NeoPhotonics announces PIC-based small form factor DQPSK demodulator volume production for 40Gbps systems

SAN JOSE, USA: NeoPhotonics Corp., a leading designer and manufacturer of photonic integrated circuit, or PIC, based modules and subsystems for bandwidth-intensive, high speed communications networks, announced that its PIC-based small form factor DQPSK demodulator, designed for use in 40Gbps direct detection fiber optic transport systems, is now ramped to volume production.

The small form factor version is less than half the size of the standard form factor DQPSK demodulator and saves precious board space in high capacity systems.

The NeoPhotonics demodulator product is designed for use in 40Gbps direct detection Differential Quaternary Phase Shift Key (DQPSK) data transmission. DQPSK systems utilize Delay-Line Interferometers (DLIs) to coherently mix the incoming signal with a delayed sample, thereby avoiding the need for, and cost of, an external local optical reference laser.

The NeoPhotonics DQPSK demodulator integrates two DLIs on a single photonic chip and provides in-phase and quadrature analysis of the phase-encoded signal. To accommodate the unpredictable and varying nature of the received signals, the NeoPhotonics DQPSK demodulator is designed to exhibit low sensitivity to polarization variations. NeoPhotonics introduced the small form factor version of this product in the fourth quarter of 2010 and achieved general availability in the first quarter of 2011.

“The deployment of 40 Gbps and 100 Gbps transmission technologies on the line side places stringent requirements on the optical performance of the components used. For example, the level of polarization dependence in our 40 Gbps DQPSK demodulator must be much less than that of our typical 10Gbps products,” said Tim Jenks, chairman and CEO of NeoPhotonics. “By using our photonic integration technology, we are able to achieve the high levels of optical performance and quality critical for these very high speed systems.”

In addition to the small form factor DQPSK Demodulator announced today, NeoPhotonics currently also offers a PIC-based standard form factor DQPSK Demodulator for 40Gbps transmission systems and PIC-based Intradyne Coherent Receivers (ICR) and 90° Hybrid Coherent Mixers for both 40Gbps and 100 Gbps coherent transmission systems.