What is LPO optical module

The emergence of LPO optical modules is an inevitable product of the development of optical communication technology to a certain stage. With the continuous expansion of the scale of data centers and the continuous improvement of communication network transmission rates, higher requirements have been placed on the performance indicators of optical modules such as power consumption, delay, cost, and volume. Although traditional optical modules have advantages in transmission distance and bit error rate, their shortcomings such as higher power consumption, greater delay, higher cost, and larger size are becoming increasingly obvious. In order to overcome these shortcomings, LPO optical modules came into being.

The manufacturing of LPO optical modules is mainly based on the following considerations:

①Reduce power consumption: Data centers are one of the most important areas for optical module applications. There are a large number of servers in the data center, and excessive power consumption of optical modules will lead to a significant increase in the overall power consumption of the data center and increase operating costs. LPO optical modules use linear drive technology, do not require DSP/CDR chips, and consume about 50% less power than traditional optical modules, which can effectively reduce the operating costs of data centers.
②Reduce latency: In data centers and communication networks, latency is one of the important factors affecting system performance. The linear drive technology of LPO optical modules can reduce signal processing delays, make the transmission delay of the optical modules lower, and improve system performance.
③Reducing costs: The LPO optical module has a simpler structure and lower manufacturing costs. In cost-sensitive application scenarios such as data centers, LPO optical modules can effectively reduce procurement costs.
④Reduced size: LPO optical modules do not require DSP/CDR chips and are smaller in size. In compact data centers and communication equipment, LPO optical modules can save space.

Advantages of LPO optical modules

Lower power consumption: LPO optical modules use linear drive technology, no DSP/CDR chip is needed, and power consumption is about 50% lower than traditional optical modules.
Lower latency: The linear drive technology of the LPO optical module can reduce signal processing delays and make the transmission delay of the optical module lower.
Lower cost: The LPO optical module has a simpler structure and lower manufacturing cost.
Smaller size: LPO optical modules do not require DSP/CDR chips and are smaller in size.

Disadvantages of LPO optical modules

Shorter transmission distance: The linear drive technology of LPO optical modules has limited signal amplification capabilities, so the transmission distance is shorter than traditional optical modules.
Higher bit error rate: The linear drive technology of LPO optical modules has weak anti-interference ability on signals, so the bit error rate is higher than that of traditional optical modules.

LPO optical module, the full name is Linear-drive Pluggable Optics, which is a linear drive pluggable optical module. It is an optical module packaging solution using linear drive technology;It is an optical module packaging technology. It adopts a linear drive strategy to replace DSP by using a transimpedance amplifier (TIA) and a driver chip (DRIVER) with excellent linearity and balancing capabilities. LPO utilizes specialized components, including ASIC substrates, ASICs (retimers) and ASIC chips, to optimize signal processing and enable efficient plug-and-play functionality in optical communication systems.

Application scenarios of LPO optical modules

Data center: LPO optical modules have low power consumption, low latency, low cost, and small size. They are suitable for short-distance optical interconnections in data centers, such as between servers, switches, and memories.
Communication network: LPO optical modules can also be used for short-distance optical interconnection in communication networks, such as between base stations, between aggregation layers, etc.
Other fields: LPO optical modules can also be used in industrial control, medical, military and other fields.

The future development of LPO optical modules

LPO optical module is an emerging optical module packaging solution with broad application prospects. With the development of optical communication technology, the performance indicators such as transmission distance and bit error rate of LPO optical modules are expected to be further improved, and its application scope will also be wider.