At this week’s OFC, Mellanox demonstrated 50 Gbps silicon photonics optical modulators and detectors — the key component for 200 Gbps and 400 Gbps LinkX cables and transceivers.
The demonstration is an important milestone toward providing end-to-end solutions for HDR 200G InfiniBand and Ethernet interconnect infrastructure.
“Silicon photonics is the enabling technology for 200Gb/s InfiniBand and Ethernet networks,” said Amir Prescher, executive vice president of business development and interconnect products at Mellanox. “The QSFP56 doubles the front panel density for next generation switches; enables 200G copper DACs and 50G breakout cables for adapters and inside-the-rack applications; and silicon photonics transceivers supports all data center reaches to 2km.”
Mellanox said it plans to offer 50Gbps and 200Gbps Direct Attach Copper cables (DACs); copper splitter cables (QSFP56 to 4x SFP56); silicon photonics based AOCs for reaches to 200m; and silicon photonics transceivers for reaches to 2km. Mellanox 200Gb/s cables and transceivers will seamlessly support previous generations of 40 and 100Gbps networks.
