May 5, 2009 -- Ixia, a provider of IP performance test systems, says in "an industry first," its high-speed Ethernet (HSE) IEEE 802.3ba-compliant test equipment was used to successfully transmit and receive Ethernet traffic at 100 Gbps through a CFP multisource agreement (MSA)-compatible optical module. The HSE load module, known as K2, is capable of transmitting and receiving full line-rate 100-Gbps Ethernet Ethernet traffic.
The CFP Multi-Source Agreement (MSA) defines a hot-pluggable optical transceiver interfaces to enable 40Gb/s and 100Gb/s applications, including 100-Gbps (100GbE) and 40-Gbps (40GbE) Ethernet. The CFP MSA defines the form factor of a hot-swappable optical transceiver supporting 40/100GbE and uses a transceiver electrical interface consisting of multiple 10-Gbps lanes. Pluggable CFP transceivers will support the ultra-high bandwidth requirements of data communications and telecommunication networks that form the backbone of the internet.
"Industry-wide adoption of 100GbE is also dependent on the viability of optical transceivers that are defined by industry standard MSAs," says Errol Ginsberg, chief innovation officer of Ixia. "This successful demonstration is another big step towards that goal, highlighting Ixia's ability and commitment to work with industry leaders to move Ethernet technology forward."
The company touts its CFP usage as demonstrating the feasibility of pluggable optics for both 40/100GbE. The MSA optical transceiver is hot pluggable and its size is about the same length but double the width of the XENPAK 10GbE module.
On the Web:
www.cfp-msa.org
www.ixiacom.com