Bridge100 develops optical data communication

The fully programmable development system is the result of a close collaboration between the two companies.

The 120Gb/s multi-port system (expandable to 160Gb/s) can be used with individual optical modules or with multiple 40Gb/s optical paths connected together into a network.

The Achronix-Opticomp solution was demonstrated at the Advanced Microelectronics and Photonics for Space conference in June 2010.

Achronix's Bridge100 system is the basis of the joint programme with Opticomp and offers a 120Gb/s bidirectional throughput (three Gb/s ports and 12 10Gb/s ports); additional expansion ports (80Gb/s); additional video ports (four HDMI Tx, four HDMI Rx); up to 32GB of traffic buffering (DDR3 SDRAM at 1,066Mb/s per lane); and nine SPD60 FPGAs (fully reprogrammable).

The combination of data bandwidth, memory bandwidth, logic capacity and full re-programmability results in a powerful platform for ultra-high-speed data transmission.

When used as a standalone test system, the primary roles of the Bridge100 for this application are data generation, formatting and checking.

When used with external traffic sources and destinations (as in an operational data network) its primary roles are classification, storage, retrieval, and transmission (according to a user-specified scheduling policy).

Opticomp's TRX-04-950-15 module transmits (and receives) 40Gb/s traffic over a single multimode fibre - in the form of four wavelengths of 10Gb/s each.

The transceiver incorporates four VCSELs, four PIN photodiode detectors, a CWDM multiplexer/coupler, and a CWDM demultiplexer/coupler - all in a convenient, compact assembly.