Marvell has launched an 800Gb/s coherent digital signal processor (DSP) for pluggable modules.
The new DSP is produced on 5nm technology. It is the fifth generation coherent DSP from the firm and is designed to provide twice the bandwidth in the same small module form factors as Deneb and Canopus, Marvell’s 400Gb/s coherent DSPs that have been adopted by carriers and clouds.
Orion supports standards-based pluggable form factors at symbol rates in excess of 130+ GBd, which allows Orion-based modules to transfer data at a faster rate and across longer distances. It incorporates Marvell’s 112Gb/s SerDes developed as part of its technology platform for 5nm devices.
Orion complies with OIF, OpenZR+, OpenROADM, and IEEE standards and can be used in the QSFP-DD, OSFP, and CFP2 form factors, making it able to support widespread transition into coherent pluggable-enabled architectures. According to Marvell, Orion-based modules could also help to pave the way for greater adoption of IPoDWDM, as many carriers are upgrading core network routers, which can be a costly process and occupy multiple racks, from 100 to 400Gb/s. Marvell says that, coupled with Orion-based modules, 400Gb/s IPoDWDM routers could match the performance of existing transport equipment at a far lower cost.
The company states that Orion could help to increase the performance of pluggable modules across multiple use cases, including metro, regional and long-haul network connections, as well as data centre interconnects .
Achyut Shah, Senior Vice President And General Manager of the Connectivity Business Group at Marvell says: “Orion represents a tipping point for optical transport technology. With Orion, pluggable modules will be able to be deployed across these complex, high-performance networks while delivering substantial reductions in cost and power. Orion-based modules will also deliver the bandwidth needed for data centre interconnects to meet the exploding demand for AI . Fueled by the innovation of our partners, pluggable modules based on Orion will become the leading choice for carriers and clouds.”
Scott Wilkinson, Lead Analyst for Optical Components at industry intelligence specialist firm Cignal AI says of the launch: “Marvell’s Orion DSP represents the next step in coherent pluggables after the unprecedented popularity of 400Gb/s modules. Orion creates the opportunity to eliminate hardware and significantly reduce costs in regional to long-haul networks, and our conservative forecast calls for nearly 300,000 shipments of 800Gb/s-capable pluggable modules a year by 2027.”
