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NeoPhotonics has introduced new Arrayed Waveguide Grating (AWG) multiplexers and de-multiplexers for high capacity, high baud rate, coherent transmission systems. These new AWGs are based on NeoPhotonics high volume, high reliability Planar Lightwave Circuit platform and offer channel spacings from 75 GHz to 150 GHz and channel counts from 40 to 64 channels.

The filter response functions have been designed to be broad and flat over the desired pass-band in order to support new coherent systems operating in the range from 60 to 128 Gbaud. The new product family consists of multiple designs which are optimized around specific system requirements.

Over the last two decades, AWGs have been a key filtering technology used in Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) systems to put different wavelength channels on to and off of transmission fibers. An AWG offers much lower cost and many more channels compared to a wavelength-selective switch, and is an ideal wavelength multiplexing and de-multiplexing technology for point-to-point high capacity systems such as Data Center Interconnect (DCI). NeoPhotonics is a fully vertically integrated supplier of AWGs with in-house design, wafer fabrication, assembly and test, and has shipped more than half a million AWGs to the market world-wide.

The advent of coherent transmission for telecommunications greatly increases fiber capacity and is particularly useful for DCI applications. However, it imposes a new set of requirements on AWGs that are quite different from those in traditional direct detection systems. By using higher baud rates and higher order modulation coherent transmission the bandwidth of each wavelength channel can be increased to 400 Gbps, 600 Gbps, 800 Gbps or higher. However, these channels require more spectral bandwidth, thus reducing the total number of channels achievable when the total available optical spectrum is fixed.

Consequently, an optimum design of the DWDM multiplexer and de-multiplexer channel spacing and filter bandwidth is needed to maximize the fiber capacity. As a vertically integrated designer and manufacturer of AWGs, NeoPhotonics works with customers to efficiently modify the filter shape and channel spacing to maximize total fiber capacity, and can rapidly transition new designs to production, providing high volume to support DCI deployments.