OPTION 1: Small-Business ERC Collaborative Opportunity for the transitioning of agile broadband transmitter for integrated access networks to market

Bandwidth10 Inc, San Jose CA

Investigators

Abstract

Intellectual Merit This Small-Business ERC Collaborative Opportunity transitioning agile broadband transmitter for integrated access networks to market will address the challenge of achieving high bandwidth (100+ Gb/s), low power, low cost wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) optical communications links of distances up to 2 km for applications such as data centers and aggregation networks. These links are necessary for next generation data center and supercomputing applications that are a focus of the CIAN ERC?s research. Specifically, this project will improve the lasers in these systems, which drive much of the cost, performance, and power requirements for the links, to meet current commercial specifications. The tunable VCSELs offer a 10X reduction in power and cost over conventional solutions and enable high bandwidth links within data centers that not economically feasible with current technologies. Broader Impacts The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is a drastic reduction in the cost and energy requirements of optical links inside of data centers and supercomputers. Companies such as Google, Microsoft and other large data-centric companies have been clamoring for this type of product in the last year to maintain the rate of growth in their data center facilities. Present WDM laser array solutions using DFB lasers require 10X the power and 10X the cost of a VCSEL-based approach and are not economically feasible. Present 850-nm VCSEL-based links, on the other hand, cannot be made into a WDM source without power-hungry TEC coolers due to their lack of precise, gridded, wavelength control, limiting the overall link speed. Using a 1550 nm tunable VCSEL solves both the problem of gridded wavelength control and allows the use of low cost single mode fiber and the developed infrastructure for 1550 nm WDM optical links. The realization of tunable VCSELs in WDM systems will result in a 10X reduction in both cost and energy requirements in high-speed optical links for data centers, enabling the further scaling of computational power for next generation data center and supercomputer applications. Besides the technological impact, this collaboration program will offer CIAN students insight and experience with the real world commercial product development process. The students will be testing and giving feedback into the product development process, enhancing their educational experience. The enhanced capabilities of the VCSELs will enable new applications and enhance CIAN in it?s mission of supporting transparency wherever possible with flexible wavelength conversion and optical switches, and supporting dynamically reconfigurable heterogeneous traffic in the network.