EMCORE debuts 1.2 GHz laser

June 12, 2018
EMCORE (NASDAQ:EMKR) has released its Model 3644 Mini-Tx 1.2 GHz, 1,550 nm Linear Externally Modulated Laser (L-EML) CATV ...

EMCORE (NASDAQ:EMKR) has released its Model 3644 Mini-Tx 1.2 GHz, 1,550 nm Linear Externally Modulated Laser (L-EML) CATV Transmitter Subassembly. The 3644 Mini-Tx is designed to support links up to 100 km.

L-EML technology consists of a high-power, low-noise, narrow linewidth laser combined with a proprietary linearized modulator in a monolithic assembly. It is designed to enable long-distance optical link performance approaching traditional lithium niobate-based externally-modulated transmitters, but at lower cost.

The 3644 Mini-Tx is designed to support traditional HFC, multi-wavelength node splitting, Radio Frequency over Glass (RFoG) and RF overlay for fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) applications. The platform is also designed to support RF loads of analog, quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) to 1,218 MHz and to be DOCSIS 3.1 compatible. The 3644 Mini-Tx is designed for modulation error ratio (MER) of 44 dB across the operating band under full QAM load conditions. There is an RF test port on-board with monitor and control via an RS-232 interface.

"Since their introduction, the acceptance of L-EML-based CATV transmitters has been tremendous," said Grant Olecko, senior product line director at EMCORE. "Our customers asked us to expand on the form-factor options to allow them greater flexibility on how they integrate the technology into their platforms. With the new 3644 Mini-Tx we now have a wider range of form-factor options to satisfy broader customer and market requirements."

In other EMCORE news, the company announced successful performance test results of its L-EML RFoG optical networking unit (ONU) transceiver by Kyrio, a subsidiary of CableLabs. Kyrio's results indicated that EMCORE's L-EML-based ONUs are better at reducing optical beat interference (OBI) in a passive optical network (PON) than traditional ONUs.

Kyrio's results were based on a test of up to 32 distributed feedback (DFB) ONUs and 32 L-EML-based ONUs in a network with Kyrio-provided passive optical splitters and cable. The testing compared the OBI performance of the traditional ONUs to the L-EML solution for RFoG upstream communication.

EMCORE is showcasing both products at ANGA COM 2018 in Cologne, Germany.