SCIENCE

SOMERSET, NJ -- EMCORE Corporation (NASDAQ: EMKR), a leading provider of semiconductor technologies for global communications, has announced the commercial production of its new high speed, cost-effective parallel optical array transmitter/receiver modules to accommodate the soaring demand for network capacity. This technology exemplifies the new age of optical interconnects for switches and routers for datacom and telecom equipment manufacturers. The new transmitter/receiver modules, which provide a data rate of 1.25 Gbps over 12 channels, are the initial offering in a new family of products from EMCORE designed to provide customers with the speed, performance and reliability required to drive their data throughput. Designed for use in parallel optical data communications links, the modules offer an aggregate bandwidth of 15 Gbps and can be used in high-speed data links, very short reach OC-192 optical links, and board-to-board and shelf-to-shelf high-speed interconnects for optical backplanes. The modules perform logic-to-light and light-to-logic conversions for data transmission over multimode fiber ribbon cable, at a wavelength of 850nm and a power consumption of typically just 2 watts for the pair. According to Dr. Robert Bryan, Vice President of EMCORE's Fiber Optics division, "In providing the market with a replacement for expensive serial interconnects, we have endeavored to ensure maximum manufacturing flexibility for our datacom and telecom customers. The use of a ball grid array (BGA) in EMCORE's new offering will ensure significantly easier manufacturing for customers. Each module connects to external electrical circuitry using a compact BGA pattern on its underside, and therefore is one of the first optics that does not require special handling for insertion onto circuit boards. One of the many applications for these optics is to construct VSR transponders, which offer datacom and telecom equipment manufacturers significant cost and functionality advantages." EMCORE has developed a VSR transponder that is pluggable and compliant with the industry-wide 300 pin multi-source agreement and with the Optical Internetworking Forum's Implementation Agreements for SERDES-framer interface (SFI-4) and VSR OC-192 interfaces. The transponder is anticipated to be available in September, 2001. Reuben F. Richards, Jr., President and CEO of EMCORE noted, "EMCORE continues to focus on providing innovative, manufacturer-friendly solutions to the broadband communications market. This new transceiver offers the technology to provide our customers with higher backplane bandwidth for faster switching. Providing more 'Gbps per dollar', our initial product enables customers to better compete in today's highly challenging marketplace." According to ElectroniCast Corporation, the extremely rapid growth in networking has been fueling the growth of aggregation switches, very high speed routers, high capacity DWDM transmission equipment, larger digital cross connects, and now optical cross connects for optical networking. "Communications between these classes of intra-office equipment is based on SONET, and links between them operate from OC-3 to OC-48," according to Stephen Montgomery, President of ElectroniCast. "As routers grow to terabit scale, and cross connects and transport systems manage OC-192 traffic, these systems need to be interconnected at 10 Gbps to minimize the large number of interconnections," Mr. Montgomery said. For additional information visit www.emcore.com