Mar 20 2010
Opnext, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPXT), a global leader in state-of-the-art laser technology and high speed optical communications, today announced that it has solved one of the major challenges of delivering a PM-QPSK coherent receiver.
The company has developed a low power quad CMOS analog-to-digital converter (ADC), designed for use in a 127 Gbps Polarization Multiplexed Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (PM-QPSK) modulation scheme. Opnext verified the DSP and FEC algorithms on its real time 100G coherent platform, announced earlier this month (See related release: Opnext Demonstrates Single Wavelength, Real-Time Coherent 100G PM-QPSK Modem in AT&T Network).
The Opnext-Mobius ADC will be integrated with the DSP and FEC into a single PM-QPSK receiver chip using a standard CMOS process, which eliminates numerous high speed interconnects between the ADC, DSP and the FEC. It includes continuous digital background self-calibration and synchronization, thereby eliminating the need for external calibration signals. As a result the receiver is immune to process, voltage and temperature variations, allowing reliable performance over a broad range of operating conditions. The ADC will use a BGA package enabling volume SMT manufacturing, consistent with Opnext’s current 32 Gbps mux.
"Opnext previously announced the mux and last week it demonstrated its DSP prototype," said Karen Liu, principal analyst, Ovum. "With this ADC, Opnext will have control of all the critical chips for its MSA transponder: A reliable merchant supply of the transponder is essential for the 100G market to move quickly toward a robust supply chain."
Opnext continues to employ selective vertical integration on components like the ADC with the goal of delivering the lowest cost and highest performance 100Gbps OIF MSA compliant solution to its OEM partners.