Marvell intros Atlas 50Gbps PAM4 DSP chipset

Marvell announced its Atlas 50Gbps PAM4 DSP chipset which integrates transimpedance amplifiers (TIAs) and laser drivers in the CMOS package.

The integration of the new Atlas chipset, which is based on Marvell’s Polaris 50G PAM4 DSP family,  reduces supply chain complexity and power consumption by up to 25%. Atlas is also the industry’s first PAM4 DSP available to wire bond directly with lasers and photodiodes, further simplifying the assembly process for optical module integrators, effectively reducing both product lead times and time to market. Sampling is underway.

Atlas PAM4 DSP Key Features:

• Leverages Polaris-class quad-channel DSP core, providing world-class performance and signal integrity while driving faster time to market and product yields.
• Uses existing Polaris DSP software, minimizing software development expense for module developers.
• Comprehensive suite of performance monitoring tools to reduce bring-up time and support mission-mode telemetry critical for hyperscale deployments.
• Integrated laser drivers support both single- and multi-mode interconnect applications.
• Suitable to support a wide range of module form factors including OSFP, QSFP56, QSFP-DD and AOCs.
• Broad range of IEEE standard support including 100G-xR2, 200G-xR4 and 400G-xR8.
• Manufactured in mainstream CMOS process technology optimized for high volume production to deliver a high-performance, low-power PAM4 DSP solution.

“Disaggregated data centers define today’s new cloud computing paradigm, and this trend is driving hyper-connectivity within the data center, putting PAM4 data center interconnects at the heart of the network,” said Xi Wang, VP of Marketing, Optical Connectivity at Marvell. “The new Atlas PAM4 DSP targets this burgeoning, high-volume data center market as well as cost-sensitive applications at the network edge.”

“Marvell understands the requirements of today’s hyperscale data center operators and has delivered a highly integrated, high-performance PAM4 DSP.

https://www.marvell.com/ 

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Marvell completes acquisition of Inphi

Marvell Technology completed its previously announced acquisition of Inphi Corporation.  The combination creates a U.S. semiconductor powerhouse positioned for end-to-end technology leadership in data infrastructure.

“I am excited to welcome the Inphi team to Marvell and look forward to realizing the tremendous value creation potential of this combination for our customers, employees and shareholders. Together we will have the portfolio, capabilities, and scale to expand Marvell’s leadership in its key growth end markets of 5G, Cloud and Automotive,” said Matt Murphy, president and CEO of Marvell. “I am also pleased that we are now organized as a U.S. company and we look forward to continuing to drive innovation in semiconductor technology critical to the nation’s data economy.”

Marvell also announced that Dr. Ford Tamer has been appointed to the Board of Directors of Marvell. Tamer served as Inphi’s President and Chief Executive Officer for more than nine years. Under Dr. Tamer’s stewardship, Inphi became the trusted market leader for electro-optics solutions for cloud and telecom operators, increasing revenue from these customers more than 20 times during his tenure, to an annual run rate of about $750 million. Prior to Inphi, Dr. Tamer served as CEO of Telegent Systems. Previous to this, he was Senior Vice President and General Manager of Broadcom’s Infrastructure Networking Group, which he grew 5-fold to $1.2 billion in revenue within five years. 

Marvell to acquire Inphi for optical components business

Thursday, October 29, 2020  400ZR, Data Centers, Inphi, Marvell, Optical, Silicon  

Marvell Technology Group Ltd. agreed to acquire Inphi Corp. in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately US$10 billion, consisting of $66 in cash and 2.323 shares of stock of the combined company for each Inphi share. Upon closing of the transaction, Marvell shareholders will own approximately 83% of the combined company and Inphi stockholders will own approximately 17% of the combined company.

Inphi’s high-speed electro-optics target data centers as well as wired and wireless carrier networks. The product portfolio includes Inphi transimpedance amplifiers (TIAs); drivers for 100G to 600G coherent optics; optical PHYs for signal recovery, retiming, grooming, error correction and gearbox operations; its COLORZ transceivers based on silicon photonics for 80/120km DWDM connectivity in a QSFP28 form factor; and its Canopus coherent Digital Signal Processors (DSPs)

Marvell said that by combining its storage, networking, processor, and security portfolio with Inphi’s  electro-optics interconnect platform, the combined company will deliver end-to-end technology leadership in data infrastructure. 

“Our acquisition of Inphi will fuel Marvell’s leadership in the cloud and extend our 5G position over the next decade,” said Matt Murphy, president and CEO of Marvell. “Inphi’s technologies are at the heart of cloud data center networks and they continue to extend their leadership with innovative new products, including 400G data center interconnect optical modules, which leverage their unique silicon photonics and DSP technologies. We believe that Inphi’s growing presence with cloud customers will also lead to additional opportunities for Marvell’s DPU and ASIC products.”

