Perspective of 800G Optical Transceivers and Its Applications

With the explosive growth of mobile services, optical transmission, and cloud computing for inter- and intra- data-center traffics, Ethernet data rates have been increasing rapidly. Optical transceivers capable of supporting 400Gb/s have become commercially available. One critical area affecting optical connectivity requirements is for the scenarios of transmission distances of 2-40km. In this presentation, we will review the evolving state of proliferate 400G technologies for these applications and the requirements such technologies should meet. It will begin with a look at the 100G optics which are currently being deployed in volume for 100G LR4, ERL4 and ER4, and will also compare the technologies available for even up to 80km. At 400Gb/s, we will examine the performance trade-offs between LR8 vs. LR4 for 10km, and among ER8 vs. ER4 vs. ZR1 for 40km-like distance. Finally, we will review how to apply these well-established 4/8-lane optics packaging for emerging 800G and/or 1.6Tb/s applications such like 2xFR4 and LR8.

Frank Chang, Chief Engineer and CTO, Source Photonics

Frank Chang is an expert in photonic IC technologies, optics transceivers, and optical networking. He is currently Source Photonics’ Chief Engineer for advanced and next-generation transceiver design. Previously he served as a senior Principal Engineer for Optics Interconnect within the CTO Optics Office at Inphi Corporation for over 5 years after over 12 years of service at Vitesse Semiconductors. In addition, he also held various project and management positions with Cisco/Pirelli, and JDS Uniphase, working on the design, development, and commercialization of fiber optics components. Frank recently published the industry first DCI book entitled “Datacenter Connectivity Technologies: Principles and Practice”. He is a frequent conference speaker, co-authored 100 plus regular journal and conference papers, and has served in ECOC and OFC technical committees for several years in a row. Frank was the president and now among the board and advisors at Photonic Society of Chinese-Americans (PSC-SC). He is the Industry Forum & Exhibition (IF&E) Chair for Globecom 2015 in San Diego, Globecom 2019 in Hawaii and now ICC 2024 in Denver with IEEE Communication Society. Frank obtained his Ph.D degree in Optoelectronics from the Ecole Polytechnique, University of Montreal, Canada for his research thesis on ultrafast optical generation of 1550nm tunable solid-state lasers. Besides Frank is senior member of IEEE and OSA Fellow.