Kotura In The News
Kotura demonstrates a 100 Gigabit QSFP
Kotura has announced a 100 Gigabit QSFP with a reach of 2km.
QSFP will be the long-term winner at 100 Gig; the same way QSFP
has been a high volume winner at 40 Gig” - Arlon Martin, Kotura.
The device is aimed at plugging the gap between vertical-cavity
surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) -based 100GBASE-SR10 designs that
have a span of 100m, and the CFP-based 100GBASE-LR4 that has a
10km reach.
Silicon photonics chips boast 100 gigabits per second 4x25 QSFP
package
Kotura announced a silicon photonics industry first. The company
unveiled its Optical Engine in a Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable
(QSFP) package. Kotura's Optical Engine uses Wavelength Division
Multiplexing (WDM), in which different signals can share the same
path. Kotura is the only silicon photonics provider to offer WDM
and now chalks up another industry first as the only silicon
photonics provider to demonstrate WDM in a 100 gigabits per second
(Gb/s) 4x25 QSFP package with 3.5 watts of power.
100G Silicon Photonics Chips With WDM in Dense QSFP Package
Avlong-time innovator in WDM, Kotura has integrated all of the
100G optical and opto-electrical functions into two small chips.
According to Malinge, the beauty of Kotura's WDM is that it can
scale from four channels to many more, on the same chip. At 100G
and higher, Kotura's customers need WDM to avoid the use of
expensive ribbon fiber, parallel connectors and patch panels. For
large data centers, reaches of 30 meters to 2 kilometers are
common and expensive ribbon fiber dominates the interconnect
fabric costs. For Active Optical Cables and very short-reach
links, Kotura also offers a parallel version of its 100G Optical
Engine.
Silicon photonics to take center stage at optical event
Kotura will pack its 4x25G silicon photonics transceiver in a quad
small form-factor pluggable (QSFP) package consuming 3.5W,
claiming it is the only module supporting wavelength-division
multiplexing (WDM) to do so. Many others will show 100G modules
using the CFP2 or other packages. And many transceivers will
compete for the 4x25G goal using other physical-layer approaches.
At the Optical Transport Conference News, a 100G Party
At the OFC/NFOEC event Kotura demonstrated its Optical Engine in a
Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable (QSFP) package. Kotura is the
only photonics provider to demonstrate WDM (Wavelength Division
Multiplexing) in a 100 gigabits per second (Gb/s) 4×25 QSFP
package with 3.5 watts of power. “The QSFP package enables our
customers to fit 40 transceivers across the front panel of a
switch, providing 10 times more bandwidth than CFP solutions,”
said Jean-Louis Malinge, Kotura president and CEO. “Because we
monolithically integrate WDM and use standard Single Mode Fiber
duplex cabling, our solution eliminates the need for expensive
parallel fibers. No other silicon photonics provider can offer WDM
in a 3.5 watt QSFP package.”
Kotura Finds Foundry & Chip Partners
Kotura is the only silicon photonics provider to offer both
Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) and a parallel version of
its Optical Engine in a 3.5 watts QSFP package.
"Our silicon photonics solutions resolve price, performance and
reliability issues not currently being addressed by existing
approaches," said Jean-Louis Malinge, Kotura president and CEO.
"In a world full of applications with pressing bandwidth and
performance needs, there is tremendous opportunity for silicon
photonics to heed the call, starting with the data center market
as our primary target. This foundry partnership offers Kotura the
fastest and most reliable path to mass production and the ability
to scale to meet this demand."
Kotura establishes fabless semiconductor model
At OFC/NFOEC, Kotura, Inc. announced an agreement with a large
semiconductor foundry as well as relationships with strategic
partners, semiconductor solutions provider Mindspeed Technologies,
Inc. and laser supplier BinOptics Corporation. These partnerships
will provide Kotura with an effective supply chain to
commercialize Kotura's 100G Optical Engine -- a key component in
the just-announced industry-first 100 gigabits per second (Gb/s)
4x25 WDM, QSFP+ module.
Kotura will leverage the capabilities of the outside foundry
partner for high-volume production of its optical engine -- a
low-power, integrated, 100 Gb/s chip solution that supports the
interconnect fabric for next generation data centers and high
performance computing.
OFC/NFOEC 2013: Kotura's 100G silicon photonics chip in QSFP
package
Kotura’s optical engine provides a small form factor that reduces
power consumption and provides a high level of integration.
Consuming only 3.5W of power, Kotura is addressing the need for
green solutions for 100G pipes desired by data centres and
high-performance computers (HPC). The QSFP package has become the
industry-standard footprint for 4x10G and 40G Ethernet in data
centres, as well as 40G and 56G Infiniband in HPC. Kotura predicts
that the same package will become the industry’s volume standard
for 100G networks in both data centres and HPC applications.
