Mindspeed Debuts Optical Chipsets for Linking Base Stations to Radio Heads

Mindspeed Technologies announced a high-performance, low-power physical media device (PMD) chipset that includes all necessary components required for CPRI-based optical transceivers for connecting 3G/4G wireless base station servers to one or more remote radio heads (RRHs) over optical fiber.


Mindspeed said its new PMD chipsets support the latest CPRI V4.1 2009-02-18 specification and are optimized for 4.915 Gbps and 6.144 Gbps operation with lower power consumption compared to the traditional 10 Gbps PMD chipsets. They support data rates from 614.4 Mbps 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 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 has also 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.
http://www.mindspeed.com
http://www.emcore.com