News: Optoelectronics
8 March 2022
Source Photonics demos 50G PAM4 SFP56 transceivers for 5G front-haul
In booth #2901 at the Optical Fiber Communication conference (OFC 2022) in San Diego (8-10 March), Source Photonics Inc of West Hills, CA, USA (which provides optical connectivity products for data centers, metro and access networks) is giving a live demonstration of its 50G SFP56 transceivers with industry partners (specifically, Viavi’s 50G ONA-1000 optical traffic testing solutions).
Source Photonics officially launched the 50G PAM4 SFP56 product portfolio for 5G front-haul networks last September. As global operators accelerate the deployment of 5G networks, promote the differentiated application of 5G multi-services, and release more spectrum resources, 5G networks present higher bandwidth requirements for front-haul. Currently, the 25Gb/s eCPRI interface is the most widely used solution for 5G front-haul networks. When the 5G spectrum bandwidth exceeds 100M, one base station requires 6x 25Gb/s eCPRI interfaces and a total of 12x 25Gb/s SFP28 optical modules. The 50G SFP56 achieves 50% port savings by upgrading the rate of one transceiver to 50Gb/s, creating flexibility for further improvement of wireless forward bandwidth.
To meet the most pressing bandwidth requirements of global customers, Source Photonics has introduced 50G LR and FR PAM4 SFP56 optical modules, which support 10km and 2km, respectively. The product meets the range of industrial-temperature applications with power consumption as low as 1.5W. This series of products uses the 25G distributed feedback (DFB) laser developed in-house by Source Photonics to provide low power consumption, short latency and cost-effective transceiver solutions for 5G front-haul networks.
Leveraging in-house vertically integrated optics and ICs, these modules support interoperability with previous generations of 25G SFP28 and 10G SFP+ optical transceivers. Both modules comply with the corresponding 50GBASE-R specifications (as defined in the IEEE standards) and offer 50G PAM4 electrical and optical interfaces.
Source Photonics says that it has conducted in-depth cooperation with leading 5G equipment manufacturers, and qualification is progressing smoothly. The 50G LR SFP56 and 50G FR SFP56 are the most urgent general-purpose applications today. The development of 50G Bidi SFP56, 50G WDM SFP56 and other related products has also been launched, which will provide more diversified, more flexible and more cost-effective products.