Kotura Bolsters Board
Kotura, which develops photonics semiconductors, has named a new
member to its board of directors. The firm said that Brian Wong,
President and CEO of Enervate, a developer of rechargeable energy
storage technology, has joined the company's board. Wong also has
served at D2Audio, Primarion, and Xerox. Kotura is a developer of
silicon semiconductor products, used for high speed
optoelectronics.
New Si-photonics developments revealed at optical expo
OFC/NFOEC 2013 showcased some notable developments in the rapidly
growing field of silicon photonics.
Kotura, Inc. announced an agreement with a large semiconductor
foundry and new working relationships with strategic partners:
semiconductor solutions provider Mindspeed Technologies and laser
supplier BinOptics. Kotura says the partnerships will provide an
effective supply chain to commercialize its 100G Optical Engine,
which is a key component in its newly-launched 100 Gb/s 4x25 WDM,
QSFP+ module.
Kotura reports 40% revenue growth in 2012
Kotura’s photonic integrated chips address the pressing bandwidth
and performance needs of data centers supporting cloud computing,
virtualization and other data-intensive applications.
Kotura also received nods in 2012 from Inc. magazine and Deloitte
for the company’s growth between 2007 and 2011 during which time
they experienced 848% revenue growth. Having been named to Inc.
magazine’s Inc. 500|5000 fastest growing private companies and
Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500, Kotura marks 2012 as a major
milestone year.
Kotura elects Enevate’s president & CEO to board
Brian Wong was elected to the Kotura board of directors. Currently
president & CEO of rechargeable energy storage technology firm
Enevate Corp, he has more than 30 years of leadership experience.
“Brian is highly regarded, with a proven track record of growing
companies, and his in-depth understanding of the semiconductor
business and deep connections in the industry make him a highly
valued addition to Kotura,” comments chairman Dr Andrew Rickman,
OBE.
Kotura preps fab deal amid silicon photonics surge
Kotura is weeks away from announcing a partnership with “a large
CMOS foundry” that will make its silicon photonics chips with the
aim to ship the technology in 2014 as a disruptive, lower cost
alternative to today’s 100 Gbits/second optics.
Kotura is “in the early stages of the R&D process” with the
unnamed foundry, said Arlon Martin, vice president of marketing,
contracts and government affairs for Kotura. “There’s been a lot
of work in the background, but we are not ready until late 2013 to
sample product from them,” he said.
Advancements in silicon photonics are key for data center speed
Kotura VP of Marketing Arlon Martin explains how the latest
advancements in the industry will bring down cost and increase
power and scalability. The biggest challenge facing large data
centers today is how to scale the speed of the optical fabric
between switches and routers from 10Gbps to 100Gbps. Of course the
network interconnect has always been a bottleneck. But in earlier
generations, the migration path from one port speed to another was
generally straightforward: increase the speed by a factor of 10,
and define a short distance protocol for copper wire and a longer
distance protocol for optical fibers. Each new generation brought
lower power, smaller size and lower cost.
Silicon photonics ushers in 100G networks
Kotura’s VP of Marketing Arlon Martin penned an article in EE
Times looking at the technology challenges silicon photonics is
facing as the industry scales switching networks from 10G to 100G
and eventually one terabits.
Heterogeneous Packaging Technology Eases Integrated Photonics
Market demand for higher speed data communication is growing fast,
and making the modulators, multiplexers, wave guides and detectors
all in CMOS brings down costs and improves speeds dramatically
from the traditional assembly of separate optical components. “The
optical world does assembly in Asia Pacific with tweezers, and
we’ve gotten to the point where that no longer works,” says Kotura
VP of Marketing Arlon Martin. “We need the low cost integration of
making it all in silicon, and the low cost packaging of the
electronics world.”
Kotura: A Startup Betting on the Speed of Light in the Data
Center
The networking is becoming the bottleneck in scale out data
centers. Kotura thinks that fiber is the answer, so it’s offering
a transceiver that starts at 100 gigabits per second and can scale
up to deliver a terabit per second between servers.
Kotura has 75 employees and has raised undisclosed millions from
ARCH Venture Partners, Fuse Capital, GF Private Equity and others.
It has an established customer base in the telecommunications
business where it has sold product since 2006. But now it’s moving
into the data center in the hopes of solving looming problems in
the networking sector with cheaper, low-power optical chips that
can deliver a lot of capacity between servers. The new data center
is going to have a lot of dense computing, low-cost fast storage,
and soon, high-capacity low-latency networks connecting
everything.
Silicon photonics: Q&A
with Kotura's CTO
Q&A with Kotura's CTO: Integration styles and I/O limits
Kotura’s CTO Mehdi Asghari participated in a two-part
Q&A with Gazettabyte discussing his experience as co-chair of
the IEEE International Conference on Group IV Photonics, as well
as topics such as the next Ethernet standard and the merits of
silicon photonics for system design.
