SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Oki Semiconductor, a leading technology partner for the new era of digital communications and convergence, today released two new 40 Gbps Electroabsorption (EA) modulators and outlined its strategy for the developing 40 Gbps marketplace. Designed especially for OC-768-based fiber optic networks, the OM5653C-30B and OM5753C-30B EA modulators feature a Gallium Indium Arsenide Phosphide (GaInAsP) compound semiconductor, providing a cost-effective, hi-performance, low power solution for customers who are ramping up to 40 Gbps network infrastructures. 40 Gbps technology represents the next stage in the evolution of optical networks, and is driven by the need for an infrastructure that offers better performance, is less complex and more reliable. The OM5653C-30B and OM5753C-30B are designed specifically for OC-768 DWDM fiber applications, and are available at carrier rates of up to 40 Gbps, both in metro and long-haul network environments. By incorporating a new GaInAsP process into the design, Oki has delivered EA modulators that are more compact, have simpler drive design, lower operating voltages of 2.5 Vpp, operate over a data rate from 40 Gbps to 43 Gbps (with FEC), and have a good extinction ratio compared to Lithium Niobate (LN) modulators. "Most observers were resigned to accepting the constraints of lithium niobate -- including higher drive voltage, higher power dissipation, and (potential) packaging problems with its configuration as a Mach-Zehnder interferometer," said Richard Cunningham, Senior Analyst, Optical Networking for Cahners In-Stat/MDR. "By taking advantage of the electroabsorption effect in Indium Phosphide, Oki has produced a design that is more integratable and thus ultimately less expensive."Oki Semiconductor