Infonetics: Systems vendors’ in-house work tips 40G, 100G optical transceiver market/Xilinx Virtex-6 HXT FPGAs target optical transceivers

NOVEMBER 1, 2010 — Much has been made of the fact that systems vendors will rely on in-house expertise for the first generation of serial 100-Gbps technology. In its newly updated 10G/40G/100G Optical Transceivers Market Size and Forecast, market research firm Infonetics Research says that this factor will significantly curtail the revenue opportunity for independent 40G/100G module vendors.

Within the report, Infonetics Research increased its forecast for the combined 10G, 40G, and 100G transceiver and transponder market, expecting it to grow to $2.14 billion worldwide in 2014. Within the 40G/100G realm, equipment vendors who offer 100G technology first will take the majority of long-term revenue as well as more 40G contracts, Infonetics asserts. This is because carriers are making vendor decisions based on a dual evaluation of 40G and 100G technology.

“Network equipment manufacturers — such as Alcatel-Lucent, Ciena, Cisco, Huawei, and Infinera — are supplying an increasing share of 40G long-reach ports and will ship most of the 100G ports through 2014, posing a competitive challenge to component suppliers in the market,” states Andrew Schmitt, Infonetics Research’s directing analyst for optical. “The reality of this market requires that optical component vendors measure twice and cut once when making investments in this area or face a negative ROI.”

Other optical transceiver market highlights Infonetics cites include:

An increase in WDM equipment spending by carriers around the world resulted in rapid revenue growth for colored optical interfaces in the first half of 2010.
Pluggable tunable transceivers in the XFP format, already popular in ROADM-based networks, allow carriers to add tunability to a wider range of devices — including IP/Ethernet edge switches and routers, and eventually CMTS head-ends, FTTH OLTs, and DSLAMs. The tunable XFP transceiver market is forecast to grow at a 117% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2009 to 2014.
Infonetics expects 10G SFP+ transceiver revenue to more than double and unit shipments to more than triple from 2010 to 2014, led by modules for 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) and 8G and 16G Fibre Channel applications
The shift to more compact form factors with fewer electronics (SFP+ and XFP) and lower cost designs will rapidly push down unit pricing for 10G components, resulting in flat revenue on increasing volume
The ramp-up of 100G technology is expected to be faster than that of 40G, particularly when 100G coherent PM-QPSK becomes available at a cost no more than double that of 40G coherent PM-QPSK, and when lower cost LR-4 modules hit the market (2011 to 2013).

Infonetics’ 10G/40G/100G Optical Transceivers report is designed to provide in-depth analysis, market size, and forecasts through 2014 for manufacturer revenue and units shipped. The report analyzes the market by module, reach, wavelength, and form factor. The report is the first to use end-market projections of carrier preferences and equipment shipments to drive component forecasts, Infonetics asserts. These forecasts include shipments of 40G and 100G ports designed and manufactured in-house by network equipment manufacturers (NEMs).

NOVEMBER 8, 2010 — Xilinx Inc. (Nasdaq: XLNX) has announced the immediate availability of Virtex-6 HXT FPGAs that Xilinx says support 40-Gbps and 100-Gbps line cards with flexible port configurations including 1×40 Gbps, 4×10 Gbps, 1×100 Gbps and 10×10 Gbps. Additionally, Virtex-6 HXT FPGAs support the long reach optical requirements of next-generation communications equipment without the need for external re-timer circuitry because of the FPGA’s transceiver jitter performance, Xilinx asserts.

Xilinx has validated Virtex-6 HXT FPGAs interoperability with such optical transceiver suppliers as Avago Technologies. “Avago Technologies is pleased to offer optical transceivers compatible with Virtex-6 FPGAs for standards including 10-Gbps Ethernet,” said Victor Krutul, director of marketing, Fiber Optics Product Division at Avago. “With over 30 years of experience in optical interconnects as part of HP and Agilent, Avago is uniquely able to help FPGA designers make the move from copper to fiber-optic interconnects as connection speeds move to 10 Gbps and beyond.”

Xilinx Virtex-6 HXT devices are designed to seamlessly interface to industry standard SFP+, XFP, and CFP optical modules at line rates up to 11.18 Gbps, addressing next-generation optical transport application needs. Furthermore, through its jitter performance — less than 500 fs rms random jitter at 11.18 Gbps, Xilinx says — and signal integrity, the need for external conditioning circuitry is eliminated. The jitter performance provides the system designer the margin required to build robust high speed interfaces, the company says. A demo of the Virtex-6 HXT device operating at 10 Gbps can be seen on the Xilinx website. www.xilinx.com/virtex6hxt

Optimized for applications that require ultra high-speed serial connectivity, Virtex-6 HXT FPGAs offer what Xilinx claims is the industry’s highest serial bandwidth through a combination of 6.6-Gbps GTX transceivers and 11.18-Gbps GTH transceivers to enable packet and transport, switch fabric, video switching, and imaging equipment.

Other Virtex-6 HXT device features include:

A design optimized for 10G signaling, including Transmit (Tx) pre-emphasis, Receive (Rx) linear equalization and Decision Feedback Equalizer (DFE) to meet tough jitter requirements.
Lower jitter with “superior” DFE and EQ circuits, higher total transceiver count, more BRAM, and a high number of SERDES capabilities.
Design topology that isolates the high performance analog circuits from the noisy digital logic and IO to improve noise performance.
A package design with all serial pins isolated from parallel IO, in-package power planes and capacitors, and a sparse-chevron pinout resulting in 40 dB of isolation between Tx and Rx and 30 dB of isolation between channels.
Overall, the Virtex-6 HXT device performance enables the designer to interface to optical modules directly without the need for external re-timers.

Built on 40-nm process using third-generation Xilinx ASMBL architecture, the Virtex-6 FPGA family is supported by a new generation of development tools and a large library of IP to ensure productive development and design migration. The devices operate on a 1.0 V core voltage with an available 0.9 V low-power option.

Virtex-6 HXT FPGAs are shipping today and customers can start their designs immediately with the ISE Design Suite version 12.3. Detailed pricing information for Virtex-6 HXT FPGAs is available through Xilinx sales offices and distributors.