“Marvell and Inphi share a vision to enable the world’s data infrastructure and we have both transformed our respective businesses to benefit from the strong secular growth expected in the cloud data center and 5G wireless markets” said Ford Tamer, President and CEO of Inphi. “Combining with Marvell significantly increases our scale, accelerates our access to the next generations of process technology, and opens up new opportunities in 5G connectivity.”

Marvell also stated that intends to reorganize the combined company so that it will be domiciled in the United States, creating a U.S. semiconductor powerhouse with an enterprise value of approximately $40 billion. Upon closing, Ford Tamer, Inphi’s President and CEO, will join Marvell’s Board of Directors.

https://www.marvell.com/announcements/marvell-to-acquire-inphi.html

• In 2016, Inphi acquired ClariPhy Communications, a provider of ultra-high-speed systems-on-chip (SoCs) for multi-terabit data, long haul and metro networking markets for $275 million in cash as well as the assumption of certain liabilities at the close. ClariPhy was one of the first merchant suppliers of coherent DSP technology. The company was based in Irvine, California.
• In 2014, Inphi acquired Cortina Systems' High-Speed Interconnect and Optical Transport product lines for $52.5 million in cash and $73.5 million in stock.  In 2006, Cortina Systems acquired the assets of Intel's optical network components business for $115 million. Cortina was based in Sunnyvale, California.

Marvell to acquire Avera Semi, the ASIC division of GLOBALFOUNDRIES

Monday, May 20, 2019  ASICs, Marvell, Mergers And Acquisitions  

Marvell agreed to acquire Avera Semiconductor, the ASIC business of GLOBALFOUNDRIES, for $650 million in cash at closing plus an additional $90 million in cash if certain business conditions are satisfied within the next 15 months. Marvell said its ambition is to become the world’s leading supplier of infrastructure semiconductor solutions and that Avera’s ASIC capabilities will accelerate this transformation.  Avera, which was once part of...

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Marvell announces first 112G 5nm SerDes

Tuesday, November 17, 2020  112G, Data Centers, Marvell, SerDes  

Marvell introduced the first 112G 5nm SerDes solution that has been validated in hardware. The company also confirmed that it has recently secured a new custom ASIC design win customer that will embed this new IP to build next generation top-of-rack (ToR) and spine switches for leading hyperscale data centers.The Marvell 5nm SerDes solution doubles the bandwidth of current systems based on 56G while enabling the deployment of 112G I/Os. The device...

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ADVA showcases 400ZR DCI interoperability with Acacia and Inphi

ADVA demonstrated interoperability between its FSP 3000 DCI open line system (OLS) and QSFP-DD 400ZR modules from Acacia Communications and Inphi Corporation. 

The trial, which was conducted over a 120km amplified link, featured 400 Gbps  WDM transport using low-power 400ZR pluggable QSFP-DD transceivers from Acacia and Inphi with ADVA’s FSP 3000 DCI OLS. It was carried out under real-world conditions with 400 Gbps channels placed next to the test channels as well as a fully loaded spectrum. To validate three-way line-side interoperability, 400ZR was transmitted from Acacia to Inphi and vice versa. Test results showed that this multi-vendor ecosystem exceeds all OIF 400ZR Implementation Agreement performance metrics. Large-scale DCI network operators now have an easy and cost-effective route to a dynamic, future-proof and open environment.

ADVA said the latest trials using a 120km single-mode fiber show that it exceeds 400ZR performance requirements under fully loaded conditions including 75GHz channel spacing, enabling an aggregate capacity of 26Tbit/s per fiber. ADVA’s DCI OLS and Acacia and Inphi’s QSFP-DD 400ZR modules offer operators a complete and validated solution built on best-of-breed components.

“Today, we’re showing a direct route to open DCI networking using 400ZR. By proving the next-level interoperability of our platform with Acacia and Inphi’s optical interconnect technology, we’re empowering network operators to effortlessly harness the benefits of both 400ZR and open infrastructure. This will be key to reducing cost and complexity in the new breed of high-bandwidth DCI networks,” said Steve Penticost, VP, global business development, ADVA.

“Acacia has a long, proven history of pluggable silicon photonics innovation and has continually driven down the level of power consumption, size and cost of coherent interconnects,” said Tom Williams, VP, marketing, Acacia Communications. “400Gbit/s coherent pluggables enable network operators to support their growing bandwidth demands using power-efficient solutions that offer operational flexibility. By showcasing the interoperability of our high-performance coherent platform in a QSFP form factor with ADVA’s new DCI OLS, we’re giving DCI networks a clear path to a compact and cost-efficient optical layer assembled with best-in-class innovation.”

