Monday, November 25, 2019

Inphi launches 7nm coherent DSP supporting 400G

Inphi has begun sampling its new Canopus coherent Digital Signal Processor (DSP) based on 7nm technology and supporting high-density QSFP-DD, OSFP and CFP2-DCO coherent pluggable modules for cloud and telecom applications.

Canopus leverages Inphi’s M200 coherent DSP techology enabling interoperability across generations of coherent solutions for 100G and 200G deployments to drive a seamless transition to 400G.



Canopus supports 400G ZR, which is being standardized in OIF facilitating multi-vendor interoperability up to 120km span. Inphi contributed an innovative FEC technology called CFEC, adopted by multiple standards bodies including OIF, IEEE and ITU for the 400G ZR standard. Canopus extends performance beyond ZR to ZR+ extending 400G reach and spans lower data rates to thousands of kilometers on metro and long haul networks.

Canopus also implements probabilistic shaping, a technique that maximizes data rate at longer fiber distances and delivers lower deployment cost per bit. This is the first time that coherent pluggables are powered with probabilistic shaping technology.


The implementation in 7nm silicon geometry delivers over 75% reduction in DSP power dissipation and size as compared to the current generation of coherent DSPs.

“The Canopus coherent DSP is ushering a new industry wide ecosystem, pluggability, and era of interoperability. Canopus increases density while slashing both power dissipation and the cost per bit to unprecedented levels,” said Nariman Yousefi, SVP, Coherent DSP, Inphi. “The sampling of the Canopus DSP transforms coherent pluggable optics to high-performance 100/200/300/400G, a true revolutionary step and the inflection point in the industry.”


Inphi is facilitating an ecosystem of partners offering QSFP-DD, OSFP and CFP2-DCO modules, fueled with coherent advancements enabled by Canopus power and performance scalability. This will make Canopus truly interoperable ecosystem for data center interconnect, metro and long haul applications across multiple established module vendors in the industry, will drive supply diversity and accelerate time to deployment for OEMs and operators. Canopus ecosystem partners are equipped to deploy interoperable solutions across wide array of optical network links with ZR and ZR+.