NEC Compound Semiconductor Devices Unveils Industry's Smallest 10Gbps Optical Modules

- Operating in Minus 5 to Plus 85 Degrees C Temperature Range -

10G TOSA:NX8341 Series, 10G ROSA:NR3311 Series

NEC Compound Semiconductor Devices, Ltd. and NEC Electronics (Europe) GmbH today announced the sample shipment of two optical modules for the 10 Gigabit per second (Gbps) optical transceivers to be employed in metropolitan access networks (MAN) and 10Gbps high-speed LANs. The new products are the smallest in the industry as optical modules for the 10Gbps transceiver and also support operation up to plus 85 degrees Celsius.

The new optical modules are available in two types of optical sub-assembly: the NX8341 Series, Transmitter Optical Sub-Assembly (TOSA)^*1 , and the NR3311 Series, Receiver Optical Sub-Assembly (ROSA)^*2. Both have LC or SC receptacle ports that feature fiber-to-laser design to eliminate optical alignment problems and ensure a fixed optical coupling. These are intended for use in 10Gbps small transceiver, XENPAK, XPAK, X2^*3 , and XFP^*4 in OC-192/STM-64,10GbE/10GFC applications up to 12km.
The NX8341 Series employs a 1.3 micron meter (µm) uncooled directly modulated distributed feedback laser^*5 chip that features high-speed (10Gbps) and high-temperature operation. This laser chip uses aluminum gallium indium arsenide in the active layer^*6 , enabling a greater electron containment effect and operations at higher temperatures and speeds than the conventional indium phosphide laser material used, as well as higher reliability. The NR3311 Series achieves both high speed and high sensitivity due to combined photodiode with a preamplifier to realize the wide-band characteristics required to receive 10Gbps signals. These features enable high-speed, stable optical communication on both the transmitter and receiver sides, at a temperature range from minus 5 to plus 85 degrees C, which is the widest in the industry for an optical module with a transfer rate of 10Gbps and uncooled system.

The optical modules employ a small, easily mass producible CAN package^*7 in which laser chip, damping resistor, bias inductor for TOSA, photodiode, +3.3V powered preamplifier for ROSA are incorporated optimally for matching impedance to achieve 10Gbps high speed operation. With a diameter of 5.6 mm, these are the smallest optical modules in the industry supporting all major 10Gbps small transceivers.

An extensive lineup is offered for the new products. The NX8341 Series have two types of modules for driver ICs with different drive models: single-ended or differential drive. In addition, the NX8341 Series and NR3311 Series support both SC connector, which is in widely use, and small-size LC connector. With a total of 6 models in the two series, customers can easily find the module that best suits their application needs.

The new modules are designed for use in all major international optical communication standards, including STM-64 I64.1 of the ITU-G.691 standard, OC-192 SR-1 of Synchronous Optical NETwork (SONET), an equivalent standard in North America, the IEEE802.3ae 10 Gigabit Ethernet 10GBASE-LR/LW standard recommended by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in the United States, and ANSI T11.2 10GFC, the Fibre Channel 10 Gigabit standard from the American National Standards Institute. Transmission range up to 12 km is supported under all above standards.

"Most of current 10Gbps optical sub-assembly modules have difficulties in operating at a wide temperature range without cooler," said Masayuki Yamaguchi, department manager, 1st Optical Semiconductor Department, NEC Compound Semiconductor Devices. "With the development of these two new optical modules that function in the widest temperature range, we believe we can make a major contribution to the realization of 10Gbps networks. We will continue developing new technologies in this field with the aim of producing optical modules that offer customers the ideal solution, including support of easy-to-mount flexible boards."

NEC Compound Semiconductor Devices will be exhibiting these new optical modules and related products at the 4th Fiber Optics Expo (FOE2004), Asia's largest optical communications exhibition, held at Tokyo Big Sight in Tokyo from January 28, and at the OFC Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition, the largest such exhibition in North America, held at the Los Angeles Convention Center, California, from February 24.

Pricing and Availability
Sample prices for the new modules are 50,000 yen for the NX8341 Series and 30,000 yen for the NR3311 Series. Mass production is slated to start in May 2004, with an annual shipment forecast of 20,000 units in total for the two series.

Please see the attachment for the 10G TOSA/ROSA Product list.

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About NEC Compound Semiconductor Devices, Ltd.

NEC Compound Semiconductor Devices, Ltd. (NEC Compound Semiconductor Devices) is a leading provider of optical and microwave devices, committed to meeting the specialized needs of its customers in the broadband and mobile networking fields with its compound and silicon semiconductor technologies. NEC Compound Semiconductor Devices was divided from NEC Corporation and established in October 2001, and now a subsidiary of NEC Electronics Corporation. For further information, please visit the home page at: http://www.ncsd.necel.com/.

About NEC Electronics (Europe) GmbH

NEC Electronics (Europe) GmbH, headquartered in Duesseldorf, Germany, is a leading developer, manufacturer and supplier of semiconductor products in Europe. Committed to meeting customers' cost, performance and time-to-market requirements, the company offers solutions ranging from standard products to system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions, as well as customized products for next-generation designs. NEC Electronics also offers customers the benefit of state-of-the-art manufacturing locally in Europe, besides the global production of its parent company, NEC Electronics Corporation. Additionally, NEC Electronics (Europe) GmbH is the exclusive European sales and marketing channel of LCD and PDP modules from NEC LCD Technologies Ltd. For more information visit http://www.ee.nec.de.