Kotura makes Inc. 5000 list
“To be included in the Inc. 5000 is a reflection of the dedication
and hard work our team has displayed over the last few years,”
said Jean-Louis Malinge, Kotura president and CEO. “As the field
of silicon photonics continues to grow, Kotura is at the forefront
of this industry and will continue to be a pioneer as the
technology is expanded to new applications. We are honored to be
recognized.”
Ultra-variable optical attenuator module available in a
pluggable small form package
Expanding the application space for silicon photonics, silicon
photonics innovator Kotura announced a new Ultra Variable Optical
Attenuator Module in a pluggable Small Form Package (SFP-VOA).
Based upon silicon photonics, Kotura’s Ultra VOAs have very fast
response times, typically less than one microsecond. The
high-speed performance enables functions such as signal
modulation, transient suppression and fast power control in WDM
agile networks.
Kotura Debuts Ultra Variable Optical Attenuator Module in Small
Form Package
Kotura recently announced the Ultra Variable Optical Attenuator
Module in a pluggable Small Form Package (SFP-VOA). The product
integrates an optical power monitor function to provide feedback
to the Ultra VOA in a control loop design. The 20-pin SFP package
means that designers can better utilize board space by moving the
attenuation function to the front panel
Kotura named to Inc. 5000 list of America's fastest-growing
private companies
Silicon photonics innovator Kotura, Inc. has been named to Inc.
magazine's sixth annual Inc. 500|5000, an exclusive ranking of the
nation's fastest-growing private companies. This year's list is
ranked according to percentage revenue growth between 2008 and
2011. With a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 206 percent
during that three-year span, Kotura is ranked number 1452 on the
overall list and is the number nine ranked company in the computer
hardware industry category.
Desai Joins Kotura Team
Silicon photonics company Kotura has named Samir Desai as vice
president of business development. He will oversee expansion of
business activities in the growing optical interconnects market
and will be instrumental in expanding the company’s partnerships
and strategic relationships in the data center and computing
markets. Desai previously was responsible for optics global
business development at TE Connectivity.
Ultravariable Optical Attenuator
Expanding the applications for silicon photonics, Kotura Inc. has
announced an ultravariable optical attenuator (VOA) in a pluggable
small form package (SFP). It integrates an optical power monitor
function to provide feedback to the VOA in a control loop design.
Based upon silicon photonics, the company’s ultra VOAs have
typical response times of <1 μs. The high speed enables
functions such as signal modulation, transient suppression and
fast power control in wavelength division multiplexing agile
networks.
Kotura launches silicon photonics-based VOA module in SFP
package<
Kotura has launched its new Ultra SFP-VOA product, a variable
optical attenuator module delivered in a pluggable small form
package.
The company noted that its silicon photonics-based VOAs have no
moving parts for high reliability and have logged more than one
billion device-hours in optical networks worldwide.
Kotura's SFP-VOAs For C-band Go Into Orbit.
Utilizing silicon photonics, Kotura's Ultra VOAs have response
times of typically less than just one microsecond. The high-speed
performance enables functions such as signal modulation, transient
suppression and fast power control in WDM agile networks. Kotura
VOAs have no moving parts and have logged more than one billion
device hours in optical networks around the world.
Kotura Launches Ultra VOA
"Customers like the option of an industry standard
pluggable package," said Xavier Clairardin, vice president of
product marketing at Kotura. "Our Ultra VOAs are already among the
most widely used in the industry. The 20-pin SFP package means
that designers can better utilize board space by moving the
attenuation function to the front panel. Our new product meets the
growing trend towards pluggable optics in telecommunications
equipment designs."
Kotura launches SFP-VOA integrating optical power monitor
function
Kotura has launched a new Ultra Variable Optical Attenuator
module in a pluggable small form package (SFP-VOA). The high-speed
performance enables functions such as signal modulation, transient
suppression and fast power control in wavelength-division
multiplexing (WDM) agile networks. Kotura VOAs have no moving
parts and have logged more than 1 billion device hours in optical
networks around the world.
Kotura Unveils SFP-VOA
Kotura has introduced a new version of its Ultra Variable
Optical Attenuator Module in a pluggable small-form package
(SFP-VOA). The variable optical attenuator contains an integrated
optical power monitor function that provides feedback to the Ultra
VOA in a control loop design.
Kotura Announces Ultra Variable Optical Attenuator in a Small
Form Pluggable Package
The SFP-VOA works over the entire C-Band range of 1525-1570
nm and supports an attenuation range of zero to 25 dB. The module
implements the control loop and feedback circuit using a five
percent tap and photodetector.
