Broadcom discusses its co-packaged optics plans

If electrical interfaces are becoming an impediment, is co-packaged optics the answer? Broadcom certainly thinks so.

One reason for the growing interest in co-packaged optics is the input-output (I/O) demands of switch chips. If the packet processing capacity of such chips is doubling every two years, their I/O must double too.

Alexis BjörlinRepeatedly doubling the data throughput of a switch chip is a challenge.

Each new generation of switch chip must either double the number of serialiser-deserialiser (serdes) circuits or double their speed.

A higher serdes count - the latest 25.6-terabit switch ICs have 256, 100 gigabit-per-second serdes - requires more silicon area while both approaches - a higher count and higher speed - increase the chip's power consumption.

Faster electrical interfaces also complicate the system design since moving the data between the chip and the optical modules on the switch's front panel becomes more challenging.

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COBO adds co-packaged optics to its agenda

The Consortium of On-Board Optics (COBO) is progressing with its work to create specifications for co-packaged optics.

The decision to address co-packaged optics by an organisation established to promote on-board optics reflects the significant industry interest co-packaged optics has gained in the last year.

So says Brad Booth, director, leading edge architecture pathfinding team in Azure hardware systems and infrastructure at Microsoft.

Source: COBO

The COBO work also complements that of the OIF which has set up its own co-packaged optics framework. 

“We have a different collection of members [to the OIF],” says Booth. “Our members are very strong on optical connectivity and materials whereas the OIF is known for its electrical interface work and module activities like 400ZR.”

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Timepieces that tell you how you are

Apple is Rockley Photonics’ largest customer. So says Rockley in a document filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as it prepares to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

The Form S-4 document provides details of Rockley’s silicon photonics platform for consumer ‘wearables’ and medical devices, part of the emerging health and wellness market.

Andrew Rickman, Rockley Photonics’s CEO, discusses what the company has been working on and how a wearable device can determine a user’s health.

The first of several articles on silicon photonics-based biosensors for medical and other applications.

Andrew Rickman

Part 1: Consumer Wearables

Ever wondered what the shining green light is doing on the underside of your smartwatch?

The green LED probes the skin to measure various health parameters - biomarkers - of the wearer. Just what light can reveal about a user’s health is a topic that has preoccupied Rockley Photonics for several years.

Rockley is not solely interested in using the visible spectrum to probe the skin but also light at higher wavelengths. Using the infrared portion of the spectrum promises to reveal more about the watch wearer's health.

Rockley can also shed light on its own healthcare activities following the announcement of its merger with SC Health that will enable Rockley to be listed on the NYSE, valued at $1.2 billion.

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OIF addresses 800-gigabit coherent interfaces

The OIF has started work on 800-gigabit coherent interfaces, a follow-on to its 400-gigabit 400ZR specification work.

Two requirements are being addressed: an 800-gigabit dense wavelength division (DWDM) interface with a 80-120km span for data centre interconnect, and an unamplified single-channel fixed-wavelength 2-10km coherent link for campuses.

The need for 800 gigabit

Tad Hofmeister

“When we hit that 90 per cent mark on 400ZR, we had people stand up and say: ‘We are ready to start 800ZR’,” says Karl Gass, OIF, physical link layer working group – optical vice-chair.

But completing the work has taken time. “The first 90 per cent of a project takes about half the time and the last 10 per cent takes the other half,” says Gass.

So only in mid-2020 did the OIF’s attention turn to the new standard, starting with determining the use cases.

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DT chooses Nokia for a major optical network upgrade

Deutsche Telekom is redesigning its domestic optical network and has chosen Nokia as its equipment supplier.

“They are re-architecting and rolling out, in a short time, a huge portion of their optical network,” says Kyle Hollasch, (pictured) director of optical portfolio marketing, Nokia. “We are displacing in many parts of the network four different vendors.”

Network architecture

Deutsche Telekom’s legacy mesh-based wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) network uses equipment from several vendors. In the last decade, Deutsche Telekom also added to the core an IP-optical solution from Cisco Systems.

Now, the CSP is replacing the mesh-WDM network and the Cisco IP-optical core with an OTN-WDM core from Nokia.

“They are unifying their traffic from all of their business services, government services, 5G anyhaul and the core IP network onto one core WDM network,” says Hollasch. 

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Enabling 800-gigabit optics with physical layer ICs

Broadcom recently announced a family of 800-gigabit physical layer (PHY) chips. The device family is the company’s first 800-gigabit ICs with 100-gigabit input-output (I/O) interfaces.

Source: Broadcom

Moving from 50-gigabit to 100-gigabit-based I/O enables a new generation of 800-gigabit modules aligned with the latest switch chips.

“With the switch chip having 100-gigabit I/Os, PHYs are needed with the same interfaces,” says Machhi Khushrow, senior director of marketing, physical layer products division at Broadcom.

Broadcom’s latest 25.6 terabit-per-second (Tbps) Tomahawk 4 switch chip using 100-gigabit I/O was revealed at the same time.

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Rebooting telecom innovation

Last summer several individuals, including representatives from Telefonica and Deutsche Telekom, published a White Paper on the need to boost innovation in the telecom industry.

Don Clarke

Six months and many conversations later, the group published its second paper, this time focussing on the communications service providers (CSPs), vendors and the investor community.

The paper, entitled Developing a Code of Conduct Framework for the Telecom Ecosystem, highlights four areas to spur innovation: Funding, Innovation Processes, Competition and Procurement.

The code-of-conduct paper offers guidelines as to how CSPs can work with vendors, especially small and medium-sized ones that lack the resources of the larger established vendors.

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