Lumentum to divest certain transceiver product lines to CIG

Lumentum announced plans to sell certain optical transceiver product lines developed and manufactured by its subsidiary Oclaro Japan to Cambridge Industries Group (CIG). The sale is not expected to impact the guidance ranges provided on February 5, 2019 for Lumentum's third fiscal quarter, ending March 30, 2019. Revenue attributable to the products to be sold in the proposed transaction is approximately $20 million of the $50 million to $55 million of datacom revenues previously included in Lumentum's guidance for the third fiscal quarter of 2019.

CIG also entered into a long-term strategic supply agreement for Lumentum's photonic chips.

"I am pleased to partner with CIG and leverage our respective strengths to better address the market opportunity created by the highly anticipated growth in high-speed datacom and telecom client-side transceiver volumes driven by datacenter expansion and 5G wireless over the coming years," said Walter Jankovic, Lumentum's Senior Vice President and General Manager, Datacom. "This transaction enables Lumentum to become more commercially focused on its differentiated Indium Phosphide photonic chip capabilities and brings a new customer that is well positioned to compete in the datacom transceiver market."

"With this acquisition and on-going partnership with Lumentum for supply of their industry leading photonic chips, together with CIG's proven quality and volume JDM and ODM capabilities, CIG expands its capabilities with industry leading optical transceiver products and technology spanning the range of 10G, 25G to 400G serving many long-standing Tier 1 customers," said Gerald Wong, CIG's President and CEO. "We believe with the combination of CIG's strengths in cost effective high-volume manufacturing, and Lumentum's optical transceiver team in Japan with their decades of experience in high performance datacom and telecom transmission, we are well positioned to address customer needs in the datacom and telecom client-side transceiver market."

The transaction is expected to close in the second calendar quarter of 2019 and is subject to certain customary closing conditions for a transaction of this type.

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Juniper to acquire Mist for cloud managed, enterprise Wi-Fi

Juniper Networks agreed to acquire Mist Systems, a start-up offering a cloud-managed, enterprise wireless platform, for $405 million in cash and equity awards.

Mist, which is based in Cupertino, California, has developed an AI-driven wireless platform for making Wi-Fi more predictable, reliable and measurable. Mist has also developed an AI-driven virtual assistant, Marvis, to simplify wireless troubleshooting and provide unprecedented insight into client and network behavior. In addition, Mist uses patented virtual Bluetooth LE technology in conjunction with Wi-Fi and IoT to deliver scalable and cost-effective location-based wireless services to customers, such as indoor wayfinding, proximity notifications, traffic analytics and asset tracking. All operations are managed via Mist’s modern cloud microservices architecture.

Mist’s Wireless LAN (WLAN) platform will be combined with Juniper’s wired LAN, SD-WAN and security solutions. Juniper said the deal also enables it to extend cloud-based management and end-to-end AI-driven visibility across the end-to-end enterprise network (from access to the WAN) to offer an industry-leading, software-defined and highly differentiated solution for simplifying operations, improving user experience and lowering total cost of ownership (TCO).

“Mist Systems is a great fit for Juniper and for our enterprise customers,” explained Rami Rahim, CEO of Juniper Networks. “Juniper and Mist share a common strategic goal. We believe in the Software-Defined Enterprise and Mist’s focus on bringing AI to IT is consistent with our core belief that we need to simplify operations and improve customer experience while lowering costs. With Mist, we are adding a market leading solution to complement our portfolio, drive the cloud transition within the enterprise and accelerate our enterprise growth.”

“Mist Systems has developed a unique blend of wireless, AI and cloud expertise that has enabled us to stand out from the competition and bring much needed innovation to the wireless space,” said Sujai Hajela, CEO of Mist Systems. “By combining these proficiencies with Juniper’s expansive channel reach, world-class support and best-in-class networking and security products, we believe we will be well poised to change the IT landscape by ushering in a new generation of AI-driven products.”

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Elenion debuts Silicon Photonic BGA Packaged Coherent Optical Sub-Assembly

Elenion Technologies, a start-up developing silicon photonics-based System-on-Chip solutions, announced its next-generation Coherent Silicon Transmitter and Receiver CSTAR optical BGA platform for transmission of up to 600G on a single wavelength, as well as new small form factors for compact pluggable modules such as OIF 400G ZR QSFP-DD.

The CSTAR-200 is a DSP agnostic, coherent optical engine that enables pluggables such as CFP2-DCO and on-board applications, from data center interconnect to long haul in 100/200G coherent optical communication links.

“We are excited to be partnering with Elenion on our award winning CFP2-DCO. Elenion’s CSTAR platform allows us to offer differentiated coherent solutions to our customers,” said Siraj ElAhmadi, President & General Manager, Menara Networks.

