Advantest launches its first integrated test solution for optical transceivers

Semiconductor test equipment supplier Advantest has introduced its new 28G OPM (28-gigabit Optical Port Module), the company’s first solution designed specifically for testing optical transceivers – advanced semiconductor devices that transmit and receive data through optical fibers. By using fiber optics, these devices enable data transmissions over longer distances at faster speeds and lower power consumption than wire cables.  This technology is used extensively in applications such as data centers, which manage the extremely high volumes of data transmissions used in mobile communications and cloud computing.

“With our new 28G OPM module, we are well positioned to serve the rapidly growing market for optical transceivers, which Infonetics Research has projected to reach $3.3bn by 2016,” said Dr. Toshiyuki Okayasu, executive officer and executive vice president of the SoC Test Business Group at Advantest. According to Facebook, the required target price of next-generation optical transceivers is as low as one U.S. dollar for each gigabit per second (Gbps) of data-transfer speed.

The semiconductor industry roadmap for optical transceivers calls for boosting speeds from today’s 40-Gbps interconnections to 100 Gbps by 2017 and possibly 400 Gbps by 2020. Advantest’s new solution is among the first integrated solutions capable of cost-efficiently testing these high-speed devices.

By mounting the new module on Advantest’s T2000 platform, this solution can simultaneously test up to eight 100-Gbps transceivers. To test each 100-Gbps transceiver, four lanes of both optical and electrical 28-Gbps ports are used. This integrated automated test equipment (ATE) solution enables faster cycle times and greater operating efficiency at a lower cost of test while also offering the benefit of being fully supported by Advantest’s global customer service network.

“As the Internet of Things (IoT) grows, data centers need greater bandwidth,” Dr. Okayasu explained. “This requires a much higher volume of high-speed, low-cost transceivers.  Our 28G OPM solution can reduce transceivers’ test costs and increase their productivity, advances that could have far-reaching effects on data center designs and the IoT.”