“ COLORZ II 400ZR enables large cloud operators to connect metro data centers at a fraction of the cost of traditional coherent transport systems and allows switch and router companies to offer the same density for both coherent DWDM and client optics in the same chassis. Interoperable 400ZR solutions allow customers to deploy a validated ecosystem with our innovative low-power, high-performing pluggable solutions and ADVA’s next-generation DCI OLS,” said Josef Berger, AVP, optical interconnect, Inphi. 

https://www.adva.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/20210413-adva-showcases-400zr-dci-solution-with-acacia-and-inphi

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Inphi ramps shipments of 400ZR and ZR+ QSFP-DD transceivers

Inphi announced the commercial availability and production ramp of its COLORZ II 400ZR QSFP-DD pluggable coherent transceivers for cloud data center interconnects (DCIs). Inphi also confirmed that a longer reach variant, COLORZ II 400G ZR+, which extends the reach of COLORZ II from 120km to about 400km, is in final stages of qualification and expected to be commercially available starting next month.

COLORZ II 400ZR and 400ZR+ enable a dramatic increase in switch rack capacity while reducing power consumption by up to 80%. COLORZ II delivers up to 14.4Tb of capacity per rack unit, compared to 2.4Tb or 3.6Tb per RU for competing solutions, representing a 4-6x increase in throughput per chassis. COLORZ II ZR and ZR+ achieve drastically improved density through higher levels of silicon photonics integration as well as much lower power consumption across all coherent transceiver elements.

“COLORZ II 400G ZR and ZR+ are the enabling technology for next-gen data center interconnects,” said Josef Berger, AVP, Product Marketing, Optical Interconnect at Inphi. “This is an important step in realizing our vision of 'The Cloud is the Network™'. The commercial availability and production ramp of COLORZ II 400G ZR and ZR+ demonstrates Inphi's industry leadership as we continue to create solutions that dramatically increase the speed of data movement, while keeping the power and cost low.”

According to market research firm Cignal AI, shipments of 400G ZR and ZR+ modules will expand at a >100% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) and provide one-third of worldwide WDM connectivity in 2025.

“The commercial availability of COLORZ II 400ZR makes IP over DWDM viable for network operators,” said Andrew Schmitt, Directing Analyst. “This enables an entirely new type of distributed data center architecture for the cloud and is the first step towards broad adoption in both cloud and traditional service provider networks.”

Inphi said its COLORZ II represents the culmination of several important industry firsts:

• First 400G single-chip, coherent silicon PIC to include all transmit and receive functions
• First low-cost, passive alignment of fiber to the PIC using traditional optics, eliminating the need for complex active alignment
• First low-power, high-performance 7nm CMOS-based coherent DSP enabling 400ZR and 400ZR+ extended reach 100/200/300/400G modes
• First integrated, industry-standard firmware management interface enabling full performance monitoring of DCI or transport systems without direct optical module support

https://www.inphi.com/media-center/press-releases/inphi-announces-commercial-availability-and-production-ramp-of-colorz-ii-400zr-and-zr-qsfp-dd-transceivers/

Wednesday, April 29, 2020  400ZR, OIF  

OIF published the Implementation Agreement (IA) for a low-cost, 400ZR coherent optical interface. OIF launched the 400ZR project in response to requests from large-scale data center operators and their suppliers for an interoperable coherent interface that transports 400 Gigabit Ethernet over longer distances. Traditional network operators also became interested in 400ZR for their metro needs. Based on their different requirements, OIF developed...

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Inphi launches 7nm 50G PAM4 DSP

Inphi announced its Polaris Gen2 PAM4 platform, the industry’s first 50G, 28Gbaud PAM4 DSP solution based on low-power 7nm CMOS technology. 

The Polaris platform is the industry’s leading 28GBaud PAM4 DSP solution offering integrated driver options for EML and Silicon Photonics to address a broad range of optical interconnects scaling from 50G to 400G. The Polaris Gen2 PAM4 platform supports 400G optical transceiver modules in both QSFP-DD and OSFP form factors and 200G modules in the QSFP56 package, in line with the optical PMD’s specified in the IEEE standards.

Polaris Gen2 PAM4 DSP Key Features:

• Field-proven PAM4 DSPs qualified in multiple hyperscale cloud data centers
• Developed in 7 nm CMOS process technology
• Supports short-reach multi-mode <100m and long-reach SMF 500m-40km optical interconnects
• Supports 50G PAM4, 50Gbps breakout and 25G NRZ transmission
• Integrates EML and Silicon Photonics linear drivers

Polaris Linear Drivers:

The Inphi IN2814DV is a 28GBaud low power quad VCSEL linear driver for PAM4 optical modules or Active Optical Cables. The IN2814DV is optimized for routing with a channel pitch aligned to the VCSEL optics driving over Multi-Mode Fiber MMF.

