InPho, a Canadian startup based in Ottawa, stands for “Indium Phosphide Photonics.” The company specializes in integrating photonics and electronics into a single, monolithically grown device and currently holds 11 patents, with applications for an additional four recently submitted.
Founded by a group of serial entrepreneurs with backgrounds in telecom giants like Nortel and BNR Research, InPho aims to lead the photonics sector within data centers.
Jeff Reece, Senior Vice President of Operations at InPho, stated in the Canada-Taiwan Co-Innovation Forum in Hsinchu, “The speed advantages of Indium Phosphide (InP) have been recognized for some time. We are the first company to combine a laser and modulator into a single monolithic InP device. Additionally, we are pioneering the integration of electronics and photonics in one device.”
Reece explained that merging photonics and electronics into a single growth chip can significantly enhance data rates and overall efficiency in power consumption.
“We're also developing high-speed trans-impedance amplifiers (TIAs) for the receive side. While our initial focus is on the 112 and 224 Gbps markets in today’s data centers, our ultimate goal is to reach 448 Gbps,” he added.
InPho believes that a considerable portion of the market will continue to rely on transceiver solutions, offering a pluggable option for data center racks. Although co-packaged optics (CPO) and onboard optics are gaining traction among industry leaders, InPho is confident that these approaches will also evolve toward 448 Gbps, particularly due to some inherent limitations of silicon photonics at those speeds.
“While the conversation currently centers around speeds of 224 Gbps in data centers, we are focused on the next leap to 448 Gbps, which should be achievable in the next five years,” Reece noted. “We will certainly cater to the 224 Gbps market, but we are already in discussions with hyper-scale data center operators regarding 448 Gbps architectures. Our modulator currently supports data rates exceeding 300 gigabits per second, and we are actively pursuing initiatives to meet the 448 Gbps target.”
InPho anticipates that its first integrated laser and modulator will be available for sampling by the end of November this year. The subsequent device, which integrates a modulator and driver, will be ready for sampling between December and early January 2025.
The company is actively seeking supply chain partners to help advance cutting-edge processes in epi growth, wafer fabrication, and back-end processing, particularly in packaging—whether for CPO or transceiver solutions—necessary to scale up to higher volumes. “Yes, we would love to partner with Taiwanese companies to enhance our access to Asian markets,” Reece expressed.
More on InPho’s presentation at the Canada-Taiwan Co-Innovation Forum.
This is one of the articles in Tech Soda's dedicated feature on Canadian startups. Innovation Canada
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