Mindspeed debuts optical PMD chipsets for 3G/4G wireless base stations; collaborates with EMCORE on subsystems

NEWPORT BEACH, USA: Mindspeed Technologies Inc., a leading supplier of semiconductor solutions for network infrastructure applications, announced a high-performance, low-power physical media device (PMD) chipset that includes all necessary components required for CPRI-based optical transceivers that economically connect 3G/4G wireless base station servers to one or more remote radio heads (RRHs) over optical fiber.

Mindspeed has collaborated with EMCORE’S Fiber Optics Division to develop a family of transmit and receive optical subassembly solutions based on Mindspeed’s PMD devices. This family of products will allow base station servers to transmit over longer distances and at significantly higher data rates than can be supported with copper links.

“The wireless infrastructure is a rapidly growing market and we are excited to work with Mindspeed to develop a family of optical components for next-generation base station platforms,” said Chris Wiggins, director of sales and marketing for EMCORE.

“By leveraging our broad optoelectronic device portfolio, this collaboration effort provides key components with optimized performance to our customers. This will significantly reduce the time to market of their integrated products.”

“The industry’s migration to a 3G/4G mobile infrastructure is creating the need for significantly improved base station performance – not just for baseband processing, but also for the links between the main base station server and one or more distributed RRH units,” said Gary Shah, executive director of product marketing with Mindspeed’s high-performance analog business unit.

“Mindspeed is an industry leader in high-speed PMD solutions for fiber-access networks, and now we are applying that same expertise to a new generation of power-efficient CPRI-enabled optical PMD solutions for 3G/4G base stations. These PMDs join our recently announced Transcede multi-core baseband processing SoCs to address key challenges in the next-generation mobile infrastructure.”

Mindspeed’s CPRI optical PMD chipsets fully support the latest CPRI V4.1 2009-02-18 specification and are optimized for 4.915Gbps and 6.144Gbps operation with lower power consumption compared to the traditional 10Gbps PMD chipsets. They support data rates from 614.4Mbps to 6144 Mbps over 20km Single-Mode-Fiber (SMF) and 500m Multi-Mode-Fiber (MMF).

The receiver solution includes the M02020 transimpedance amplifier (TIA) combined with the M02049 limiting amplifier, optimized for 4.915 Gigabits/second (Gbps) or the M02129 TIA, combined with the M02142 limiting amplifier for 6.144Gbps. The limiting amplifiers each feature selectable band-width for optimal receiver sensitivity across CPRI rates. On the transmit side, solutions include the M02061 laser driver for long-wave laser diodes and the M02069 driver for short-wave vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs).

Mindspeed’s CPRI optical PMD chipsets are available now, along with a small-form-factor reference design for up to 6.144Gbps data rates. By offering seamless chipset solutions, Mindspeed’s CPRI optical PMD family enables optical transceiver vendors to get to market quickly with cost competitive solutions that deliver industry leading performance.