800G DSP IC for hyperscale AI cloud connectivity cuts 50% power of optical-transceivers
Date: 11/12/2023
Credo, a fast emerging chipmaker for wired comunication both electrical and optical, looks like a some-what a replica of how Broadcom had rised by offering silicon solutions for copper twisted pair in early 90s.
Credo is offering solutions to both copper and optical connectivity to get maximum benefit speed, power and cost. In that direction it has launched what it claims as World’s First Dove 850 800G Digital Signal Processor (DSP) IC for Linear Receive Optics, targeting hyperscale and AI data centers.
As the scale of AI deployments in hyperscale data centers expands swiftly, the significance of high-speed optical transceivers and AOCs for linking numerous GPUs cannot be overstated. Enhancements in energy efficiency become imperative due to the substantial quantities of these optical components. Dove 850 stands out by reducing DSP power by 50% and streamlining expenses, offering customers a user-friendly, sturdy, and compatible solution. Leveraging Dove 850, transceiver vendors can further fine-tune module costs by utilizing a diverse range of optics, such as VCSELs, silicon photonics, EML, or thin-film lithium niobate, tailored to specific application needs.
The key features of this chip includes:
Powerful copper optimized DSPs on the electrical host side deliver industry leading sensitivity and BER performance.
High-performance transmitters come with multi-tap FIR filters and non-linear cancellation, allowing precision optimization at the optical interface.
Host side interface supports VSR or extended MR PCB reach, connecting seamlessly with different length switch interfaces without need for customized per-channel settings.
Independent phase locked loops per channel support flexible breakout configurations including 2x400GbE, 4x200GbE and 8x100GbE.
Full suite of test features simplifies lab bring-up, production testing and reduces time-to-market.
Low power dissipation enables higher rack utilization and lower thermal cooling requirements.
“Dove 850 reduces DSP power by up to 50% and optimizes cost while providing customers with an easy to use, robust, and interoperable solution,” said Chris Collins, Vice President of Sales and Optical Product Marketing at Credo. “Our lead transceiver and hyperscale customers recognize the value of this solution and we have already shipped Dove 850 samples and evaluation boards to address the market need.”
Credo suggests Transceiver vendors can further optimize the module cost with Dove 850 by employing a variety of optics, including VCSELs, silicon photonics, EML or thin-film lithium niobate as dictated by the application requirements.
Credo explains "A Dove 850 based optical transceiver aims to address the inherent weakness of a Linear Pluggable Optics (LPO) implementation by facilitating IEEE compliant optical transmit signaling and easing the deployment burden on system operators by eliminating manual, per port tuning. The result is lower bit error rates, enhanced sensitivity, reduced performance variation, and improved resilience to different switch ASICs, PCB traces, optical components, and environmental conditions."
“Over the last year, LPO has been a popular topic as the industry looks for ways to reduce power consumption in datacenters. However, customer enthusiasm has been curbed because of technical limitations such as interoperability, link accountability, and the ability to troubleshoot, which drove our forecast for LPO to less than 10% of the 800GbE market,” said Scott Wilkinson, Lead Analyst for Optical Components at Cignal AI. “Credo’s Dove 850 is a half-retimed solution that addresses these limitations, consumes less power than conventional optics, and provides a clear path to 224G for 1.6 Tb/s operation. This solution should significantly expand the market for low power 800GbE solutions well beyond that of LPO."
The Dove 850 features independent PLL’s for each lane to support breakout applications, an OIF CEI-112G-MR compliant host interface, and numerous integrated diagnostic features to accelerate time to market and aid with system debug.
Samples and evaluation boards of the Dove 850 are available immediately
Source: Credo
