Inphi Announces Production Availability of 16nm Polaris PAM4 Platform for Hyperscale Cloud Deployments

SANTA CLARA, Calif., March 13, 2018 -- – OFC 2018 – Inphi Corporation (NYSE:IPHI), a leader in high-speed data movement interconnects, today announced the production availability of the Polaris™ 16nm CMOS PAM4 platform. The Polaris platform is the industry’s first 16nm 28GBaud PAM4 DSP that includes integrated driver options for EML and VCSEL lasers to cover a broad range of optical interconnects from 50G to 400G. The platform also supports a family of discrete EML and VCSEL drivers and linear TIAs. The company will be showcasing the platform at multiple customer and partner booths at OFC 2018 in San Diego on March 13-15, 2018.

“Our Polaris PAM4 platform is seeing a lot of customer design win momentum supporting an inflection point of hyperscale cloud networks that need 200G and 400G capability today,” said Siddharth Sheth, SVP, Networking Interconnect, Inphi. “We are very excited to have delivered the industry’s first production ready PAM4 DSP platform within 12 months of announcing the product and are prepared to ramp the platform along with the applications ranging from HPC, AI to 12.8T switch connectivity.”

“The industry is on the cusp of an all-new ecosystem with PAM4 modulation and 56 Gb/s interfaces,” said Dale Murray, Principal Analyst for LightCounting Market Research. “We need energy-efficient DSP PHY ICs, drivers and TIAs such as the Inphi Polaris family to enable 50GbE, 200GbE, 400GbE and even next-gen 100GbE optics.”

Polaris 16nm PAM4 DSP PHY Product Family:
Inphi’s 16nm PAM4 DSP PHY ICs provide a full bi-directional interface with host ASICs that have 28GBaud PAM4 and/or NRZ electrical interfaces while bridging to 28GBaud PAM4 optics. The product family can support both Retiming and Gearbox functionality with options supporting standard driver or integrated driver functionality. Target products specifically designed for the following optics modules include:

• Polaris-400G – 8x56Gbps PAM4 <-> 16x28Gbps NRZ gearbox for CFP8
• Polaris-400G (NG) – 8x56Gbps <-> 8x56Gbps PAM4 retiming for OSFP / QSFP-DD
• Polaris-200G – 4x56Gbps <-> 4x56Gbps PAM4 retiming for QSFP56
• Polaris-100G – 2x56Gbps <-> 2x56Gbps PAM4 retiming for QSFP28
• Polaris-50G – 1x56Gbps <-> 1x56Gbps PAM4 retiming for SFP56 / SFP-DD

Polaris Linear Drivers:
The Inphi IN2831SZ (single channel) and the IN2834SZ (quad channel) are 28GBaud low power EML linear drivers for PAM4 optical modules. The IN2834SZ features excellent linearity, high bandwidth, adjustable gain to optimize the PAM4 system performances and two high frequency bias T integrated inside the package, one for driver to reduce the power consumption, the other one for EML bias voltage. A single channel die version, IN2830SZ is also available.

The Inphi IN2814DV is a 28GBaud low power quad VCSEL linear driver for PAM4 optical modules or Active Optical Cables (AOCs). The IN2814DV package is optimized for routing with a channel pitch aligned to the VCSEL optics driving over Multi-Mode Fiber (MMF).

Polaris Linear TIA’s:
The Inphi IN2864LP is a 28GBaud low power quad linear TIA for PAM4 optical modules optimized for shorter (<2km) client intefaces. The compatible IN2864TA TIA is optimized for longer reach (10km) interfaces. Both TIA’s feature a wide dynamic range to meet the different performance and link requirements for optical applications and excellent signal integrity necessary for PAM4 modulation schemes.

The Inphi IN2865TA is a 28GBaud low power quad VCSEL linear TIA for PAM4 optical modules or AOCs. The IN2865TA is optimized for direct routing with a channel pitch aligned to the MMF optics.

Availability
Inphi is now shipping its 16nm Polaris PAM4 Platform solutions in volume to qualified customers.

About Inphi
Inphi Corporation is a leader in high-speed data movement interconnects.  We move big data - fast, throughout the globe, between data centers, and inside data centers.  Inphi's expertise in signal integrity results in reliable data delivery, at high speeds, over a variety of distances. As data volumes ramp exponentially due to video streaming, social media, cloud-based services, and wireless infrastructure, the need for speed has never been greater. That's where we come in. Customers rely on Inphi's solutions to develop and build out the Service Provider and Cloud infrastructures, and data centers of tomorrow. To learn more about Inphi, visit www.inphi.com.

Inphi, the Inphi logo and Think fast are registered trademarks of Inphi Corporation. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners.

Corporate Contact:
Kim Markle
Inphi
[email protected]