NeoPhotonics Corp., a designer and manufacturer of photonic-integrated circuit (PIC-based modules and subsystems for bandwidth-intensive, high-speed communications networks, has quadrupled capacity for PIC-based integrated coherent receivers (ICRs) for 40- and 100-Gb/s coherent fiber optic transport systems. “Our photonic integration technology utilizes our semiconductor-based wafer manufacturing capabilities and is inherently high quality, scalable and cost-effective, which positions us ahead of the demand curve for this important technology,” said Tim Jenks, chairman and CEO of NeoPhotonics. The company says it believes that the industry is coalescing behind the coherent technology approach for high-speed backbone networks. By combining NeoPhotonics’ PIC-based ICR, which has a high signal detection response, with advanced digital signal processing on each channel, the coherent approach gives service providers a solution for leveraging their existing fiber optic cable investments longer, more efficiently and in an on-demand manner. “The rapid increase in the use of coherent transmission technology for 40 Gb/s on the line side, coupled with an initial ramp of 100 Gb/s coherent systems, necessitates a significant increase in volume shipments of ICRs while maintaining stringent optical performance requirements,” said Jenks. The NeoPhotonics ICR is designed to convert the phase-encoded optical signals into electrical signals of varying intensity, which can then be analyzed using digital signal processing. As carriers upgrade from 10-Gb/s network connections, the coherent technology using the NeoPhotonics ICR not only provides more throughput capacity, but also more intelligence, according to the company. The company says it has earned multiple design wins for the ICR with its tier 1 customers and is now shipping ICR products, with or without an internal polarizing beamsplitter, to multiple customers. The NeoPhotonics ICR is designed to support the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) Implementation Agreement for Integrated Dual Polarization Intradyne Coherent Receivers.* The ICR provides advanced demodulation to analyze the state of polarization and optical phase of a phase-modulated signal relative to an externally supplied optical reference signal, enabling recovery of the phase-polarization constellation of 40- or 100-Gb/s format signals. Besides the ICR, NeoPhotonics offers a broad range of PIC-based components for high-capacity data transport networks, including 90° hybrid coherent mixers for 40 and 100-Gb/s coherent transmission systems, and small and standard form factor differential quaternary phase-shift keying (DQPSK) demodulators for 40-Gb/s transmission. *Information on the OIF and the agreement can be found at www.oiforum.com and http://www.oiforum.com/public/documents/OIF_DPC_RX-01.0.pdf For more information, visit: www.neophotonics.com