ICs for 100-Gb/s serial operation

Recently, research activities in the field of 100 Gb/s integrated circuits (ICs) for communication systems have increased. This article discusses an overview of the building blocks of a hypothetical 100-Gb/s serial transmission system and points out some important aspects of such building blocks. Several key building blocks for a 100-Gb/s serial transceivers are also demonstrated. Some pioneering 100-Gb/s ICs designed through various enabling semiconductor technologies are presented as well.