The CSTAR platform comprises a multi-chip-module (MCM) and integrates Elenion’s advanced Silicon Photonics and RFICs. Integrated into a non-hermetic BGA package, CSTAR offers the next generation coherent optical engine for todays and future 100 to 600Gb/s Network applications.

“From the beginning at Elenion, we’ve built our silicon photonic chips in a production CMOS fab, which enables us to build complex optical devices. Having leveraged on-chip complexity to eliminate all of the isolators, lenses, and other free space optics from our package, Elenion is taking these chips and having them assembled in a production electronics-attach environment, reusing the infrastructure investment from the ASIC industry. We believe that this is a milestone for the silicon photonics industry, and represents an inflection point with regard to the cost of packaging for silicon photonics and integrated photonic components in general,” said Michael Hochberg, CTO, Elenion.

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UC Berkeley develops 240x240 silicon photonics switch

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have demonstrated an experimental, silicon photonics switch with 240 inputs and 240 outputs.

In a paper presented at OFC, researchers Tae Joon Seok and colleagues will report the successful scale up of a 240x240 integrated silicon photonic switch.

The switch was manufactured at the Marvell Nanofabrication Laboratory at UC Berkeley using a process known as lithography stitching, creating a wafer-scale 240x240 silicon photonic switch by stitching together nine 80x80 switch blocks in a 3x3 array, with three input and three output coupler blocks.

The research team demonstrated signal loss lower than any previously reported, said Seok, who is assistant professor at the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea and a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley. The on-chip loss to port-count ratio  was measured at 0.04 dB/port.

"Recently, many research groups competitively reported silicon photonic switches with large input/output port counts," said Seok. However, the physical size of a silicon photonic chip has been limited to 2 to 3 cm because of the limitations of the lithography tools necessary to etch the required geometric patterns on the silicon wafers used as a base for the integrated chips.

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TE Connectivity demos 400G connector and cable assemblies

TE Connectivity (TE) is showcasing its lineup of high-performance connectors, sockets, cable assemblies and power solutions.

TE products are showcased in the 100G and 400G active demonstrations in the Ethernet Alliance booth with SFP56, QSFP56, OSFP, QSFP-DD connectors and QSFP-DD-to-OSFP cable assemblies based on signaling at 25G and 50G individual pair signaling rates, along with an operating 800G capable OSFP cable based on 100G individual pair signaling.

In the OIF booth, TE will participate in active 100G individual pair signaling demonstrations with an OSFP to QSFP-DD cable assembly, an OSFP connector and cage, and a QSFP-DD connector and cage.

The COBO booth will include TE's demonstration of its 100Gbps capable Sliver COBO connector in partnership with Credo.

The following TE products will be featured in these demonstrations and displays:

• I/O connectors: SFP56, SFP-DD, QSFP56, OSFP and QSFP-DD 400G interconnects, Nano-Pitch I/O connectors (NPIO), and COBO as well as thermally enhanced versions of all these pluggable interconnects. A demonstration of 800G OSFP will be included.
• Copper cable assemblies: SFP56, SFP-DD, QSFP56, OSFP, and QSFP-DD direct attach cables, including a demo of 800G OSFP cables. In addition, Sliver cables (SFF-TA_1002, GenZ), and STRADA Whisper cables will be shown.
• Board to Board: STRADA Whisper, Z-PACK Slim UHD, Z-PACK HM-eZd+ backplane connectors, and backplane cable assemblies.
• Sockets: LGA 3647 (Socket P) and XLA 3800+ position sockets
• Power Delivery: Open Compute Power, MULTI-BEAM HD
• Internal Interconnects: Sliver Interconnects (SFF-TA-1002, GenZ, EDSFF, OCP NIC 3.0, DDIMM, COBO), Nano-Pitch I/O connectors (OCuLink), and STRADA Whisper in an internally cabled system.

