April 15, 2008 -- Ethernet Alliance announced that members AMCC, Avago Technologies, Broadcom, ClariPhy, Cortina Systems, ExceLight Communications, Finisar, Gennum, Inphi, Intel, JDSU, MergeOptics, NetLogic Microsystems, Opnext, and Vitesse successfully conducted multi-vendor interoperability testing of Small Form Factor Pluggable (search for SFP+) short-reach (10GBASE-SR) and long-reach (10GBASE-LR) optical interfaces.
The testing was recently held at the University of New Hampshire Interoperability Lab (UNH-IOL) by the Ethernet Alliance SFP+/EDC subcommittee and demonstrated multiple SFP+ SR and LR optical transceivers and physical layer (PHY) ICs interoperating over 270 meters of OM3 multimode fiber and 10 km of singlemode fiber. In addition, the group demonstrated multiple SFP+ SR and LR optical transceivers and PHY ICs interoperating with XENPAK, X2, and XFP optical transceivers over the same distances, confirms the Ethernet Alliance.
SFP+ modules are hot-pluggable, small-footprint optical transceivers intended for datacom applications. According to the Ethernet Alliance, SFP+ interfaces offer the smallest, lowest-power option for 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10 GbE) to enable increased density in enterprise applications. SFP+ modules and PHY ICs are being developed for SR, LR, LRM (long-wavelength multimode) and ER (extra-long-wavelength) optical reaches per IEEE Std. 802.3ae-2002 and IEEE Std. 802.3aq-2006. Electrical and mechanical interface specifications for SFP+ modules, direct attach cables, and hosts are under definition by the SFF Committee, a multi-source agreement group with broad industry participation.
"We expect the move to smaller SFP+ modules will help increase the port density and reduce the cost of 10-Gigabit Ethernet line cards," reports Jag Bolaria, senior analyst with The Linley Group. "Demonstrating interoperability between 10GBASE-SR and 10GBASE-LR SFP+ modules with existing XENPAK, X2, and XFP modules showcases the readiness for deployment of SFP+ modules."
Additional information on the interoperability demonstration will be available in a white paper that will be published in late April and available on the Ethernet Alliance Website.
The SFP+/EDC subcommittee plans to hold a second plugfest in 2008 to demonstrate interoperability of SFP+ 10GBASE-LRM optical interfaces and direct attach copper SFP+ interfaces. More detailed information on this plugfest will be available in the coming months.