The Inphi IN2821SD is a 28GBaud low power single channel DML linear driver for PAM4 optical modules. The IN2821SD is optimized to direct drive commercial DMLs for excellent PAM4 optical performance.

Polaris Linear TIA’s:

The Inphi IN2864TA TIA is a 28GBaud low power quad linear TIA for PAM4 optical modules. It features a wide dynamic range to meet the different performance and link requirements for optical applications and excellent signal integrity necessary for PAM4 modulation schemes.

The Inphi IN2865TA is a 28GBaud low power quad VCSEL linear TIA for PAM4 optical modules or AOCs. The IN2865TA is optimized for direct routing with a channel pitch aligned to the MMF optics.

“As a pioneer of PAM4 technology for high-speed interconnects, Inphi is again breaking new ground and continuing to lead the industry with a highly integrated next generation DSP platform based on 7nm CMOS process technology,” said Eric Hayes, Sr. VP, Networking Interconnect at Inphi. “Leveraging our experience achieved over the past years hardening our successful 16nm Polaris PAM4 DSP, TIA and driver solutions in high volume deployment, we’ve introduced the new Polaris Gen2 family to fulfill the strong market demand for 50G data center low power interconnects.”

https://www.inphi.com/

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Inphi debuts its next-gen 400G DR4 silicon photonics platform

Inphi has begun sampling its next-generation 400G DR4 silicon photonics platform solution, which includes a silicon photonics integrated circuit (PIC), a flip chip transimpedance amplifier (TIA), and an analog controller.

The new 400G DR silicon photonics platform is designed to work seamlessly with Inphi’s Porrima PAM4 Digital Signal Processor (DSP).

400G DR silicon photonics platform highlights:

• Analog controller IC which replaces multiple discrete components for laser bias, configuration and monitoring of silicon photonics, and TIA control 
• Inphi’s complete silicon photonics transceiver with four low-loss, transmit Mach-Zehnder modulators and four high-responsivity, receive photodiodes
• Low-power, flip chip TIA with excellent sensitivity, overload, and error floor
• Inphi’s Porrima Gen3 low-power, PAM4 DSP with integrated 56Gbaud laser driver 

Inphi said it is bringing its high volume silicon wafer scale manufacturing by offering the option to purchase Inphi-designed high-performance 400G DR4 PICs in full 200-mm wafer form. Customers receive silicon PIC wafers direct from an Inphi fab partner and will be able to continue with high-volume wafer scale manufacturing and 3-D heterogenous integration in their own factories. 

“Inphi has been the leading force to define and create a PAM4 ecosystem of optical modules for cloud and data center networks,” said Dr. Loi Nguyen, Founder and SVP, Optical Interconnect at Inphi. “I believe today’s announcement will mark the beginning of a new era of the ‘fabless optics’ industry. Optical transceiver manufacturers can leverage silicon high volume wafer scale in the manufacturing of transceivers without owning a fab.”

http://www.inphi.com

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Marvell to acquire Inphi for optical components business

Marvell Technology Group Ltd. agreed to acquire Inphi Corp. in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately US$10 billion, consisting of $66 in cash and 2.323 shares of stock of the combined company for each Inphi share. Upon closing of the transaction, Marvell shareholders will own approximately 83% of the combined company and Inphi stockholders will own approximately 17% of the combined company.

Inphi’s high-speed electro-optics target data centers as well as wired and wireless carrier networks. The product portfolio includes Inphi transimpedance amplifiers (TIAs); drivers for 100G to 600G coherent optics; optical PHYs for signal recovery, retiming, grooming, error correction and gearbox operations; its COLORZ transceivers based on silicon photonics for 80/120km DWDM connectivity in a QSFP28 form factor; and its Canopus coherent Digital Signal Processors (DSPs)

Marvell said that by combining its storage, networking, processor, and security portfolio with Inphi’s  electro-optics interconnect platform, the combined company will deliver end-to-end technology leadership in data infrastructure. 

“Our acquisition of Inphi will fuel Marvell’s leadership in the cloud and extend our 5G position over the next decade,” said Matt Murphy, president and CEO of Marvell. “Inphi’s technologies are at the heart of cloud data center networks and they continue to extend their leadership with innovative new products, including 400G data center interconnect optical modules, which leverage their unique silicon photonics and DSP technologies. We believe that Inphi’s growing presence with cloud customers will also lead to additional opportunities for Marvell’s DPU and ASIC products.”

“Marvell and Inphi share a vision to enable the world’s data infrastructure and we have both transformed our respective businesses to benefit from the strong secular growth expected in the cloud data center and 5G wireless markets” said Ford Tamer, President and CEO of Inphi. “Combining with Marvell significantly increases our scale, accelerates our access to the next generations of process technology, and opens up new opportunities in 5G connectivity.”

