Inphi and PMC Demonstrate Interoperability for 100G OTN and Carrier Ethernet Line Cards

SANTA CLARA, CA--(Marketwired - Oct 7, 2013) - Inphi Corporation (NYSE: IPHI), a leading provider of high-speed analog semiconductors, today announced that it has demonstrated interoperability of IN112510, its second generation Tri-Rate™ PHY/SerDes Gearbox ICs, with PMC®'s (NASDAQ: PMCS), DIGI 120G and META 120G, the industry's highest density 10G, 40G and 100G OTN processor and converged Carrier Ethernet and Optical Transport Network (OTN) framer solutions.

The reference solution demonstrates DIGI 120G and META 120G interfacing to a 100G CFP2 optical transceiver module using Inphi's IN112510 PHY/SerDes Gearbox IC. Hardware and software integration was done using Inphi's software SDK with extensive testing and qualification being done with the test functions implemented in the SDK, including link testing with Inphi's iSCAN™ link management software suite.

"With our DIGI 120G and META 120G, PMC has taken the lead in enabling 100G OTN and Carrier Ethernet switching and connectivity for both OTN Optical Transport Equipment and Router platforms," said Babak Samimi, vice president of marketing and applications for PMC's Communications Business Unit. "Our successful interoperability with Inphi's Tri-Rate Gearbox extends the growing ecosystem around our OTN devices, with a proven reference solution that enables our customers to leverage 100G CFP2 pluggable optical modules to deliver the highest port density and lowest power 100G OTN and Carrier Ethernet line cards."

The explosion of packet traffic in metro networks driven by carrier and service provider cloud services, evolved packet core and IP-based access networks is driving network builds away from legacy SONET/SDH to OTN networks. According to (1)Infonetics Research, the OTN equipment market will top 13B USD in 2017 at a 13% CAGR. This interoperability test provides a proof point that solutions are now available to support the next wave of dense 100G port line cards for OTN switching, routing, Reconfigurable Optical Add-Drop Multiplexers (ROADMs) and Packet Optical Transport Platforms (P-OTPs) for IP based WDM networks.

"Our next-generation Tri-Rate PHY/SerDes Gearbox ICs interoperating with PMC's industry-leading OTN solutions demonstrates that a total solution consisting of hardware and software is now available for designers to successfully build high-port density Tri-Rate 100G OTN and Carrier Ethernet line cards," said Siddharth Sheth, vice president of marketing for Inphi's high-speed connectivity products. "This combined effort will help our customers move quickly to deliver products and capitalize on the fast-growing metro OTN segment."

Inphi's IN112510 Gearbox is based on the unique and groundbreaking iPHY™ architecture which is purpose-built for client side networking interfaces that push the envelope on power, performance, integration, latency and cost. Unlike other Gearbox and FPGA offerings that attempt to cover too many data rates in unrelated applications, Inphi's Gearbox IC is purpose-built for power and performance, sensitive 10G, 40G and 100G optical line cards for service provider, and carrier OTN networks. Consuming as low as 2.3-W, latency < 15-ns and Rj < 180fs rms, Inphi's new IN112510-LD is the lowest power, highest performing CMOS PHY/SerDes Gearbox IC in the industry.

PMC's DIGI 120G (PM5440) is the industry's only single-chip OTN processor supporting 10G, 40G and 100G speeds for OTN transport, aggregation and switched deployments. DIGI 120G allows for the efficient sharing and dynamic assignment of network resources, enabling OTN networks to effectively virtualize optical network bandwidth to meet the elastic traffic demands of big data. OTN muxponders and OTN switching cards using DIGI 120G will enable efficient aggregation and grooming of lower speed services into 100G. DIGI 120G's unique single-chip architecture allows OEMs to leverage a common hardware and software investment to rapidly develop a portfolio of line cards, resulting in the lowest bill of material, lowest power, and fastest time to market.

PMC's META 120G (PM5442), the industry's highest port density 10G, 40G and 100G converged Carrier Ethernet and OTN framer solution for Carrier Ethernet and OTN line on service provider switches and routers, and PTN equipment. META 120G delivers Carrier Ethernet MAC/PHY, comprehensive OTN framing/mapping in conjunction with multiple FEC protocols, including PMC's innovative high-gain Swizzle enhanced FEC and fully integrated packet timing engine, including clock recovery that exceeds the IEEE 1588v2 telecom profile for every port. Meta 120G delivers overall feature integration, port density and device capacity that is unmatched in the market today. 

About PMC
PMC (NASDAQ: PMCS) is the semiconductor innovator transforming networks that connect, move and store big data. Building on a track record of technology leadership, the company is driving innovation across storage, optical and mobile networks. PMC's highly integrated solutions increase performance and enable next-generation services to accelerate the network transformation. For more information visit www.pmcs.com. Follow PMC on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and RSS.

About Inphi
Inphi Corporation is a leading provider of high-speed, mixed signal semiconductor solutions for the communications and computing markets. Inphi's end-to-end data transport platform delivers high signal integrity at leading-edge data speeds, addressing performance and bandwidth bottlenecks in networks, from fiber to memory. Inphi's solutions minimize latency in computing environments and enable the rollout of next-generation communications infrastructure. Inphi's solutions provide a vital interface between analog signals and digital information in high-performance systems, such as telecommunications transport systems, enterprise networking equipment, enterprise and data center servers, and storage platforms. To learn more about Inphi, visit www.inphi.com.

Inphi, the Inphi logo and Think fast are registered trademarks of Inphi Corporation. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners.

(1) OTN and Packet Optical Hardware (2013 Edition) Biannual Worldwide and Regional Market Share, Size, and Forecasts