INTEGRATED PHOTONICS: Integrated F-P laser array solves 100G
problems
A primary challenge in the 100 Gbit/s or 100G optical
interconnect space is the design and manufacture of high-speed,
low-cost lasers that can support the several-kilometer distances
of a large data center. Although widely used at 1 and 10 Gbit/s,
vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) are not an option
for 100G systems since their distance is limited to 100 m on OM3
fiber (multimode, 50 μm core/125 μm cladding)—much too short to
span a large data center.
“The IEEE 802.3 specification for 10 km reach, 100GBase LR (100
Gbit/s, baseband modulation, long reach) would span almost any
data center and more; but this specification requires four
directly modulated distributed feedback (DFB) or
electro-absorption (EA) lasers with wave-division multiplexing
(WDM) to combine all four channels onto a single fiber,” says
Arlon Martin, VP of marketing at Kotura (Monterey Park, CA). “The
problems with this approach are cost, power, and size. Due to
complexity, these transceivers cost one hundred times 10G
transceivers of similar reach.”
Low-power 100 Gbit/s optical engine from Kotura utilizes WDM
technology
A low-power 100 Gbit/s optical engine supports the interconnect
fabric for next-generation data centers and high-performance
computers (HPCs). Utilizing WDM technology, the optical engine
chips are based on a micron-scale manufacturing platform currently
in mass production and deployed in live networks worldwide.
Low-power 100 Gbit/s optical engine from Kotura utilizes WDM
technology
A low-power 100 Gbit/s optical engine supports the interconnect
fabric for next-generation data centers and high-performance
computers (HPCs). Utilizing WDM technology, the optical engine
chips are based on a micron-scale manufacturing platform currently
in mass production and deployed in live networks worldwide.
Low-power 100 Gbit/s optical engine from Kotura utilizes WDM
technology
A low-power 100 Gbit/s optical engine supports the interconnect
fabric for next-generation data centers and high-performance
computers (HPCs). Utilizing WDM technology, the optical engine
chips are based on a micron-scale manufacturing platform currently
in mass production and deployed in live networks worldwide.
Low-power 100 Gbit/s optical engine from Kotura utilizes WDM
technology
A low-power 100 Gbit/s optical engine supports the interconnect
fabric for next-generation data centers and high-performance
computers (HPCs). Utilizing WDM technology, the optical engine
chips are based on a micron-scale manufacturing platform currently
in mass production and deployed in live networks worldwide.
Low-power 100 Gbit/s optical engine from Kotura utilizes WDM
technology
A low-power 100 Gbit/s optical engine supports the interconnect
fabric for next-generation data centers and high-performance
computers (HPCs). Utilizing WDM technology, the optical engine
chips are based on a micron-scale manufacturing platform currently
in mass production and deployed in live networks worldwide.
Low-power 100 Gbit/s optical engine from Kotura utilizes WDM
technology
A low-power 100 Gbit/s optical engine supports the interconnect
fabric for next-generation data centers and high-performance
computers (HPCs). Utilizing WDM technology, the optical engine
chips are based on a micron-scale manufacturing platform currently
in mass production and deployed in live networks worldwide.
Q&A with Jean-Louis Malinge, Kotura
Kotura's CEO & President Jean-Louis Malinge is featured on the
cover of EEWeb Pulse magazine, a premier electrical engineering
publication for hardware designers. Inside the magazine, there is
an in-depth Q&A with Jean-Louis as well as a sidebar about the
importance of silicon photonics.
Kotura appoints VP of business development
Kotura of Monterey Park, CA says that, as the market for silicon
photonics is heating up, it has appointed Samir Desai as VP of
business development to oversee expansion of its strategic
relationships and business development activities in the rapidly
expanding market of optical interconnects. Desai has well-rounded
expertise in business development, strategic marketing/sales and
account management in the enterprise optics market. Kotura says
that its silicon photonics devices have reliably logged more than
1 billion channel hours of operation. The firm has 140 issued and
applied patents.
Slidecast: Kotura Low-Power 100 Gb/s Optical Engine
In this video, Arlon Martin from Kotura presents an overview of
the company’s low-power 100 gigabits per second optical engine.
The technology will support the interconnect fabric for next
generation data centers and HPC systems. The new optical engine
chips are based on Kotura’s micron scale manufacturing platform
currently in mass production and deployed in live networks around
the world since 2006.
Kotura enters the 100G market with its silicon photonics
transceiver
Silicon photonics firm Kotura has unveiled its 100Gbps optical
transceiver. Referred to as an optical engine, the 100Gbps chip is
implemented as a 4x25Gbps design. The optical engine consumes 5W
and has a reach of at least 10km, making it suitable for all
likely requirements in the data center including the 100 Gigabit
Ethernet 100GBASE-LR4 standard.
Kotura, Nissho Electronics ink Japanese distribution agreement
Silicon photonics technology developer Kotura and high-tech
Japanese distributor Nissho Electronics have signed a distribution
agreement where Nissho will distribute Kotura's entire suite of
integrated silicon photonic solutions, including high-speed,
single-channel variable optical attenuators (VOAs), high-speed VOA
arrays, and WDM multiplexers for 40 and 100 Gbit/s data center
applications.
