AppliedMicro’s PQX debuts high-density framer/PHY SoC for multi-10G/40G/100G Carrier Ethernet and OTN applications/Global optical transceiver market continues recovery

MARCH. 22, 2010 — Applied Micro Circuits Corp. (AppliedMicro) announced the PQX, which the company describes as the industry’s highest-density, lowest-power 10G/40G Optical Transport Network (OTN) framer/PHY System-on-a-Chip (SoC) for Carrier Ethernet router and WDM transport systems.

With 60 Gigabits of total capacity, the PQX is a key enabler for telecom and datacom customers to deploy next-generation 100G systems and cloud computing applications.

To transport increasing volumes of content-rich Ethernet traffic, telecom carriers and datacom service providers are quickly adopting OTN technology as the common transport protocol to achieve network convergence and reduce capital expenditures. AppliedMicro’s PQX incorporates the latest 10G and 40G telecom and datacom standards providing flexibility for either multiple 10G ports or single 40G port systems.  PQX offers unprecedented levels of integration on a single piece of silicon that exceeds any existing transport framer/PHY device in the world.  Implemented with an efficient architecture in an advanced 40nm CMOS process, PQX additionally achieves an unprecedented low power while providing up to 3 times higher capacity than existing OTN devices.

As an example, when operated in the Carrier Ethernet applications, PQX consumes a typical power of less than 1.5W/10G port, thereby enabling a new class of energy efficient solutions. PQX thus significantly reduces board space and system complexity in router and WDM system design and enables equipment OEMs to reduce system costs while reducing their carbon footprint.

The PQX is AppliedMicro’s third generation of OTN framer device with integrated high speed PHYs and Fractional-N clock synthesizers. Building on the success of the company’s Pemaquid and Yahara devices, the PQX provides the industry’s highest I/O bandwidth at 240Gbps at high performance and maintains compliance to various standards such as SONET/SDH, XFP/SFP+, and SFI5.1/CFP.

AppliedMicro’s PQX incorporates the latest telecom and datacom mapping modes and interfaces, including 10G FC Trans-code, 40 GE Trans-code, G.709 AMP and GMP mapping, ODU3e2 support, XFI/SFI, SFI5.1, XLAUI, OTL3.4, and STL256.4. These interfaces are instrumental in allowing multiple network protocols to converge and be transported over a common optical network. The PQX also includes Tri-FEC support (Reed-Solomon, G.975.1- I.4 and G.975.1-1.7) to ensure interoperability among multiple system OEMs and network operators.

The PQX will be available in two configurations: PQ50 with 50G worth of multi-protocol/ OTN transport capability and PQ60 with 60G worth of Carrier-Ethernet processing capability. Both are available in a 35 mm x 35 mm, FC-PGBA package. General availability of PQX development release samples is scheduled for July 2010.

MARCH 22, 2010 — Global sales of optical transceivers will reach $2.2 billion in 2010, with the market posting a 15 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) 2009-2013, as the industry catches up with the steadily growing demand for bandwidth, reports the latest Market Forecast from LightCounting LLC, a market research firm specializing in the optical transceiver space.

The improved macroeconomic climate and encouraging revenue guidance from transceiver manufacturers led LightCounting to increase projections to 10 percent for 2010. 10GigE SFP+ sales will grow explosively in 2010-2013, driven by low cost and increased port density. Sales of CWDM/DWDM modules will grow at 24% CAGR in 2010-2013, fueled by deployment of 40 Gbps and 100 Gbps networks. Sales of optical interconnects will grow at 34 percent CAGR but will remain a niche market, so demand will likely fluctuate.

“The slowdown in IT spending in 2008-9 has left service providers and equipment vendors having to catch up, with newer-generation products doing particularly well as networks upgrade to 10 Gb/s links,” comments Scott Schube, senior analyst and strategist, LightCounting. “We also saw the emergence of optical in wireless backhaul applications to support the exploding bandwidth needs of new 3G, 4G, and LTE networks, and as smart phones, running new data-intensive applications, have brought existing network infrastructure to its knees.”

This report presents historical data from 2006 to 2009 and a detailed market forecast through 2013 for SONET/SDH, Ethernet, Fibre Channel, CWDM/DWDM, FTTx transceivers, Optical Interconnects, including Active Optical Cables, sorted in over 100 product categories. The report discusses market realities and provides shipment detail for 40/100-Gbps applications. The sales data for 2006-2009 accounts for more than 30 transceiver vendors. The market forecast for 2009-2013 is based on LightCounting’s model correlating transceiver sales with network traffic growth and projected subscribers of FTTx systems.