Mellanox Doubles Silicon Photonics Ethernet Transceiver Speeds to 200Gb/s

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Today Mellanox introduced a new line of 200Gb/s silicon photonics and VCSEL-based transceivers in the same QSFP28 package as today’s 100Gb/s products. These new transceivers double the bandwidth for hyperscale Web 2.0 and cloud 100Gb/s networks. Mellanox is also introducing 200Gb/s Active Optical Cables (AOCs) and Direct Attach Copper Cables (DACs), including breakout cables, to allow for end-to-end 200Gb/s Ethernet networks.

“Our hyperscale customers can double their bandwidth and scale to 200G while using their existing installed fiber and without changing to a new form factor,” said Amir Prescher, senior vice president of business development and general manager of the interconnect business, Mellanox Technologies. “There is no need to wait for a new 400G form factor. Using the same QSFP package as 100G, Mellanox’s 200Gb/s products provide better ROI and compelling cost advantages today.”

Specifically, Mellanox is announcing the following products:

  • 200Gb/s 1550nm DR4 QSFP28 silicon photonics transceiver for reaches of 500m on single mode fiber
  • 200Gb/s SR4 VCSEL QSFP28 transceiver for reaches of 100m on OM4 multi-mode fiber
  • 200Gb/s QSFP28 Active Optical Cable for reaches to 100m
  • 200Gb/s QSFP28 Direct Attach Copper (DAC) cable for reaches of 3m

The next generation of switches and servers will run at 50G per lane interfaces. These transceivers and DACs support the new IEEE 200GAUI electrical standard, using 25GBaud PAM4 signaling, literally doubling the lane speed.

In related news, Mellanox also introduced a new line of 100Gb/s silicon photonics components to serve the growing demand of hyperscale Web 2.0 and cloud optical interconnects. The new product line provides module makers with access to a fully qualified portfolio of silicon photonics components and optical engine subassemblies.

Our customers can now achieve significant time to market advantages for embedded modules and transceivers by using fully-qualified, and cost-effective silicon photonics component and chip sets,” said Amir Prescher, senior vice president of business development and general manager of the interconnect business at Mellanox. “PSM4 represents the highest volume, most cost effective and flexible building blocks for 100Gb/s for single mode fiber transceivers for data center applications. End customers benefit by having more supplier options and Mellanox benefits by scaling our high-volume silicon photonics products.”

Mellanox will be exhibiting March 21-23 at the Optical Fiber Conference in Los Angeles, booth #3715.

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