Marvell also stated that intends to reorganize the combined company so that it will be domiciled in the United States, creating a U.S. semiconductor powerhouse with an enterprise value of approximately $40 billion. Upon closing, Ford Tamer, Inphi’s President and CEO, will join Marvell’s Board of Directors.

https://www.marvell.com/announcements/marvell-to-acquire-inphi.html

• In 2016, Inphi acquired ClariPhy Communications, a provider of ultra-high-speed systems-on-chip (SoCs) for multi-terabit data, long haul and metro networking markets for $275 million in cash as well as the assumption of certain liabilities at the close. ClariPhy was one of the first merchant suppliers of coherent DSP technology. The company was based in Irvine, California.
• In 2014, Inphi acquired Cortina Systems' High-Speed Interconnect and Optical Transport product lines for $52.5 million in cash and $73.5 million in stock.  In 2006, Cortina Systems acquired the assets of Intel's optical network components business for $115 million. Cortina was based in Sunnyvale, California.

Acacia and Inphi demo interoperability of 400ZR over 120 km

Tuesday, October 27, 2020  400ZR, Acacia, Inphi  

Acacia Communications and Inphi have demonstrated error-free links in 400ZR mode between Inphi’s COLORZ II QSFP-DD and Acacia’s 400ZR QSFP-DD module in Arista switches over a 120 km amplified link using 75GHz channel spacing. “Hyperscale network operators are planning to utilize interoperable 400ZR solutions to support growing bandwidth requirements between data centers,” said Josef Berger, AVP of Marketing, Optical Interconnect at Inphi. “This...

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Inphi acquires assets in Vietnam from Arrive Technologies

Tuesday, August 04, 2020  Inphi, Vietnam  

Inphi has acquired certain assets from Arrive Technologies, located in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Arrive Technologies, founded in 2001, has 112 employees with strong design capabilities in embedded software, digital ASIC, post-silicon validation, and FPGA emulation. The team has designed highly complex transport framers and products including pseudowire and circuit emulation functions with domain expertise including, but not limited to, OTN/SONET, FEC, PTP, and Security (IPsec). Arrive had been engaged with many of Inphi’s system OEM customers in the cloud, telecom, and 5G markets. 

Inphi said the addition of these resources will provide Inphi with front-end design, verification, validation and firmware skills that complement Inphi’s existing design teams in Singapore and Vietnam.

Inphi samples 800G 7nm PAM4 DSP

Monday, March 09, 2020  Inphi  

Inphi is sampling its new Spica 800G 7nm PAM4 DSP, the world’s first 800Gbps or 8x100Gbps PAM4 DSP to enable 800G optical transceiver modules in QSFP-DD800 or OSFP form factors.

Inphi's highly integrated Spica 800G platform includes the company's high-performance, low power PAM4 DSPs alongside its companion market-leading low power linear driver and TIAs.

The company said its Spica 800Gbps PAM4 DSP with integrated 56GBaud driver, enables either 2x400Gbps or 8x100Gbps optical modules with 100Gbps per lane electrical interfaces. Applications could include 800Gbps / 8x100Gbps optical interconnects in a compact form factor for single-mode fibers or multimode fibers. The Spica platform could be matched with Inphi’s 112Gbps Capella SerDes IP for next-generation AI processors and switches.

Inphi samples its 3rd gen, single-lambda PAM4

Monday, March 09, 2020  Inphi  

Inphi has begun sampling its Porrima Gen3 Single-Lambda PAM4 platform based on 7nm technology and optimized for hyperscale data center networks. The new design offers an expanded feature set and enhanced direct drive capability, further expanding the breadth of lasers that can be used with the integrated laser driver. The new platform is also designed to reduce total module power consumption to less than 8W for 400Gbps DR4/FR4 mode in the QSFP-DD form factor.

“Porrima Gen3 is another prime example of our ongoing dedication to this market, by increasing investments to exceed customer needs and stay ahead of the competition,” said Eric Hayes, SVP, Networking Interconnect, Inphi. “Not only are we delivering better performance and lower power with this third-generation PAM4 solution, but we are also making it easy for customers to make a smooth transition. This will accelerate adoption of this total solution and maintain our market leadership position.”

Inphi intros its 2nd gen 112Gbps SerDes in 7nm

Wednesday, January 29, 2020  112G, Inphi  

Inphi released its second-generation, high performance 112Gbps SerDes IP solution in 7nm. Inphi said its new Capella SerDes IP is designed to ensure high performance across the most demanding environments for network connectivity and data transmission. The announcement builds on Inphi’s track record of having shipped over a million 56Gbps and 112Gbps ports to date. “Delivering the next generation of SerDes IP technology is a significant milestone...

