TriQuint Semiconductor, an RF product manufacturer and foundry services provider, announced the release of two new driver amplifiers including the optical communications market’s first surface-mount technology (SMT) device for next-generation 40 Gb/s (Gigabits per second) networks. This new high performance device will ease assembly and significantly reduce power consumption as designers address the need for faster, more economical networks.
TriQuint also released a smaller driver amplifier with improved performance for the 10 Gb/s optical communications market. Both devices were released to coincide with the Optical Fiber Communication (OFC) Conference and Exhibition in San Diego, CA.
TriQuint’s new TGA4943-SL is the first to combine multiple amplifiers and filters within a surface-mount package, providing designers easier assembly for 40 Gb/s optical networks. Optimized to work with major manufacturers’ optical modulators, TriQuint’s new driver amplifier provides convenience and performance advantages including high output drive capability, superior edge rates and excellent signal-to-noise ratio for a cleaner signal.
“The new TGA4943-SL represents significant advances on many levels. Its power consumption is appreciably better. It consumes only 2.1 W – about 50 percent of comparable optical network solutions. It’s a greener product that should provide real-world savings for network operators,” said TriQuint Optical Networks Product Marketing Manager Mike Tessaro.
Tessaro added that TriQuint’s new driver amplifier was developed in cooperation with major transceiver and modulator manufacturers. The device is based on the heritage of established market-leading driver amplifiers including TriQuint’s TGA4953 and TGA4954 for 10 Gb/s optical networks. The new module was created specifically to meet the performance requirements of the DQPSK (differential quadrature phase shift keying) modulation standard that enables very high speed 40 Gb/s optical networks. Higher speed networks with greater bandwidth will allow operators to more cost-effectively meet growing worldwide bandwidth demands.
Strategy Analytics has noted that despite global economic concerns, the continuing expansion of consumer demand for bandwidth driven by growing social networking and other data-intensive applications will move telecom companies toward faster, more efficient high bandwidth systems.
“Telecom companies can’t afford to stop investing in the rollout of 10 Gb/s and 40 Gb/s networks. The long-haul market in particular uses LiNbO3 modulators for which GaAs-based drivers offer the best performance. Being able to improve the performance of these drivers while reducing power dissipation and improving the thermal operation of the core components will be an important element to maintaining the momentum behind network rollouts,” said Asif Anwar, Director, GaAs and Compound Semiconductor Technologies Service, Strategy Analytics.
“Strategy Analytics projects the overall growth for GaAs drivers will be 7 percent through 2012 —growth in the 40 Gb/s market will be even greater as the need for wider bandwidth on existing fiber networks promotes more efficient pulse transmissions schemes like DQPSK. Based on our evaluation of the market we believe TriQuint is a leader in developing optical driver amplifier technology,” Anwar added.
