Inphi Announces World's First 16nm Polaris(TM) PAM4 Platform Solutions for Next-Generation Data Center Cloud Deployments

SANTA CLARA, CA--(Marketwired - Mar 20, 2017) -  Inphi Corporation (NYSE: IPHI), a leader in high-speed data movement interconnects, today announced Polaris™, the industry's first 16nm CMOS PAM4 platform solution for next-generation cloud deployments. The Polaris platform includes Inphi's highly integrated, lowest power PAM4 digital signal processing (DSP) IC alongside its companion market leading, low power linear driver and TIA for data center connectivity. The company will be showcasing the platform in a live demo at its booth #3601 at OFC 2017 in Los Angeles, CA on March 21-23, 2017.

The existing megatrends of cloud services, Big Data, IoT, Social are now being overlaid with a new set of upcoming megatrends like the transition to 5G wireless, Autonomous Vehicles, AI chatbots, Augmented and Virtual Reality, causing a data and traffic explosion that continue to drive the insatiable need for unlimited bandwidth. There is a clear need to increase the speed of interconnect pipes while maintaining cloud economics and lowering carbon footprints. PAM4 modulation has now been recognized as the modulation scheme that will take the industry over the next wave of Ethernet deployments for optical interconnects by doubling the bits per symbol at the same baud rate. The foundation of the 16nm CMOS PAM4 PHY is a highly configurable DSP Engine that is based on three generations of proven silicon and is designed to achieve performance levels for both multi-mode and single mode optical interconnects covering up to 10km, while keeping an extremely low power profile of optical module applications. By combining the linear driver and TIA products, Inphi has developed a highly integrated solution optimized for optical module data center deployments.

"As a pioneer of PAM4 technology, Inphi has continued to invest and innovate to deliver market leading data center platform solutions enabling next-generation applications. Experience gained from our 28nm family announced back in Aug. 2015 and more than two years of working closely with customers on 28GBaud optics with our PAM4 DSP, TIA, and Driver, we now carry forward our new Polaris 16nm product family to enable the ramp of 50/100/200/400G cloud interconnects," said Siddharth Sheth, vice president, Networking Interconnect, Inphi.