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NeoPhotonics samples 400ZR OSFP coherent transceiver

Monday, January 13, 2020  400G, Neophotonics  

NeoPhotonics began sampling its new 400ZR ClearLight OSFP transceiver to a leading cloud -related customer. The new transceiver utilizes NeoPhotonics Silicon Photonics Coherent Optical Subassembly (COSA) and low power consumption, ultra-narrow linewidth Nano-ITLA tunable laser, combined with the latest generation of 7 nm DSP, to provide full 400ZR transmission in a standard data center OSFP form factor. NeoPhotonics said its new 400ZR ClearLight...

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Inphi milestone: 100,000 COLORZ silicon photonics PAM4 units shipped

Thursday, January 09, 2020  Inphi, PAM4, Silicon Photonics  

Inphi noted a company milestone -- the shipment of more than 100,000 COLORZ units, its Silicon Photonics PAM4 platform solution for 80km DWDM connectivity in a QSFP28 form factor. Inphi said its unique approach in integrating PAM4 CMOS with silicon photonics enables the platform to achieve a 60% in cost and a 75% in power savings. Accomplishing the COLORZ ramp to 100k within a span of only three years also validates the network inflection point...

Inphi to acquire eSilicon for $226 million

Monday, November 11, 2019  Inphi  

Inphi Corporation agreed to acquire eSilicon for $216 million in both cash and the assumption of debt.

“The Inphi team is excited to enhance our value proposition to our cloud and telecom customers with the addition of the eSilicon team and IP,” said Ford Tamer, president and CEO of Inphi. “eSilicon adds to Inphi world-class 2.5D packaging, SerDes, custom silicon and operations teams. Just as we successfully leveraged our Cortina and Clariphy acquisitions, eSilicon will advance our shared commitments in driving successful customer engagement, industry-leading innovation, and best of class execution.”

Inphi lists the following drivers for the acquisition:

• Combine Inphi’s DSP, TiA, Driver and SiPho disciplines with eSilicon’s 2.5D packaging and custom silicon design capabilities and accelerate the roadmap for electro-optics, 5nm advanced CMOS process node, and custom DSP solutions
• Augment Inphi’s existing SerDes team and resources
• Extend Inphi’s addressable market in Cloud data center networking and Telecom 5G infrastructure with top tier OEM customers
• Expand Inphi’s presence into new, strategic geographies for talent acquisition with engineering design centers in Italy, Romania, Vietnam, and Spain and operations in Malaysia
• Add between $80 to $120 million to 2020 revenue, be accretive to 2020 EPS and both the 2021 revenue and EPS growth rates
• Increase Inphi’s operational scale with suppliers, lowering costs and resulting in financial leverage
• Result in Inphi paying about 2.2X 2020 revenue in a combination of cash and debt assumption

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Acacia and Inphi demo interoperability of 400ZR over 120 km

Acacia Communications and Inphi have demonstrated error free links in 400ZR mode between Inphi’s COLORZ II QSFP-DD and Acacia’s 400ZR QSFP-DD module in Arista switches over a 120 km amplified link using 75GHz channel spacing. 

“Hyperscale network operators are planning to utilize interoperable 400ZR solutions to support growing bandwidth requirements between data centers,” said Josef Berger, AVP of Marketing, Optical Interconnect at Inphi. “This testing provides an exciting validation of the 400ZR ecosystem designed to meet the need for high-performance, low power coherent pluggable solutions that support cost-effective DWDM architectures for DCI.”

“The industry has been anticipating the availability of interoperable 400ZR solutions to meet the growing demand for DCI bandwidth, particularly for network operators evolving their data center architectures to 400G Ethernet with optical connections between switches,” said Tom Williams, Vice President of Marketing at Acacia. “These solutions provide data center operators with greater flexibility in the components and suppliers they use to build out their networks.”

NeoPhotonics and Inphi show 400ZR interoperability

Tuesday, July 28, 2020  400ZR, Inphi, Neophotonics  

Inphi and NeoPhotonics have completed the first interoperability demonstration of OIF 400ZR Implementation Agreement compliant coherent transceivers, operating successfully across the C-Band over 120km of optical fiber. Transceiver pairs consisting of Inphi's COLORZ II QSFP-DD with its Canopus 7nm Coherent DSP and NeoPhotonics 400ZR ClearLight OSFP were successfully linked. Both 400ZR coherent optics transceivers carried error-free traffic over...

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OIF publishes 400ZR implementation agreeement

Wednesday, April 29, 2020  400ZR, OIF  

OIF published the Implementation Agreement (IA) for a low-cost, 400ZR coherent optical interface.

OIF launched the 400ZR project in response to requests from large-scale data center operators and their suppliers for an interoperable coherent interface that transports 400 Gigabit Ethernet over longer distances. Traditional network operators also became interested in 400ZR for their metro needs. Based on their different requirements, OIF developed specs and tweaked the channel requirements so the IA would benefit both data center and network operators. While developing the IA, OIF collaborated closely with other standards bodies.

