NeoPhotonics increases capacity and commences volume shipments of PIC-based integrated coherent receivers for 40 and 100 Gbps systems

SAN JOSE, USA: NeoPhotonics Corp., a leading designer and manufacturer of photonic IC, or PIC, based modules and subsystems for bandwidth-intensive, high speed communications networks, announced that it has quadrupled capacity for PIC-based Integrated Coherent Receivers (ICR) for state-of-the-art 40 and 100Gbps coherent fiber optic transport systems.

The Company believes that the industry is coalescing behind the “coherent technology” approach for high-speed “backbone” networks. By combining the NeoPhotonics PIC-based ICR, which has one of the industry’s highest signal detection responses, with advanced digital signal processing on each channel, the coherent approach is designed to provide service providers a solution for leveraging their existing fiber optic cable investments longer, more efficiently and in an “on demand” manner.

“The rapid increase in the use of coherent transmission technology for 40 Gbps on the line side, coupled with an initial ramp of 100 Gbps coherent systems, necessitates a significant increase in volume shipments of ICRs while maintaining stringent optical performance requirements,” said Tim Jenks, chairman and CEO of NeoPhotonics.

“Our photonic integration technology utilizes our semiconductor-based wafer manufacturing capabilities and is inherently high quality, scalable and cost-effective, which positions us ahead of the demand curve for this important technology,” concluded Mr. Jenks.

The NeoPhotonics ICR is designed to convert the phase encoded optical signals into electrical signals of varying intensity, which can then be analyzed using digital signal processing. As carriers upgrade from 10 Gbps network connections, the coherent solution utilizing the NeoPhotonics ICR not only provides more throughput capacity but also more intelligence. NeoPhotonics has earned multiple design wins for the ICR with its tier 1 customer base and is now shipping ICR products, with or without an internal polarizing beam splitter, to multiple customers.

The NeoPhotonics ICR is designed to support the OIF Implementation Agreement for Integrated Dual Polarization Intradyne Coherent Receivers*. The PIC-based ICR is designed to provide advanced demodulation to analyze the state-of-polarization and optical phase of a phase-modulated signal relative to an externally supplied optical reference signal, enabling recovery of the phase-polarization constellation of 40 or 100 Gbps format signals.

In addition to the ICR, NeoPhotonics currently offers a broad range of PIC-based components for high capacity data transport networks, including 90 Degree Hybrid Coherent Mixers for both 40Gbps and 100Gbps coherent transmission systems, and both small and standard form factor DQPSK Demodulators for 40Gbps transmission.