ColorChip, a manufacturer of glass-based Planer Lightwave Circuit (PLC) chips and modules for the Fibre To The Home (FTTH) networks and Molex have agreed to develop next generation pluggable PLC transceiver platforms for the FTTH and datacom markets.
Based on proprietary PLC technology and integration from ColorChip and interconnect packaging technologies from Molex, the platforms will provide the telecom and datacom markets with a reliable and low cost transceiver product line for use in both indoor and outdoor conditions. All products will be designed to meet or exceed Telcordia standards for pluggable transceivers. The platforms will support applications for SFP, XFP, SFP+, QSFP and other pluggable transceiver MSA packages.
“ColorChip is delighted to be working with such an experienced team at Molex,” said Moshe Price, CEO of ColorChip. “We plan on delivering the industry’s premier pluggable transceivers based on our efforts. This product platform opens the market opportunity for ColorChip’s PLC based transceivers to be used in other Telecom and Datacom market segments that require pluggable MSA based packages.”
The Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation is co-funding the program with ColorChip and Molex. The BIRD Foundation promotes strategic partnerships between Israeli and American companies in various technological fields.
“The opportunity to develop leading-edge waveguide interconnect technology under a BIRD Foundation grant, and with an innovative company such as ColorChip, is very exciting for us,” said Tom Marrapode, director of marketing for Molex Fibre Optics. “The combination of ColorChip’s SystemOnGlass technology for PLC based transceivers and Molex’s interconnect connector technology is ideal for creating a fully automated assembly of pluggable transceiver products.”