Keeping time on 40/100G networks with high-performance clocks

James Wilson, Silicon Labs
EETimes (12/12/2011 3:32 PM EST)

Networking service providers are significantly expanding their transmission network capacity to meet the burgeoning demand for bandwidth-intensive video and web-driven multimedia applications.

This application-focused demand is driving the migration from 10G to 40G and 100G high-speed optical links in both core and metro applications. Innovation is required on multiple fronts to deliver this capacity expansion at the lowest possible total cost of ownership (TCO) while maintaining network reliability and quality of service.

This network migration is being enabled by several new and exciting technologies such as coherent optics, which supports 40/100G transmission over existing or new fiber while eliminating the need for external bulk dispersion compensation modules.

Additional innovation is happening on the IC front, with both existing and startup semiconductor suppliers introducing 4 x 28 Gbps transmit and receive circuitry, pushing the speed and performance envelope.

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