Thursday, December 8, 2022

Marvell samples its Spica Gen2 800Gbps PAM4 in 5nm

Marvell Technology has begun sampling its Spica Gen2 800Gbps PAM4 electro-optics platform.

The highly integrated Spica Gen2 platform is built on advanced 5nm process technology with companion transimpedance amplifiers (TIAs) and driver to deliver power savings and advance the transition to 800Gbps networking inside the data center. 

Key features of Spica Gen2 include:

  • Support for 1x800G, 2x400G, 8x100G Ethernet traffic with breakout
  • 25% power savings enabling <12-Watt 800G
  • CMIS compliant with advanced diagnostic features
  • Integration of enhanced optical modulator driver

Spica Gen2 Linear TIAs:

The IN5660TA is a 56GBaud octal channel, linear TIA for PAM4 optical modules. The IN5665TA and IN5669TA are each 56GBaud quad channel, linear TIA offerings. 

Features of the Spica Gen2 linear TIAs include:

  • Wide dynamic range to meet the different link requirements for optical applications
  • Best-in-class linearity, low noise for optimized platform performance
  • Low-power and in bare die form

Spica Gen2 Linear Driver:

The IN5614DV is a 56GBaud quad-channel, linear VCSEL driver for PAM4 optical modules. 

Features include:

  • VCSEL multimode fiber for AOC and transceiver
  • Excellent linearity, high bandwidth, adjustable gain to optimize the PAM4 system performance
  • Low-power driver in bare die form

Marvell said its Spica Gen2 extends the company’s leadership in 800G PAM4 DSPs, building on its Spica DSP announced in 2020 in 7nm as part of the industry’s first 800Gbps PAM4 electro-optics platform. Since that time, the Spica platform has been ramping in artificial intelligence (AI) applications as the demand for higher bandwidth networking infrastructure continues to increase. 

“There is an ever-increasing need for higher bandwidth, lower latencies, and reduced complexities in managing data center infrastructure,” said Xi Wang, vice president of product marketing, Optical Connectivity at Marvell. “With the introduction of the Spica Gen2 5nm optical PAM4 DSP, Marvell is continuing to innovate and enhance the power efficiency with the 800G electro-optics platform while increasing bandwidth in the data center, which is crucial to achieving green and efficient data center architectures. Spica Gen2 enables lower latencies, higher levels of integration, and simplifies switch port management for next-gen cloud data center optical interconnects.”

“Demand for optical technology is expected to grow 14% per year through 2027, primarily driven by the projected sales of 800G and 1.6T transceivers as cloud providers and carriers enhance their infrastructures to meet customer expectations,” said Vlad Kozlov, founder and CEO of Light Counting Market Research. “Spica Gen2 is part of Marvell’s effort to raise the bar in terms of performance, power and TCO to allow clouds to scale.”