OFC/NFOEC 2012: Silicon and photonics, so happy together…
Silicon photonics: pieces coming together for density
The silicon photonics field is developing in many directions and
is on the brink, we believe, of commercial fruition as market need
and technology development intersect.
Kotura finally put multiple previously-shown devices together to
make an optical engine for 100Gbps single-mode transceivers. While
the industry is contorting itself through CFP and CFP2 form
factors, this approach enables a leap directly to QSFP+ density.
It uses LAN-WDM per the LR4 standard, though 10km reach might need
more than the 3.5W for QSFP+ compliance; the sweet spot is likely
the 1–2km medium reach (MR4) currently under serious discussion
for data center and client Ethernet, with the added benefit of
fitting in a single fiber. Kotura’s echelle grating multiplexer
could also combine a larger number of DWDM channels to make a
1.6Tbps device, similar to Infinera’s PIC approach.
Silicon Photonics Signals Red Alert for 100G
Silicon photonics appear poised to make a run at the 100Gbit/s
module market, but it's not certain this should have established
module vendors freaking out.
Playing with blocks
For one thing, Kotura denies that it's making a transceiver
module.
"We haven't decided that that's the right place for us to be, but
definitely we want to do the chips for those," said Arlon Martin,
Kotura's vice president of marketing.
A better way to describe the situation is that Kotura has built an
"engine" that can be the core of a 100Gbit/s module, says analyst
Brad Smith of LightCounting . Kotura, which has made much of its
money selling variable optical attenuators (VOAs) into multiple
markets, was at OFC/NFOEC discussing its 25Gbit/s modulators and
detectors, elements that could be part of a 100Gbit/s module. And
providing the building blocks that others can use to build
products would be more Kotura's style, Smith says.
How Silicon Photonics Is Solving the Bottlenecks in Data Centers
and Supercomputers
One of the biggest challenges for data centers over the past ten
years has been the conversion from 1 Gb/s to 10 Gb/s ports.
Ethernet has a history of factor of 10 improvements in
performance, and the conversion to 10 G began in 2002 with the
advent of the infamous 300 pin transponder. This 3 ½ by 4 ½ inch
Behemoth (marketed as “small”) consumed as much as 14 watts of
power! Initially these transponders were used between the core
routers in data centers and the volumes were small. It took 10
years for all of the ports on routers and switches to transition
to 10 G. By now several generations of transceivers have come and
gone; today’s 10 G transceivers are as small as 1 G; the price for
the more popular models has dropped well below $100; and, we will
likely see 10 million units shipped this year to data centers
around the world. We must be ready for a new generation of 100 G
transceivers, and we are.
Over the next few years, silicon photonics will play a major role
in the transition from 10 Gb/s to 100 Gb/s in data centers and
supercomputers. Silicon photonics is a new technology platform,
using large-scale CMOS fabrication methods to integrate optics and
optoelectronic functions onto the same chip. The result is faster
communications, lower power consumption and smaller devices that
can be easily mass produced.
Low-Power 100 Gb-s Optical Engine
Kotura announced its low-power 100 gigabits per second (Gb/s)
optical engine to support the interconnect fabric for next
generation data centers and high performance computers (HPC). The
new optical engine chips are based on Kotura’s micron scale
manufacturing platform currently in mass production and deployed
in live networks around the world since 2006.
100Gb/s optical engine targets data centers, HPC
Kotura Inc. has developed a low-power 100Gb/s optical engine that
according to the company supports the interconnect fabric for next
generation data centers and high performance computers (HPC). The
optical engine chips are based on Kotura's micron scale
manufacturing platform.
The silicon photonics platform supports optical engines using Wave
Division Multiplexing (WDM) in which different signals can share
the same path. Claiming to be the only silicon photonics provider
to offer WDM, Kotura's optical engine offers reduced cost of fiber
and associated connectors within the interconnect fabric for
4x25GHz solutions by a factor of four. It can also expand from
four channels to eight, 16 or even 40 channels in a single strand
of optical fiber, added the company. Likewise, Kotura's silicon
photonics platform supports optical engines using parallel fiber
channels.
Kotura unveils low power 100Gbps Optical engine.
Silicon photonics company Kotura will unveil its low-power 100
gigabits per second (Gb/s) optical engine to support the
interconnect fabric at the OFC/NFOEC conference. Kotura’s optical
engine has been deployed around the world since 2006 and used by
three of the five largest telecommunication OEMs. “The optical
engine provides our customers with an inexpensive, small form
factor that reduces power consumption and provides a high level of
integration,” said Mehdi Asghari, CTO of Kotura. “Moreover, we are
addressing the need for green solutions that will alleviate some
of the strain associated with power hogs such as data centers and
high performance computers. This is an important milestone, and we
look forward to being a part of new computing solutions that
outperform what is possible today.” According to Brad Smith,
senior vice president at Lightcounting, a market research firm,
the advantages of silicon photonics are enormous, enabling
long-haul optical WDM to move to the server and switch rack.
