I just posted a blog entry about the Altera Optical FPGA that pumped 100Gigabit/sec Ethernet (GbE) traffic through a 3D-package-on-package-mounted, 12-channel optical interconnect device from Avago. (See “3D Thursday: Altera adds Avago MicroPOD optical interconnects to FPGA package to handle bidirectional 100Gbps Ethernet”). Today, I thought it might be really interesting to take a close look at the Avago MicroPOD optical device, made possible by the hi-res image Altera sent to me. (Thanks, Altera!)
Note: This is just one small corner of the FPGA package–see how the metal lid of the Optical FPGA package has been notched to leave space for the Avago MicroPOD.
This device is pumping bidirectional 100GbE traffic over a tiny fiber ribbon cable. That boggles the mind compared to the normal amount of hardware you need to perform this feat.
Chances are you might be as interested in this image as I am so here it is, cropped to zoom in on the optical device:
