PALO ALTO, Calif. -- GigOptix Inc. (OTCBB:GGOX - News), a leading provider of electronic engines for the optically connected digital world, today introduced the GX6159, a 12.5Gb/s NRZ/DPSK modulator driver.

The GX6159 is a high-voltage modulator driver for 10G long-haul and metro optical transponders which use Lithium Niobate Mach-Zehnder Modulators (MZM) to encode the data onto the fiber. The hybrid device consists of two wideband GigOptix pHEMT amplifiers in a compact ceramic package and is footprint compatible with GigOptix’s popular GX6155 LN driver.

Key features of the GX6159 include:

The GX6159 augments the GigOptix driver portfolio by providing customers with a solution that can drive the high voltages required not only for 10G DPSK but also 40G DP-QPSK transponders in a form factor that is compatible with lower voltage driving solutions such as the GX6155. Market research firm, Ovum expects the 40G market “to grow 48% annually through 2013” and indicated that the 40G DP-QPSK market accounts for 45% of the overall 40G market (Kline, Ronald. “Global 40G/100G market update.” Nov. 2008).

“This higher drive voltage version of our popular LN modulator driver was requested by one of our customers, a leading European transponder maker. The driver is well suited for a 40G DP-QPSK transponder which combines four 10G modulated signals to generate the 40G data stream. A major benefit of this is that it brings a 40G capability over the existing 10G infrastructure thus minimizing the cost for upgrade and making this technique attractive to service providers,” stated Julie Tipton, Vice President of Marketing at GigOptix.

GigOptix Inc. (OTC: GGOX)