Silicon photonics and WDM allow modulation speed to bump up to
40G/50G and more channels in the future without having to upgrade
the entire fiber plant. As part of Kotura’s optical engine demo at
OFC, Anritsu Company will be using its bit error rate tester, the
MP1800A, to support 100 Gb/s networking applications.
Kotura intros 100G optical engine
At OFC/NFOEC 2012, silicon photonics developer Kotura, Inc. plans
to demonstrate its low-power 100-Gbps optical engine, which is
designed to support the interconnect fabric for next-generation
data centers and high performance computers (HPC).
"The optical engine provides our customers with an inexpensive,
small form factor that reduces power consumption and provides a
high level of integration," said Mehdi Asghari, CTO of Kotura.
"Moreover, we are addressing the need for green solutions that
will alleviate some of the strain associated with power hogs such
as data centers and high performance computers."
Kotura has integrated multiple functions -- such as flip-chip
attached lasers, high performance WDM de/multiplexers, fast
low-power modulators, and high-speed detectors -- into a single
pair of silicon chips, eliminating the need for hundreds of piece
parts and dozens of assembly steps. Kotura says its optical engine
is so small that a 100-Gbps transceiver will easily fit inside a
QSFP package, the smallest 40G package on the market today, which
will greatly increase the panel density of 100-Gbps transceivers.
Silicon photonics firm Kotura unveils low-power 100Gb/s optical
engine
At the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and
Exhibition/National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference (OFC/NFOEC
2012) in Los Angeles, silicon photonics firm Kotura Inc of
Monterey Park, CA, USA, which designs and makes silicon photonics
application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) for the
communications, computing, sensing and detection markets, will
demonstrate its low-power 100Gb/s optical engine for supporting
the interconnect fabric for next-generation data centers and
high-performance computers (HPC).
The new optical engine chips are based on Kotura’s micron-scale
manufacturing platform currently in mass production and deployed
in live networks around the world since 2006. With three of the
five largest telecom OEMs already using Kotura products in their
10, 40 and 100Gb/s networks, the firm is approaching a million
channels per year currently in production.
The Race for Photon Supremacy, in Silicon
Beyond the race for low cost 100GbE in the data center, there has
been much discussion around the need for exascale (1018) computers
in the coming years to drive the high performance computing
requirements demanded by Big Data crunching. Computing thought
leaders such as IBM, Intel and others seem to be pointing to
Silicon Photonics as the way to overcome a key barrier of high
speed processor-to-processor and processor-to-memory
communications. While Intel and IBM have been doing active
research in this area for several years, several companies may
have already risen the challenge. Luxtera recently announced they
shipped 1 million 10Gb channels, and start-up Kotura also
announced they are approaching nearly 1 million shipped devices.
Silicon Photonics Action: Kotura announces 4x25G QSFP
Engine; Cisco buys Lightwire; Luxtera Raises $21M; St. Micro
Deal; Aurrion Gets DARPA Contract - What's Next?
A lot of action in silicon photonics is happening just ahead of
the big optical industry trade show OFC-2012. Silicon photonics
has tremendous promise, but has struggled to find an entry point.
100Gbps transceiver links appears to be the sweet spot! The data
center optics is getting ready to jump from 10G/14Gbps to 25Gbps,
but the short reach 25Gbps VCSELs are having significant trouble
meeting the required reliability. Silicon photonics companies are
focusing on high-speed 4x25G optical interfaces as an entry point,
while 25G VCSELs leave the door open.
Kotura 4x25G QSFP
Kotura announced it will be offering an optical engine based on
4-channels at 25Gbps that fits into a QSFP MSA.
Silicon Photonics Innovator Kotura Unveils Low-Power 100 Gb/s
Optical Engine
Kotura's silicon photonics platform supports optical engines using
Wave Division Multiplexing (WDM), in which different signals can
share the same path. As the only silicon photonics provider to
offer WDM, Kotura's optical engine provides distinct advantages,
including reducing the cost of fiber and associated connectors
within the interconnect fabric for 4x25 GHz solutions by a factor
of four, as well as readily expanding from four channels to eight,
16 or even 40 channels over a single strand of optical fiber.
Additionally, Kotura's silicon photonics platform also supports
optical engines using parallel fiber channels.
Kotura touts importance of government initiatives in
optoelectronics manufacturing
The future of US optoelectronics manufacturing will be spotlighted
during a one-day industry-centric workshop at OFC/NFOEC 2012 in
Los Angeles on March 5.