The 400ZR IA addresses two applications:

• Amplified, point-to-point DWDM links with reaches of 120 km or less
• Unamplified, single wavelength links with a loss budget of 11dB

The IA aims to enable interoperable, cost-effective, 400Gbps implementations based on single-carrier coherent DP-16QAM modulation, low-power DSPs supporting absolute (Non-Differential) phase encoding/decoding, and a Concatenated FEC (C-FEC) with a post-FEC error floor <1 .0e-15.="" 400gbase-r="" 400zr="" a="" as="" operates="" p="" phy.="">

No restriction on the physical form factor is implied by the IA (QSFP-DD, OSFP, COBO, CFP2, CFP8), but the specifications target a pluggable DCO architecture with port densities equivalent to grey client optics.

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Inphi reports record Q2 revenue of $175M, strong data center sales

Inphi reported Q2 rvenue of $175.3 million, up 103.2% year-over-year, compared with $86.3 million in the second quarter of 2019. The increase was due to higher demand for Cloud and Telecommunications products as well as the inclusion of eSilicon revenues as a result of the acquisition that closed on January 10, 2020.

Gross margin under GAAP in the second quarter of 2020 was 53.0%, compared with 56.9% in the second quarter of 2019. GAAP operating loss in the second quarter of 2020 was $4.3 million or (2.4%) of revenue, compared to GAAP operating loss in the second quarter of 2019 of $14.2 million or (16.5%) of revenue. Non-GAAP net income in the second quarter of 2020 was $50.9 million, or $0.95 per diluted common share. This includes the one-time tax benefit referred to above which represents approximately $0.10 per diluted share as part of the $0.95 per diluted common share for the second quarter of 2020. 

“In Q2 our product offerings were firing on all cylinders.  On a year-over-year basis, our Cloud revenue grew 92% driven by our PAM4 products inside data centers and our COLORZ solution between data centers.  Our Telecom revenue grew 119% driven by both our new ASIC and PAM4 for 5G and our coherent solutions for long haul and metro,”  said Ford Tamer, President and CEO of Inphi Corporation. “We continue to invest in resources both organically and through strategic acquisitions that can scale Inphi to larger opportunities ahead. Although we are cautious with regard to the macro uncertainties, we believe our continued success and breadth of product cycles will drive sequential growth in the third quarter.”

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Inphi acquires assets in Vietnam from Arrive Technologies

Inphi has acquired certain assets from Arrive Technologies, located in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Arrive Technologies, founded in 2001, has 112 employees with strong design capabilities in embedded software, digital ASIC, post silicon validation and FPGA emulation. The team has designed highly complex transport framers and products including pseudowire and circuit emulation functions with domain expertise including, but not limited to, OTN/SONET, FEC, PTP, and Security (IPsec). Arrive had been engaged with many of Inphi’s system OEM customers in the cloud, telecom and 5G markets. 

Inphi said the addition of these resources will provide Inphi with front-end design, verification, validation and firmware skills that complement Inphi’s existing design teams in Singapore and Vietnam.

“Resource allocation for new projects is an industry challenge. With the acquisition of resources from Arrive, we are now able to dedicate a world-class engineering team to projects targeting our cloud and telecom customers,” said Ford Tamer, President and CEO of Inphi Corporation. “We welcome the team from Arrive to the Inphi family and are excited to advance our shared commitments in driving successful customer engagement, industry-leading innovation and best of class execution.”

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NeoPhotonics and Inphi show 400ZR interoperability

Inphi and NeoPhotonics have completed the first interoperability demonstration of OIF 400ZR Implementation Agreement compliant coherent transceivers, operating successfully across the C-Band over 120km of optical fiber.

Transceiver pairs consisting of Inphi's COLORZ II QSFP-DD with its Canopus 7nm Coherent DSP and NeoPhotonics 400ZR ClearLight OSFP were successfully linked. Both 400ZR coherent optics transceivers carried error-free traffic over a typical data center interconnect (DCI) link configuration (amplified over 120km of fiber) at several wavelengths across the C-Band using Arista 7060 data center switches.

The successful interoperation of NeoPhotonics and Inphi 400ZR transceivers demonstrates the availability of interoperable coherent transceivers for the 400ZR ecosystem, a key step in enabling the next generation of DCI links. 400ZR pluggable transceiver modules significantly reduce the cost and power consumption of DCIs by eliminating the transport network equipment layer.

“We are very excited about the successful interoperable demonstration with NeoPhotonics to bring pluggable 400G coherent optics into the data center,” said Josef Berger, AVP of Marketing, Optical Interconnect at Inphi. “This demonstration proves the readiness to deliver the flexibility of high bandwidth DWDM connectivity between data centers with the ability to rapidly scale capacity and meet our customers’ demands for standards-based pluggable coherent solutions.”

