Lasers & Sources

Luxtera unveils first CMOS photonics product, a 40G optical active cable

Aug. 14, 2007

August 14, 2007, Carlsbad, CA--Luxtera has unveiled what it says is the world's first CMOS photonics-product--a 40 Gbit optical active cable (OAC). Dubbed Blazar, the cable contains monolithically integrated optical modules that also have electronics on the same die as the optics.

August 14, 2007, Carlsbad, CA--Luxtera has unveiled what it says is the world's first CMOS photonics-product--a 40 Gbit optical active cable. Dubbed Blazar, the cable contains monolithically integrated optical modules that also have electronics on the same die as the optics. Luxtera says that it is providing a 40 Gbit (40G) product at 20 Gbit (20G) pricing.

The target markets for Blazar are high-performance-computing InfiniBand and 40G proprietary rack-to-rack interconnect applications. Blazar supports quad data rate (QDR), a 40G bandwidth (actually, it supports up to 42 Gbit), and reach of up to 300 meters; according to Luxtera, these capabilities overcome the speed and range barriers that have limited InfiniBand applications to small computer clusters.

The four optical transmitters in Blazar are powered with a single hermetically sealed laser; fiber cable is permanently attached to the optical transceivers. The assembly is thus "plug and play," unlike traditional VCSEL (vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser) based systems. Because Blazar uses single-mode fiber, the electronic dispersion compensation associated with VCSEL-based optical modules is not needed.

High-speed interconnect technology can potentially allow InfiniBand to increase its market share over competing technologies. InfiniBand is rapidly being adopted in data centers, fueled by its current transition from the 10G single data rate (SDR) to the 20G double data rate (DDR); the 40G QDR ability of Blazar could accelerate this adoption. "Migration to 40G connectivity allows for denser clusters, and the 300 meter range extends the reach of these clusters," said Jag Bolaria, a senior analyst at The Linley Group. "This should have a positive impact for high-performance computing and data centers."

Blazar's power consumption is 2.2 W per cable end, or 0.05 W per gigabit of data. This low power consumption is important, considering that this reduced power, multiplied by the many thousands of optical-interconnect devices that may be used in one facility, can result in significant power savings. The reduced heat output can even allow facility designers to select smaller air conditioners for the facility, said Marek Tlalka, Luxtera's vice president of marketing.

Luxtera will begin sampling Blazar in Q4 2007, with production quantities available in 2008; the company will make the interconnect available in lengths from 1 to 300 meters.