A leader in the industry, Kotura designs, manufactures and markets
application specific silicon photonics circuits. Their unique
silicon-based technology platform integrates a broad range of
optical and optoelectronic functionality to provide innovative
application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) solutions for
applications ranging from communications to high speed Ethernet
LANs, high performance computing, as well as optics-based sensing
and detection.
Kotura stresses role of government initiatives in opto
manufacturing at OFC/NFOEC workshop
Kotura says that its unique silicon-based technology platform
integrates a broad range of optical and optoelectronic
functionality to provide application-specific integrated circuit
(ASIC) silicon photonics solutions for applications ranging from
communications to high-speed Ethernet LANs, high-performance
computing, as well as optics-based sensing and detection.
“With the escalating end-user demand for bandwidth, coupled with
pricing pressures, the industry needs new ideas and new
technologies,” believes chief technology officer Mehdi Asghari,
who will be speaking at the workshop. “Our manufacturing focus is
one of innovation, integration and automation. We believe there is
a role for government partnership in these areas,” he adds.
How best to reduce power on future ICs
Excessive power consumption has become the chief roadblock to
further scaling of semiconductors, threatening to stall
advancement in all electronics sectors—everything from further
miniaturizing mobile devices to revving supercomputers.
While the causes are rooted in the immutable laws of physics and
chemistry, engineers have devised a novel set of innovations that
are mitigating the problem today and that promise to reinvigorate
the chip industry tomorrow.
Kotura's silicon photonics process allows it to integrate the
optical transceivers from a cigarette-pack-sized, $10,000
conventional unit into a streamlined, iPhone-sized $500 package
that uses four to 20 times less power. Kotura has also
demonstrated that its SiGe transceivers can send optical signals
through the air between stacked CMOS dice, essentially creating a
high-speed, low-power optical data channel between stacked chips
in lieu of pc board traces.
Kotura Wins Innovation Award from Frost & Sullivan
Frost & Sullivan has awarded Kotura, Inc., a premier provider
of silicon photonics products, with a New Product Innovation Award
for its Variable Optical Attenuator for Optical Communications.
Kotura's Ultra VOA Array is a variable optical attenuation system
that enables new optical networking functions like wavelength
tracking and transient control. It was born out of the growing
requirement to better manage the optical channels in dense
wavelength division multiplexing networks.
Data center market newcomer tackles transition to 100Gb networks
Energy consumed by the network has not been much of a concern for
data center operators since it has so far paled in comparison with
the amount of energy servers and facilities infrastructure
consumes.
Today, however, as the industry transitions from 10Gb links to
100Gb, the energy footprint of network makes a greater impact. As
data center operators tackle this transition, new opportunities
emerge for companies to address the issue of energy used to
transmit data.
One of these companies is Kotura, a Monterey Park, California,
designer and manufacturer of silicon-photonics circuits. Having
traditionally sold into the telecom space, chips for network gear
that enables 100Gbps links is the company's first attempt to enter
the data center market.
Arlon Martin, VP of sales and marketing at Kotura, says, “We are
really looking at the large pipes in data centers that go between
clusters and switches.”.
Green Photonics for Energy Efficient Data Centers
Large data centers are measured by three metrics: number of server blades; number of square feet and megawatts of power. Rich Miller provided a very nice special report on large data centers in Data Center Knowledge in April 2010. The largest data center in the world, the Lakeside Technology Center, 350 East Cermak, Chicago, covers over 1 million square feet and is supported by 100 MW of power. Even the smaller data centers of the Top Ten are larger than half a dozen football fields.
The number of server blades is not often disclosed, but we do know that the Microsoft Chicago Data Center has capacity for 224,000 server blades in 110 containers on the ground floor plus room for thousands more in racks in the upstairs area. Worldwide, IDC estimates that over 7 million server blades are sold each year so it is not unusual for a large data center to have 100,000 servers or more.
Developing new processes to support silicon photonics
Arlon Martin, VP of marketing, government contracts, and industry relations at Kotura, discusses the changes in processes that fabs will have to make when integrating silicon photonics onto chips to support optical circuits in a podcast interview with SST senior technical editor Debra Vogler. Such optical process modules will have to support waveguides at very low loss, as well as wavelength multiplexers/demultiplexers, modulation of the light, detection of the light, and other functions (e.g., variable optical attenuators, monitors, etc.), he said. When optical interconnects that use silicon photonics replace copper wires, the result is increased processing speed and reduced heat and energy consumption.
Microelectronics Technology Alert: Silicon Photonics for Enabling High-Speed Interconnects
Server technology in the year 2021: Part 1
Gartner predicts server density and performance scaling to continue through to at least 2022, supported in part by a transition to optical system buses. Gartner analyst, Carl Clauch, said racks using internal optical fabric could contain 1,000 or more servers, all interconnected with an optical backplane at high bus speeds.
