Ranovus launches 200G quantum-dot-laser-based datacenter interconnect platform
In what they are calling a world’s first, communications interconnect solutions company Ranovus (Ottawa, ON, Canada) is launching a scalable optical engine and 200 Gbps optical transceiver solution for the datacenter interconnect market. The solution is based on a multi-wavelength quantum dot laser (QDL), ring resonator-based silicon photonic (SiP) modulator, driver IC, and receiver building blocks for low cost and low power consumption per bit.
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"In the mid 1990s the optical communication industry was revolutionized through the invention of multi-wavelength amplifiers. Today we are announcing the availability of the World’s First multi-wavelength subsystem based on a single Quantum Dot Laser source. Complementing such innovation with our highly integrated Silicon Photonics and high speed IC building blocks, will enable the creation of a new miniaturization, cost and power consumption paradigm for Inter/Intra Data Centre connectivity, 5G wireless backhaul, Metro and Access networks," said Hamid Arabzadeh, chairman of the board, president, and CEO of Ranovus.
Highlights of Ranovus' platform include a single QDL capable of generating multiple wavelengths simultaneously, ring resonator-based SiP modulators providing an efficient wavelength-sensitive way to modulate a WDM optical signal without multiplexing or de-multiplexing architectures, advanced electronics for modulation to suit Ethernet interfaces at 50 Gb/s per lane and beyond, supporting links of 4.8 Tbps in the C-band, and supporting various transport distances from 15 to 120 km.
"Data center operators have been looking for a long time for a disruptive solution to achieve scalable multi-terabits bandwidth connectivity in a form factor that consumes less power and is much less expensive than other available products," said Christoph Glingener, CTO/COO at ADVA Optical Networking. "That’' why our relationship with the team at Ranovus is so important. Together, we're developing direct-detect DCI technology that will have a significant impact on the market."
Ranovus says its optical engines and modules offer a disruptive value proposition in attaining the lowest-cost connectivity solutions compared to coherent-based and other direct detect solutions. The company’s product roadmap includes optical engines and pluggable modules beginning with 200 Gbps applications and 400 Gbps in the future.
Ranovus will be showcasing the 200 Gbps solution at the European Conference on Optical Communication (ECOC) 2016 (Stand #672) in Dusseldorf Germany, September 19-21, 2016.
Gail Overton | Senior Editor (2004-2020)
Gail has more than 30 years of engineering, marketing, product management, and editorial experience in the photonics and optical communications industry. Before joining the staff at Laser Focus World in 2004, she held many product management and product marketing roles in the fiber-optics industry, most notably at Hughes (El Segundo, CA), GTE Labs (Waltham, MA), Corning (Corning, NY), Photon Kinetics (Beaverton, OR), and Newport Corporation (Irvine, CA). During her marketing career, Gail published articles in WDM Solutions and Sensors magazine and traveled internationally to conduct product and sales training. Gail received her BS degree in physics, with an emphasis in optics, from San Diego State University in San Diego, CA in May 1986.