity and phase noise specifications required to support 64 QAM modulation. The reference design is the result of a close collaboration between ClariPhy and leading ecosystem partners and includes components from Fujitsu Optical Components (FOC), InPhi, Macom and NeoPhotonics.

This 16nm ADC/DAC platform will be demonstrated at OFC 2016 in Anaheim, Ca, USA, as part of a complete 64QAM reference design at the Optical Fiber Conference (OFC) to industry partners and visitors, between March 20-24.