Key Facts:
  • Class-leading power dissipation, form factor and 10.8 nanosecond lock time
  • Enables module-based Small Form Factor Pluggable (SFP) and 10 Gb SFP (XFP) footprints
  • Supports optical line terminal solutions with lowest power in extreme thermal environments
  • Customisable point-to-multipoint architecture using unpowered fibre-optic splitters

Microchip announces, through its Microsemi Corporation subsidiary, the first Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) for 10G Passive Optical Network (PON) Optical Line Terminal (OLT) implementation in compact form factor. The new PolarFire FPGA Burst Mode Receiver (BMR) solution is also the only offering of its kind to enable 10G PON solutions in Small Form Factor Pluggable (SFP) and 10 Gb SFP (XFP) footprints.
 
Microchip’s new BMR solution enables customers to build OLTs in unprecedented small form factor modules while drawing the lowest power in extreme thermal environments. Completely customisable with the industry’s fastest, 10.8 nanosecond lock times in mid-range FPGAs for PONs, the BMR enables a compact PON solution in tiny optical module-based form factors. As an increasingly popular telecommunications technology used to provide fibre to the end consumer, PONs implement a point-to-multipoint architecture using unpowered fibre-optic splitters to enable a single optical fibre serving multiple end points.
 
The combination of PolarFire FPGAs and the new BMR technology enables designers to build unique, proprietary solutions. These address the key challenges of reducing the power consumption and heat dissipation of PON equipment, while delivering the small form factor that end customers are demanding to expand remote deployment options for carriers.
 
Microchip’s new PolarFire FPGA 10G PON BMR solution is supported by a suite of tools to enhance application development. These include a reference design, Libero Integrated Design Environment (IDE) software and a hardware kit.