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MACOM announces drivers for Single-Lambda 100G and 400G

MACOM Technology Solutions announced the availability of a new family of drivers for Single-Lambda 100G and 400G applications. These 2nd generation EML and Silicon Photonic drivers in low-cost SMT packaging include:

• MAOM-005321: Single-channel EML driver in 3x4mm package
• MAOM-005324: Single-channel Silicon Photonics driver in 3x4mm package
• MAOM-005421: Quad-channel EML driver in 7x7.2mm package
• MAOM-005424: Quad-channel Silicon Photonics driver in 5x6mm package

“To date we’ve had multiple design wins at 100G and 400G, and with customers expected to
ramp, MACOM’s goal is to continue our leadership in the datacom segment by providing optimal driver solutions to our customers,” said Rajiv Somisetty, Senior Product Marketing Manager at MACOM. “Our new driver family underscores our ability to do exactly that. Whether it’s an EML or SiPh based module solution our customer is working on, MACOM’s second-generation driver family with improved performance at lower cost is the ideal solution.”

http://www.macom.com/applications/optical-networking

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MACOM expands 400G PAM-4 with Low Noise Transimpedance Amplifiers

MACOM Technology Solutions announced availability of production versions of its four-channel (4 x 100G) 56/106 Gbit PAM-4 linear transimpedance amplifiers (TIAs) optimized for use in 400G optical modules targeting cloud data center applications.

MACOM's new MATA-03820 and the MATA-03819 are available in flip chip and wire bonding packaging options, respectively, for fast, flexible deployment in single-lambda 400G-FR4 and DR4 format QSFP-DD and OSFP optical modules. The devices deliver low noise performance less than 1.5 uA RMS typical and support bandwidth up to 35 GHz.

“In the rapid evolution to single fiber 100G and parallel fiber 200G and 400G connectivity, we believe that MACOM has again affirmed its leadership position in delivering the high-performance, power-efficient optical components needed to maximize bandwidth density in the Cloud Data Center”

“Molex is excited to collaborate with MACOM. Leveraging MACOM’s technical support along with its broad portfolio of TIAs we are able to ensure the availability of industry leading 400G optical modules,” said Adit Narasimha, Vice President and General Manager, Molex Optoelectronics. “The low noise performance of MACOM’s TIA along with its flexible programmability, enable delivery of industry leading low bit error performance when implemented with a DSP for 400G modules.”

https://www.macom.com/products/product-detail/MATA-03820
https://www.macom.com/products/product-detail/MATA-03819

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DustPhotonics ships 400Gbps QSFP-DD SR8

DustPhotonics announced sampling availability and pre-production ramp of 400G QSFP-DD SR8 optical transceiver for short reach, high-density applications over multi-mode optical fiber. The 400Gbps module incorporates DustPhotonics' AuraDP optical engine with unique fiber integration and manufacturing technology .

Dust Photonics notes that 400G QSFP-DD SR8 transceivers support both 400G switch to switch and breakout options for high-radix configurations.

DustPhotonics claims its AuraDP light engine enables reduced power consumption, higher reliability, and superior module performance. The optical packaging design results in improved sensitivity and efficient coupling. The QSFP-DD optical transceiver is designed for use with cost effective multimode fiber and supports reaches of up to 100 meters using OM4 fiber. The SR8 module features; 8 parallel 50Gbps PAM4 optical channels, supports the latest CMIS Management Interface, and is compliant to the latest QSFP-DD MSA and IEEE 802.3bs 400GBASE SR8 standards.

The 400G QSFP-DD module is part of the DustPhotonic's family of 400G multimode transceiver and AOC product line. The 400G QSFP-DD SR8 has an expected production release date in the second half of 2019. DustPhotonics is currently sampling and accepting orders for evaluation of 400G QSFP-DD SR8 transceivers.

"QSFP-DD SR8 is the most versatile 400G module for the large enterprise and hyperscale cloud data center markets supporting fanout to 200G and 50G," says Ben Rubovitch, CEO and co-founder of DustPhotonics. "With the majority of fiber lengths in hyperscale data centers being less than 100 meters, multimode is the economic choice supporting high-radix interconnection networks. This offers significantly better cost/performance solutions needed for broad market adoption of 400Gbps data rates."

http://www.dustphotonics.com

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Evertz Microsystems Selects Ranovus’ 200G CFP2 Direct Detect Transceivers

Evertz Microsystems, which supplies technology solutions for the broadcast, media and entertainment industries, will deploy Ranovus’ 200G CFP2 Direct Detect transceiver product into the Evertz Software Defined Video Networking switch and routing infrastructure.

Ranovus transceivers employ quantum dot laser (QDL) and micro-ring resonator Silicon Photonics technologies. Highlights:

• Fully compliant with Telcordia GR-468 Standard
• DCI, metro access, 5G Mobility and multi-access edge computing applications
• Transmission distances of 15km, 40km and 80km+
• Platform capable of supporting Industrial Temperature Range
• 96 DWDM channels in the C-band now and L-band in the future
• 1.6 Tb/s 1RU Shelf Density
• Form factor and compatible electrical interface with CFP2-DCO
• 56Gb/s PAM4 PHY with multiple programmable FEC options to optimize link performance
• Full diagnostics and self-monitoring capabilities to enable high-reliability networks

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