Realizing 400 GbE (Gigabit Ethernet) based on four lanes, each transmitting 53.1 GBaud PAM4 (106.2 Gbps) is currently one of the main challenges for researchers developing the next generation networks.
In an effort to continue to provide state-of-the-art solutions, SHF is now going even further to help our customers to define the next step on the road towards Terabit transmission.
The new SHF 616 A “PAM4 Multiplexer” enables the generation of a high quality PAM4 signals up to at least 112 GBaud for studies exploiting the benefits of PAM4 signaling format for transmissions beyond 100 GBaud data rate.
SHF 616 A
The SHF 616 A accepts two pairs i.e. four ∼50 Gbps NRZ input data streams, regenerates the signals and multiplexes each pair to a binary signal of twice the speed. Inside the module, a 2-bit DAC converts these two ∼100 Gbps data streams to a four level signal (PAM4) of ∼100 GBaud (200 Gbps). Though not exclusively, but ideally the SHF 616 A can be driven by a SHF 12104 A or the newly released SHF 12105 A 64 Gbps Bit Pattern Generator (BPG).
The SHF 616 A can also be operated to generate lower baud rate PAM4 signals, for example 60 GBaud. Due to the very short response time of the high speed multiplexer ICs, the SHF 616 A produces the widest eye openings compared to all other currently available methods to generate a PAM4 signal of the same baud rate.
The full data sheet can be downloaded here.