Infinera chips win Asian metro network business
Fiber-optic network operator Flag Telecom has deployed photonic integrated circuits (PICs) featuring more than 60 optical devices on just a pair of InP chips in some of the key metropolitan areas that it serves.
Infinera, the US company that makes the PICs and uses them to power a digital optical network system, says that it has been selected by Flag to supply equipment for networks in Asia and Europe initially. More deployments may follow.
The massively-integrated optoelectronic chips are manufactured at Infinera's InP facility in Sunnyvale, CA, where the company has employed production strategies developed initially for making LEDs in very high volumes.
Bermuda-registered Flag, which owns and runs a 28 000 km undersea fiber-optic network stretching from the UK to Japan, says that it is experiencing strong demand for 10 Gb/s services in many of its larger metropolitan locations.
Infinera believes that the high level of integration that it employs improves system reliability because the PICs eliminate dozens of fiber couplings that would otherwise be required. CEO Jagdeep Singh estimates that these couplings can account for up to 70% of optical component failures.
Infinera's two chips "“ one a transmitter, the second a receiver "“ each carry ten wavelengths operating at 10 Gb/s, giving a 100 Gb/s overall capacity, although the company adds that its network system can handle up to 800 Gb/s.
Having banked $205 million in venture financing in recent years despite the fiber-optic networking downturn, Infinera has focused heavily on process control as a key element of its chip manufacturing strategy.
Fred Kish, Infinera s VP of manufacturing, will be presenting an invited talk about the company s manufacturing methodology at the forthcoming CS-MAX conference. CS-MAX is taking place in Palm Springs, CA, as part of Compound Semiconductor Week 2005, and runs from October 31 through November 2. Click here to view the CS-MAX draft technical program.
