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Posts Tagged 'Active Electrical Cables'

  • October 29, 2024

    Nine Things to Remember About the Future of Copper in Computing

    By Michael Kanellos, Head of Influencer Relations, Marvell and Vienna Alexander, Marketing Content Intern, Marvell

    Is copper dead?

    Not by a long shot. Copper technology, however, will undergo a dramatic transformation over the next several years. Here’s a guide.

    1. Copper is the Goldilocks Metal

    Copper has been a staple ingredient for interconnects since the days of Colossus and ENIAC. It is a superior conductor, costs far less than gold or silver and offers relatively low resistance. Copper also replaced aluminum for connecting transistors inside of chips in the late 90s because its 40% lower resistance improved performance by 15%1.

    Copper is also simple, reliable and hearty. Interconnects are essentially wires. By contrast, optical interconnects require a host of components such as optical DSPs, transimpedance amplifiers and lasers.

    “The first rule in optical technology is ‘Whatever you can do in copper, do in copper,’” says Dr. Loi Nguyen, EVP of optical technology at Marvell.

    2. But It’s Still a Metal

    Nonetheless, electrical resistance exists. As bandwidth and network speeds increase, so do heat and power consumption. Additionally, increasing bandwidth reduces the reach, so doubling the data rate reduces distance by roughly 30–50%  (see below).

    As a result, optical technologies have replaced copper in interconnects five meters or longer in data centers and telecommunication networks. 

    What are copper interconnects used

    Source: Marvell

  • February 10, 2023

    Marvell Data Center Interconnect Solutions Achieve 2023 Lightwave Innovation Honors

    By Kristin Hehir, Senior Manager, PR and Marketing, Marvell

     

     

     

     

    Marvell has been honored with two 2023 Lightwave Innovation Reviews high scores, validating its leadership in PAM4 DSP solutions for data infrastructure. The two awards reflect the industry’s recognition of Marvell’s recent best-in-class innovations to address the growing bandwidth and interconnect needs of cloud data center networks. An esteemed and experienced panel of third-party judges from the optical communications community recognized Marvell as a high-scoring honoree.

    “On behalf of the Lightwave Innovation Reviews, I would like to congratulate Marvell on their high-scoring honoree status,” said Lightwave Editorial Director, Stephen Hardy. “This competitive program allows Lightwave to celebrate and recognize the most innovative products impacting the optical communications community this year.”

    Marvell was recognized for the Marvell® Alaska® A PAM4 DSP Family for Active Electrical Cables (AECs) and the Marvell® Spica™ Gen 2 800G PAM4 Electro-Optics Platform, both in the Data Center Interconnect Platforms category. Key features of these 2023 Lightwave Innovation Reviews honorees include:

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