April 7, 2011 – Silicon Line GmbH, a leading provider of ultra-low power analogue ICs, today announced that it has brought to market the SL82028 and SL82018, an ultra-low power 6 Gbps VCSEL (Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser) driver and TIA (transimpedance amplifier) chipset. Implemented in standard CMOS using Silicon Line’s world leading ultra-low power design techniques, the chipset only consumes a total of less than 14 mW at 6 Gbps.
Continuing a proud tradition of bringing leading edge, ultra-low power and cost effective products to market, the SL82028 and SL82018 are Silicon Line’s latest additions to its expanding product portfolio of state of the art VCSEL drivers, TIAs and SerDes ICs.
“In the consumer market we see several key trends. One trend is the demand for ever higher data bandwidth as Full HD video and 3D become mainstream in EMI sensitive devices. Another trend is the demand for dramatically reduced power consumption, not only to increase battery life for portable devices but also for environmental reasons. Additionally, devices with slim form factor designs are highly popular and they place severe restrictions on the size and mechanical flexibility of the link used to transport the high-speed data”, says Ian Jackson, Senior Manager Sales and Marketing at Silicon Line. “An optical link which uses the SL82028 and SL82018 enables all these key trends”, he added.
An example of an application where these trends can be seen is the DisplayPort / embedded DisplayPort technology used in notebooks, netbooks and tablets, as well as to connect external monitors to PC’s. The latest version of DisplayPort, version 1.2, operates at 5.4 Gbps per lane. When used in notebooks, netbooks or tablets, minimum power consumption is required in order to extend battery life. The inputs of SL82028 and the outputs of SL82018 are DisplayPort compliant and are perfectly suited for this application. An optical link using these ICs eliminates any EMI concerns and enables slim form factor designs.
SL82028 and SL82018 are ideally suited for a wide range of applications including DisplayPort optical cables, mobile / smart phones, as well as other mobile consumer products like tablets, digital still cameras, digital video cameras, notebooks and netbooks. They are also well suited for automotive, industrial and medical applications.
The SL82028 and SL82018 are available as bare die and are sampling now.