Vendors investing in this technology include IBM, Intel, Kotura and Lightfleet. In fact, Lightfleet recently delivered a prototype to Microsoft Research — a 32-blade cluster using crisscrossing beams of light in 8-inch cubes as the cluster interconnect.
The Tinker's Toolbox - Arlon Martin of Kotura on Silicon Photonics
In today's podcast we talk to Arlon Martin, VP of Marketing, Government Contracts & Industry Relations at Kotura, specialists in silicon photonics. KOTURA is developing a platform technology that integrates optics and electronics to provide innovative solutions to the communications industry.
Kotura opens office in Shenzhen led by Yicheng Lu, formerly with JDSU, as VP of China operations
Kotura of Monterey Park, California, a developer and volume manufacturer of silicon photonics products for over five years, has announced the opening of a new office in Shenzhen, China to provide greater access and support for a customer base that includes many of the largest telecom companies in the region.
Kotura Opens Office in China
Silicon photonics provider Kotura Inc. has announced the opening
of an office in Shenzhen, China, to provide greater access and
support for its installed customer base, which consists of many of
the largest telecom companies in the region.
Led by Lu, the new office will enable the company to build
strategic relationships for manufacturing, product packaging and
other key resources required to support new product development.
Silicon photonics firm Kotura opens China office
Kotura says that its presence in China provides greater access and support for its installed customer base, which consists of many of the largest telecom companies in the region. China is recognized as a significant market for optical components, and the new office will provide sales & marketing, manufacturing and R&D support.
Kotura leads the way in silicon photonics!
The transition from copper to optics is underway and promises to deliver data at the speed of light – not just through fiber optic cables but on computer chips. Leading this movement is silicon photonics innovator Kotura.
One of Kotura’s strengths, and a key to advancing its technology and speed- and energy-saving applications, has been a robust R&D program, funded by a mix of private industry and Federal Government sources such as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Departments of Commerce (NIST) and Energy.
This is excellent news for all concerned. Silicon photonics is the way forward!
Waiting for Terabit Ethernet? Don't hold your breath.
Figuring out how to transmit at terabit speed is daunting technologically. Integrated optics in silicon chips is a difficult challenge as well because it might require as many as 40 lasers at 40Gbps each. "That number of lasers is high especially if we want to integrate it" into a chip, says Arlon Martin, a researcher with Kotura, which makes silicon photonic devices.
He says by transmitting two bits per symbol using a technique called phase-shift keying, that could halve the number of lasers needed.
http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=19070.php
Kotura's low-power high-speed switch was developed as part of the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency's Ultra-performance Nano-photonic Intrachip Communications (UNIC) program in conjunction with Oracle Corporation, under the leadership of Dr. Jagdeep Shah, DARPA Program Manager. A paper, "Submilliwatt, ultrafast and broadband electro-optic silicon switches" by Po Dong, et al. was recently published in the prestigious OSA Journal Optics Express.
Kotura Develops Horizontal Photo Detector Compatible with Silicon Waveguides
Kotura has demonstrated a horizontal p-i-n germanium photo detector, which comes in a single chip combined with silicon waveguides. The photo detector was built under the leadership of Dr. Jagdeep Shah, program manager of the Defense Advanced Research Project.
Kotura Advances High Speed Optoelectronics Technology
Monterey Park-based Kotura, a developer of high speed optoelectronics products, said this week that it has demonstrated a high-speed horizontal p-i-n germanium photo detector integrated with silicon waveguides on a single chip, based on a project developed with DARPA. According to the firm, the technology is a "key component" for optical interconnects and may lead to reduction in complexity of connectors and cabling in high performance optical systems. The company said the detector is the first WDM compatible detector which can operate faster than 32 GHz. The technology was developed as part of the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency's Ultra-performance Nano-photonic Intrachip Communications (UNIC) program.
Kotura Announces Industry’s First Silicon Photonics Mux/DeMux for ½ Terabit/s Transmission
Kotura Inc., an industry leader in silicon photonics, today announced successful demonstration of their Echelle grating Mux and Demux for 500 Gb/s wavelength division multiplexing applications. The ½ Terabit-per-second demonstration, in partnership with CyOptics, marks the successful completion of the second year milestone as part of a three-year program called Terabit Photonic Integrated Circuits (TERAPICS).
Kotura Announces Technology Breakthrough in Low Voltage, High Speed Silicon Photonic Modulator
Kotura, Inc., a leading provider of Silicon Photonics products, today announced demonstration of an industry leading modulator with two-volt, peak-to-peak driving voltage, and permitting the use of inexpensive CMOS drivers. Equally impressive, the Kotura modulator achieved speeds in excess of 11 GHz and an ultra-low energy consumption of 50 femtoJoules per bit. The on chip device loss of 2 dB is among the lowest ever demonstrated.