Companies Demo Parallel Optics Interconnects at 10 Gb/s

ULM, Germany, March 18 -- Four optical component companies have demonstrated a 120 Gb/s optical data link over 300 meters of multimode fiber ribbon: VCSEL manufacturer ULM-Photonics GMBH, integrated circuit manufacturer Primarion, semiconductor manufacturer Microsemi and OFS, an optical fiber manufacturer.
The companies said the high-speed parallel interconnects demonstration includes an unprecedented 12 channels of 10Gb/s per channel at 850 nm over 300 meters of multimode optical fiber ribbon. Until now, parallel optics applications have been limited to 40 Gb/s, using 12 channels at 3.36 Gb/s. The results of this demonstration will be on display at OFC 2003 (Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exposition) in Atlanta, Ga., March 25-27.

The demonstration uses a Primarion PX 6419 12-channel VCSEL driver, Primarion PX6429 optical receiver, ULM Photonics ULM850-10-TT-C01x12 VCSEL array, OFS Laserwave 300 multimode optical fiber and a Microsemi LX3046 photodiode array.

"Together, this group has shown that interoperable component technology is available today to support the next generation of short-reach ultrahigh bandwidth optical links using parallel optics," said ULM-Photonics CEO Burghard Schneider. "This type of cooperation takes a lot of the guesswork out of optical module design with proven compatibility of photonics and optoelectronic components."

For more information, visit: www.ulm-photonics.de