Avago Technologies Ramps Up Production of its QSFP+ Active Optical Cable and Transceiver Solutions

(Product News, 23 Nov 2009)

Avago Technologies will showcase its leading QSFP+ active optical cable (AOC) and transceiver solutions for short range InfiniBand and Ethernet applications this week at Supercomputing 09. The AFBR-79Q4xACyyZ is a high performance integrated cable for short-range multi-lane data communication and interconnect applications. It integrates four data lanes in each direction with 40Gbps aggregate bandwidth into a single module. Each lane can operate at 10 Gbps with lengths ranging from 1 to 100 meters.

The AFBR-79Q4xACyyZ QSFP+ active optical cable assembly and AFBR-79Q4Z transceiver utilizes multimode fiber using a wavelength of 850nm. The electrical interface uses a 38-contact edge type connector. Additionally, the four-channel pluggable AOC and transceiver incorporate Avago's integrated circuit and VCSEL technology to provide reliable long life, high performance, and consistent service.

"As the bandwidth needs have increased, copper interconnects are becoming less and less attractive due to the bulk of the connectors, cables, electromagnetic interference (EMI) issues, weight management, and reduced distance capability. As a result, parallel optics is now a natural replacement for parallel copper interconnects," said Sami Nassar, senior director of Marketing, Fiber Optic Product Division, Avago Technologies. "The QSFP+ active optical cable assembly and transceiver provide a hot pluggable solution with data rates from 5Gbps up to 10Gbps per channel. Compared to other 10Gbps serial solutions, these QSFP+ solutions help to improve port density by more than two times and reduce power consumption by more than 50 percent to allow systems companies to lower their overall cost per port."

Copper cabling is typically a bulky solution with a limited reach of 3 to 15 meters at 10Gbps/lane data rate. A fiber optic QSFP+ solution provides a longer reach and a tighter bend radius.