The driver has been used to demonstrate a 400Gb/s link over 2km of single-mode fibre using four wavelengths running at 100Gb/s each.
Data centre providers have challenged optical module vendors to provide a low power and low cost approach to 400G in a QSFP form factor to maximise port density in new mega data centres. Higher order complex modulation schemes enable 100Gb/s data rates on a single wavelength using currently available optical components. A low power, linear driver is critical to achieving system level performance in these modules.
Ray Moroney, Product Manager, M/A-COM Technology Solutions, comments: “We are proud to offer the industry’s first linear EML driver for 400G applications. This further expands MACOM’s extensive portfolio of drivers for long haul, metro and data centre applications.”