AppliedMicro’s PQX provides world’s highest density framer/PHY SoC for multi-10G/40G/100G carrier Ethernet and OTN apps

OFC/NFOEC 2010, SUNNYVALE, USA: Applied Micro Circuits Corp. or AppliedMicro has announced the PQX, the industry’s highest density, lowest power 10G/40G Optical Transport Network (OTN) framer/PHY System-On-a-Chip (SoC) for Carrier Ethernet router and WDM transport systems. With 60 Gigabits of total capacity, the PQX is a key enabler for telecom and datacom customers to deploy next-generation 100G systems and cloud computing applications.

To transport increasing volumes of content-rich Ethernet traffic, telecom carriers and datacom service providers are quickly adopting OTN technology as the common transport protocol to achieve network convergence and reduce capital expenditures. AppliedMicro’s PQX incorporates the latest 10G and 40G telecom and datacom standards providing flexibility for either multiple 10G ports or single 40G port systems.

PQX offers unprecedented levels of integration on a single piece of silicon that exceeds any existing transport framer/PHY device in the world. Implemented with an efficient architecture in an advanced 40nm CMOS process, PQX additionally achieves an unprecedented low power while providing up to three times higher capacity than existing OTN devices.

As an example, when operated in the Carrier Ethernet applications, PQX consumes a typical power of less than 1.5W/10G port, thereby enabling a new class of energy efficient solutions. PQX thus significantly reduces board space and system complexity in router and WDM system design and enables equipment OEMs to reduce system costs while reducing their carbon footprint.

“As the Carrier Ethernet and OTN markets show promising signs of growth, AppliedMicro introduces the industry’s highest-density 10G/40G multi-port OTN device to enable the development of next-generation Router and WDM platforms with a chip that offers high levels of integration at a cost and power envelope for each 10G port that is almost half of the previous generation of devices,” said Sandeep Gupta, General Manager of the Transport and Connectivity Business Unit at AppliedMicro.

“PQX demonstrates AppliedMicro’s unparalleled expertise in maintaining very high analog circuit performance in the presence of switching noise of 100+ Million gates of digital logic. No other solution on the market today offers the same level of features and integration for Metro, Carrier Ethernet and core routing and WDM applications. PQX shows our company’s commitment to high performance, low cost devices for datacom and telecom applications to enable platforms that address the highest OTN growth areas, while setting a new industry benchmark for energy efficiency.”

The PQX is AppliedMicro’s third generation of OTN framer device with integrated high speed PHYs and Fractional-N clock synthesizers. Building on the success of the company’s Pemaquid and Yahara devices, the PQX provides the industry’s highest I/O bandwidth at 240Gbps at high performance and maintains compliance to various standards such as SONET/SDH, XFP/SFP+, and SFI5.1/CFP.

AppliedMicro’s PQX incorporates the latest telecom and datacom mapping modes and interfaces, including 10G FC Trans-code, 40 GE Trans-code, G.709 AMP and GMP mapping, ODU3e2 support, XFI/SFI, SFI5.1, XLAUI, OTL3.4, and STL256.4. These interfaces are instrumental in allowing multiple network protocols to converge and be transported over a common optical network. The PQX also includes Tri-FEC support (Reed-Solomon, G.975.1- I.4 and G.975.1-1.7) to ensure interoperability among multiple system OEMs and network operators.

The PQX will be available in two configurations: PQ50 with 50G worth of multi-protocol/ OTN transport capability and PQ60 with 60G worth of Carrier-Ethernet processing capability. Both are available in a 35 mm x 35 mm, FC-PGBA package. General availability of PQX development release samples is scheduled for July 2010. The product will be announced at the OFC/NFOEC conference in San Diego, from March 22-25.