200Gb/s Silicon Photonics Devices by Mellanox

Mellanox Technologies, Ltd. announced a demonstration of 50Gb/s silicon photonics optical modulators and detectors at the Optical Fiber Communication (OFC) conference.

The demonstrated devices are the key component in 200Gb/s and 400Gb/s LinkX cables and transceivers. This demonstration is a milestone toward providing end-to-end solutions for HDR 200Gb/s IB and Ethernet interconnect infrastructure.

“Silicon photonics is the enabling technology for 200Gb/s IB and Ethernet networks,” said Amir Prescher, EVP, business development and interconnect products, Mellanox. “The QSFP56 doubles the front panel density for next generation switches; enables 200G copper DACs and 50G breakout cables for adapters and inside-the-rack applications; and silicon photonics transceivers supports all data center reaches to 2km.“

The company plans to offer 50Gb/s and 200Gb/s Direct Attach Copper cables (DACs); copper splitter cables (QSFP56 to 4x SFP56); silicon photonics based AOCs for reaches to 200m; and silicon photonics transceivers for reaches to 2km. Firm’s 200Gb/s cables and transceivers will support previous generations of 40Gb/s and 100Gb/s networks.

“The transition from 40G to 100G networks inside the data center has begun in earnest,” said Dale Murray, principal analyst, LightCounting Market Research. “This announcement comes just as the cloud and hyperscalers are planning their migration to 200G and 400G.“

Firm’s extensive LinkX interconnect product family includes 10, 40, 25, 50 and 100Gb/s copper cables, active optical cables and transceivers for both single mode fiber and multi-mode fiber applications. The LinkX additions, introduced at OFC 2016, are 25Gb/s transceivers and Active Optical cables, and use the SFP28 form factor.