“NeoPhotonics has worked closely with Inphi to combine their Canopus™ DSP with our high-performance laser and coherent optics into a standards-based ClearLight OSFP and QSFP-DD transceiver modules that can meet the needs of our hyper-scale customers,” said Marc Stiller, Vice President of Coherent Modules for NeoPhotonics. “Supporting the interoperable CFEC standard, as defined by OIF, has been a critical part of our design effort, and we’re very pleased to announce this milestone as we continue to work with customers to implement this game-changing technology.”

OIF publishes 400ZR implementation agreeement

Wednesday, April 29, 2020  400ZR, OIF  

OIF published the Implementation Agreement (IA) for a low-cost, 400ZR coherent optical interface.

OIF launched the 400ZR project in response to requests from large-scale data center operators and their suppliers for an interoperable coherent interface that transports 400 Gigabit Ethernet over longer distances. Traditional network operators also became interested in 400ZR for their metro needs. Based on their different requirements, OIF developed specs and tweaked the channel requirements so the IA would benefit both data center and network operators. While developing the IA, OIF collaborated closely with other standards bodies.

The 400ZR IA addresses two applications:

• Amplified, point-to-point DWDM links with reaches of 120 km or less
• Unamplified, single wavelength links with a loss budget of 11dB

The IA aims to enable interoperable, cost-effective, 400Gbps implementations based on single-carrier coherent DP-16QAM modulation, low-power DSPs supporting absolute (Non-Differential) phase encoding/decoding, and a Concatenated FEC (C-FEC) with a post-FEC error floor <1 .0e-15.="" 400gbase-r="" 400zr="" a="" as="" operates="" p="" phy.="">

No restriction on the physical form factor is implied by the IA (QSFP-DD, OSFP, COBO, CFP2, CFP8), but the specifications target a pluggable DCO architecture with port densities equivalent to grey client optics.

NeoPhotonics samples 400ZR OSFP coherent transceiver

Monday, January 13, 2020  400G, Neophotonics  

NeoPhotonics began sampling its new 400ZR ClearLight OSFP transceiver to a leading cloud -related customer.

The new transceiver utilizes NeoPhotonics Silicon Photonics Coherent Optical Subassembly (COSA) and low power consumption, ultra-narrow linewidth Nano-ITLA tunable laser, combined with the latest generation of 7 nm DSP, to provide full 400ZR transmission in a standard data center OSFP form factor.

NeoPhotonics said its new 400ZR ClearLight OSFP transceiver can be plugged directly into switches and router, simplifying data center interconnect (DCI) networks by eliminating a layer of network equipment and a set of short reach client-side transceivers. The new OSFP module is capable of tuning to 75 GHz or 100GHz spaced wavelength channels, as specified in the OIF agreement, and operates in 400ZR mode for Cloud DCI applications.  For longer metro reaches, the module  is designed to support 400ZR+ modes.

This ClearLight OSFP module can also be optionally provisioned to tune over the entire “Super C-Band”, or up to 6.4 Terahertz, increasing the capacity of an optical fiber by up to 50% over standard implementations.  NeoPhotonics provides arrayed waveguide gratings for multiplexing and de-multiplexing with 75GHz and 100GHz wavelength channel spacings, supporting 85 and 64 channels respectively, with filter responses optimized for high baud rate coherent signals.

Inphi samples first 400ZR QSFP-DD transceiver

Thursday, December 19, 2019  400G, Inphi  

Inphi has begun sampling its COLORZ II 400ZR QSFP-DD pluggable coherent transceiver for cloud data center interconnects (DCIs) to major cloud operators and OEMs.

Inphi cites several industry firsts for its COLORZ II 400ZR QSFP-DD:

• 400G single-chip, coherent Silicon Photonics Integrated Circuit (PIC) that includes all transmit and receive functions 
• Innovative, low cost, passive alignment of fiber to the PIC that eliminates the complicated active alignment, using traditional optics
• Low power, high performance, 7nm CMOS-based coherent DSP enabling 400ZR as well as extended reach 100/200/300/400G ZR+ modes
• Integrated industry standard firmware management interface that enables full performance monitoring previously only available in DCI or transport systems directly from the optical module

 The 400ZR standard promises to lower the cost and power consumption of metro data center interconnect (DCI) by enabling switch and router companies to offer the same density for both coherent DWDM and client optics in the same chassis. This eliminates a layer of network connectivity that was previously required and supports high capacity DWDM connectivity directly from data center switches.

Inphi said its COLORZ II represents a massive increase in switch rack capacity, while reducing the power consumption by as much as 80%. COLORZ II delivers up to 14.4T of capacity per rack unit (RU), compared to 2.4T or 3.6T per RU on competing solutions, representing a 4-6 x increase in throughput per chassis.

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