* Quake Technologies' 10 Gigabit Ethernet chip
Chip maker Quake Technologies recently introduced an integrated circuit that it says “dramatically” reduces the cost of 10 Gigabit Ethernet – and then last week the company announced it would be acquired by Applied Micro Circuits Corp.
Quake shipped an integrated physical-layer circuit for SFP+ using 10 Gigabit Ethernet. The company claims that the chip’s advanced signal processing technology will reduce the cost of 10 Gigabit optics to less than 25% of the current cost.
Applied Micro, which makes chips for traditional carrier equipment, is planning to buy Quake for $69 million in cash. The companies hope the deal will open up opportunities both in service provider networks and enterprise networks.
Optical modules that use the pluggable SFP+ are smaller and use less power than other optical modules. Quake says that XFP modules offer higher density than previous form factors, at 32 ports in a standard rack-mount chassis, but they still use a good deal of power.
SFP+ modules are 40% smaller than XFP modules and allow densities up to 48 ports per chassis. Power consumption is reduced by at least 500mW per port by eliminating redundant electronics.
Quake argues that this technology is necessary to bring the cost of 10 Gigabit Ethernet down the same way Gigabit Ethernet costs have come down. The company says the wholesale cost for a typical XFP module for short-reach 10 Gigabit Ethernet is about $350, but the cost of a module with the same reach can be reduced to under $100 with the new technology.
