Optical modules prove their worth

Finisar has been demonstrating interoperability between its 10km XFP 10Gbit/s optical modules and transceiver ICs from Vitesse Semiconductor and Quake Technologies at NFOEC 2003 in Orlando this week.

Finisar Corporation has been demonstrating interoperability between its 10km XFP 10Gbit/s optical modules and transceiver ICs from Vitesse Semiconductor and Quake Technologies at NFOEC 2003 in Orlando this week.

Finisar's FTRX-1411-3 optical transceiver uses a 1310nm DFB laser and complies with 10GBase-L Ethernet, Sonet OC-192 SR-1 and Fibre Channel 1200-SM-LL-L standards.

Its typical power dissipation is less than 2W, and it supports an operating temperature range of -5 to +70C.

One FTRX-1411-3 module has been shown interoperating with Vitesse's new 16bit, 9.95 to 11.3Gbit/s single-chip transceiver, the VSC8473SK.

This device is a low-power (1.1W typical), Sonet/SDH-compliant 16:1 serdes manufactured in 0.13-micron CMOS process with integrated multiplexer, demultiplexer, CMU, CDR and limiting amplifier.

It operates over an extended temperature range of -5 to +90C.

The vehicle being used for the test is Vitesse's VSC8473XFP interface card, which contains a 300-pin SFI-4.1 interface, the VSC8473SK transceiver IC and an XFP connector and cage.

System manufacturers can plug this card into a 300-pin MSA connector on their line card, in order to quickly integrate low-cost XFP modules into their existing systems without consuming in-house design resources.

Another Finisar FTRX-1411-3 module has been shown interoperating with the Quake QT2021, an integrated 10.3-10.5Gbit/s serial-to-XAUI transceiver IC for Ethernet and Fibre Channel applications, running on the Quake QT2021/XFP reference platform.

QT2021 is Quake's second generation IC to QT2020, which has been shipping since 2001 and is one of the most widely used such ICs today.

As with QT2020, QT2021 is field proven in XAUI-based modules and XFI-based system cards, and is fully compliant with IEEE802.3ae standard, and XENPAK/XPAK/X2 and XFP MSAs.

The Quake QT2021/XFP reference platform is a design kit for evaluation of QT2021 on a system card with XFP.

The reference design includes the QT2021 interfacing to an XFP connector via 3in of buried XFI traces over standard FR4 material.

A XENPAK connector on the XAUI side enables use in existing system cards for further interoperability testing.

The multiple built-in test features, loopbacks, and pattern generators and checkers of QT2021 also allow stand-alone testing of the reference design.

"The XFP transceiver, along with its XFI serial interface, is rapidly becoming the preferred optical module form factor in new system designs.

The robust interoperability shown by Finisar XFP modules with Quake and Vitesse ICs is extremely important to demonstrate its maturity and to solidify XFP's industry acceptance", said Christian Urri-cariet, Finisar's Director of Marketing for High-speed Optics.

Finisar has been shipping 10km XFP optical transceivers for several months, and has already demonstrated a 40km DWDM XFP version at OFC 2003 in March.

"The growing deployment of 10Gbit/s Ethernet means system OEMs are starting to look to designing next generation equipment.

XFP availability with robust, field-proven 10GE serdes, such as the QT2021, will be an important element of such systems", said Carolyn Raab, VP of Marketing of Quake Technologies.

"With the Quake reference design kit and proven interoperability of the QT2021 with XFP, systems can benefit from reduced development costs and rapid, low risk time to deployment".

"The continuation of our interoperability demonstrations is further evidence of Vitesse's close working relationship with major module manufacturers to deploy the low cost XFP module standard into high volume production.

The VSC8473SK is now the transceiver of choice for XFP host board applications at many OEMs", said Tony Conoscenti, Director of Product Marketing for Vitesse's Transport Products Division.

The XFP is an application-agnostic ultra-small 10Gbit/s optical transceiver module standardised by the XFP MSA Group.

Its ultra-small footprint and extremely low power dissipation enables the highest board density 10Gbit/s applications in the industry.

These factors, in addition to its protocol independence, provide the lowest overall system cost solution for OEMs.

The Group is currently formed by more than 75 member companies.

All XFP modules support digital diagnostics functions via a 2-pin serial bus, which provide calibrated, real-time measurements of the laser bias current, transmitted optical power, received optical power, internal transceiver temperature and supply voltage.

This diagnostic functionality allows telecommunication and data communications companies to implement reliable performance monitoring of their optical links in a very accurate and cost-effective way.

Additionally, Finisar's hot-pluggable XFP transceivers include a "bail" latch release mechanism for easy insertion and removal into the standardised metallic cage.

This cage is press-fit on the host board and includes a new modular heatsink design to facilitate heat management.

Back to top