Credo unveils advanced connectivity for 5G and hyperscale data centers

Credo, a specialist in high performance, low-power semiconductor technology for serial connectivity, announced its participation in the China International Optoelectronic Expo (CIOE), to be held in Shenzhen, China from September 9-11.

At the event, Credo’s exhibition and experts will be on hand demonstrating the company’s latest products at booth space #8A21. Per the company, "The new generation of Credo products both expands the breadth of connectivity solutions offered and delivers on the roadmap to lower power, higher performance and affordability made possible by Credo’s proprietary design architecture and use of mature, manufacturing processes."

“We recently closed a Series D Preferred financing round of $100M to accelerate the commercialization of our breakthrough 400Gbps and 800Gbps connectivity solutions,” commented Scott Feller, Credo's Vice President, Marketing.

Feller added, “We’re excited to demonstrate this new generation of products at CIOE which extends our penetration in the hyperscale data center market and expands our reach into the 5G wireless carrier markets.”

Of particular interest, Credo's technology demonstrations at CIOE include:

-- New 50G Optical DSPs for 5G Wireless Service Providers

At CIOE, Credo announces its Seagull 50, which enables optical modules for 5G front- and mid-haul wireless networks.

"The Seagull 50 supports mobile networks’ insatiable demand for bandwidth and the network requirements for high bandwidth, long transmission distances, and industrial temperature ranges," states the company. "The device supports 2x25G <—> 1x50G and 1x50G <—> 1x50G modes. Seagull 50 is designed in Credo’s unique architecture that enables minimal die size and mainstream silicon process technology which ensures the lowest cost-of-ownership."

“Seagull 50 is the ideal high-performance DSP for 5G wireless networks. Credo is dedicated to enabling the next generation of front- and mid-haul networks,” commented Scott Feller, Vice President of Marketing at Credo.

A full description of the Seagull 50, per a company press release, is as follows:

The Credo Seagull 50, CFD10101, is a versatile full-duplex product that comes with industry-leading power dissipation and can be used in next-generation QSFP28, DSFP, and SFP56 pluggable optical transceivers. It supports 50Gbps SR/DR/FR/LR and ER applications based on PAM4 modulation. Seagull 50 operates over the full industrial temperature range of -40oC to +85oC module case and is ideal for use in datacenters and 5G wireless/eCPRI front-, mid-, and backhaul applications.

Seagull 50 is a dual-mode DSP and can be used as a gearbox or retimer. In gearbox mode, the IC is configured as two lanes of 24.33-25.78Gbps NRZ on the host side to one lane of 50.135-53.125Gbps PAM4 on the line side. In retimer mode, the DSP is configured as one lane of 50.135-53.125Gbps PAM4 to one lane of 50.135-53.125Gbps PAM4.

Proprietary DSP technology and equalization techniques designed into Credo’s other leading-edge DSPs are employed in the Seagull 50. The DSP is a critical component in 5G wireless applications where cost-effective solutions are required, leading to wider use of DML lasers, and ultimately advancing the push for uncooled optics.

This design trend needs to be supported over industrial temperature for front haul, and at longer fiber link lengths for mid and backhaul. The DSP helps to compensate for the optical impairments and nonlinearities resulting from optics, wider temperature range and fiber, and provides a high performance, robust solution.

-- Next-Gen 100G/200G/400G Optical DSPs for Hyperscale Data Centers

Also at CIOE, Credo will announce its DOVE Platform, the second generation, low power PAM4 DSP family for high-speed data networks. The DOVE Platform includes products for 100/200/400G optical interconnects.

Credo’s proprietary PAM4 DSP architecture minimizes die size and enables mainstream silicon process technology to deliver optimal cost, power, and performance for the next generation of optical modules. Pluggable optical modules with Credo PAM4 DSPs enjoy the lowest cost-of-ownership and industry-leading performance, while using minimal power.

The company will be showcasing its Dove 100, Dove 200, and Dove 400 DSPs during CIOE.

“Cloud operators are looking for any opportunity to gain bandwidth, reduce power, and lower cost,” commented Credo's Feller. “Credo is excited to provide a solution to enable optical transceivers that satisfies the bandwidth expansion of these next-generation data centers.”

Per the company's description:

Dove 100, CFD30101, is used in the next-generation of high performance QSFP28 optical modules that support 100Gbps DR, FR and LR applications. It accepts four lanes of 25.78125Gbps NRZ on the host interface and aggregates traffic to one lane of 106.25Gbps PAM4 signal on the optical interface.

Dove 200, CFD50501, enables a seamless interconnect architecture without requiring gearboxes or FEC translation for these interconnects to help the expansion of datacenters using switches with 50G PAM4 connectivity. It supports the IEEE 802.3 specifications for 200GBASE-SR4/DR4/FR4/LR4 and 400GBASE-SR8. The host interface accepts four lanes of 53.125Gpbs PAM4 and sends traffic to four lanes of 53.125Gbps PAM4 signal on the optical interface.

Dove 400, CFD60501, is used in low power, high-performance OSFP and QSFP-DD optical modules that support 400Gbps DR4, FR4, and LR4 applications. It accepts eight lanes of 53.125Gbps PAM4 on the host interface and sends the traffic to four lanes of 106.25Gbps PAM4 signal on the optical interface.

The Credo DSP technology and equalization techniques compensate for optical impairments while maintaining low power. Additionally, the Dove 200 and Dove 400 products include independent PLLs per lane, enabling breakout configuration.

Also at CIOE, Credo will be showcasing: