Altera’s 28-nm Stratix V FPGA selected by Infinera for DTN-X multi-terabit packet-optical transport network platform

BANGALORE, INDIA: Altera Corp. announced its 28-nm Stratix V GX FPGAs were selected by Infinera for use in its recently announced DTN-X multi-terabit packet-optical transport network (P-OTN) platform. Infinera is the latest company to select the industry’s highest-performance FPGA for use in next-generation systems. Stratix V GX FPGAs deliver the performance and bandwidth necessary to enable 100-GbE traffic in the DTN-X platform’s 100-Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) line cards.

“Infinera continuously pushes the boundaries of technology with our solutions. To do so requires partnering with companies like Altera who also are at the leading edge of technology,” said Drew Perkins, co-founder and CTO of Infinera. “When we evaluated the alternatives for our next-generation DTN-X platform, Altera was very appealing because of their high-performance 28-nm Stratix V FPGAs that deliver best-in-class SERDES capabilities. Stratix V GX FPGAs enabled us to successfully demonstrate 100-Gigabit Ethernet performance in our DTN-X platform, meaning we can get to market sooner.”

Today’s unprecedented growth in Internet traffic requires operators rapidly upgrade their networks to meet demand. The DTN-X platform was designed specifically to meet today’s increasing bandwidth demands by offering global operators a seamless transition from 10-GbE, to 40-GbE and 100-GbE data rates. The scalability, simplicity and efficiency of Infinera’s DTN-X platform ultimately help global network operators migrate their networks according to their future bandwidth needs. Altera’s Stratix V GX FPGAs are used specifically to enable 100 GbE on the DTN-X platform.

Stratix V FPGAs are built to meet the requirements of next-generation 100-GbE system designs. Stratix V GX FPGAs deliver optimal bandwidth by providing integrated 14.1-Gbps transceivers with hardened 100G PCS functions on a 28-nm high-performance (28HP) process technology. The high-performance FPGA provides system designers an accelerated time-to-market advantage with reduced risk compared to ASIC or ASSP solutions. Using Stratix V FPGAs, designers can implement current 100-GbE standards and easily adapt their designs to future enhancements.

“Because of the increasing demand for more bandwidth, service providers are looking at emerging 100-GbE standards for their next-generation line card options,” said Vince Hu, VP of product and corporate marketing at Altera. “Our Stratix V FPGAs enable early adopters like Infinera to better serve these service providers by rapidly designing in high-performance, high-bandwidth technologies like 100 GbE into their leading-edge DTN-X platform.”