Cirrex Offers OCHIPs

ATLANTA -- Cirrex Corporation, a leading developer of integrated opto-electronic hybrid subsystems, today announced the introduction of its line of DWDM Transceivers. Both the OCHIP 1120 (PIN detector) and OCHIP 1121 (APD detector) transceivers are 2.5/2.7 Gbps long-reach modules that combine the functionality of an ITU-grid 100 GHz DWDM transmitter and SONET OC-48 receiver with CDR, integrated into a 1.8- by 2.6-inch “plugable” package. The OCHIP transceivers will offer system providers a 50% reduction in cost and package size in the implementation of DWDM optical network interfaces.Cirrex’s transceiver line is the only one of its kind to incorporate a directly modulated, external cavity, wavelength-stabilized laser, MACSLTM (Mode Adapted Cavity Stabilized Laser). This “chirpless” laser enables a higher power optical signal with very narrow spectral width and less than 1 dB dispersion penalty at 200 km of standard single mode fiber. Thus, the MACSL virtually eliminates the need for dispersion compensators in the Metro Network. MACSL’s superior thermal and mechanical stability also eliminates the need for a wavelength locker, and dissipates only 3.5 watts worse case, enabling 8 2.5Gbps ports per circuit card without thermal management problems."Components needed for metro are not just smaller, cheaper versions of long-haul components," said Karen Liu, director of optical components for RHK. "Some functions are more difficult in metro. Because there is less load averaging, amplifiers need to tolerate a bigger percentage of transients. Further, metro's wide variation of link budgets is not solvable simply by amplification. Unlike current long-haul components, metro lasers need higher power and metro receivers need better sensitivity -- like APD detectors."Cirrex Corp.