Intel ups its optical comms ante with transponder trio

Intel Corp. has released the latest products in its push to become a player in optical communications.

The three 10Gbps transponders are the most recent fruits of Intel's acquisition of LightLogic early last year. The TXN13200 and TXN13201 are for SONET and 10Gbps Ethernet, respectively. Both conform to the SSF version of the 300-pin MSA for transponders.

The devices are smaller than LightLogic's TXN13300, which Intel released for the OC-192 (10Gpbs) SONET market late last year, said Dan Sweeney, general manager of Intel's Optical Platform Division. "Instead of one or two I/Os per line card, this allows four or five," he said.

Consisting of transmit and receive optics plus high-speed electronics, 10Gbps transponders cover a market that ranges from customer-premises equipment up to the client side of DWDM systems.

The long-haul side of a DWDM box—the side pointing to the WAN—remains proprietary for many OEMs; it also requires more expensive elements. As a result, most OEMs continue to use discrete components rather than transponders for long-haul purposes, Sweeney said.

The two transponders will sell for less than $2,000 in volume, Intel officials said.

Meanwhile, Intel is sampling the TXN17401, which conforms to the XENPAK MSA specification that several companies are adopting for 10Gbps Ethernet transponders. Several companies already have announced XENPAK parts as the IEEE 802.3ae standard for 10Gbps Ethernet approaches ratification this year. Blaze Network Products began sampling the Flame-thrower-XGLX4 XENPAK transceiver in December. Similarly, Agere Systems, announced it will begin shipping its AE20LRCAA single-chip transponder in January.

Intel expects to price the TXN17401 at less than $1,000 in volume.

— Craig Matsumoto

EE Times