News

18 November 2009

 

Avago ramps production of QSFP+ active optical cable and transceiver solutions

At this week’s Supercomputing 2009 event (SC09) in Portland, OR, Avago Technologies of San Jose, CA, USA is showcasing its QSFP+ active optical cable (AOC) and transceiver solutions for short-range Infiniband and Ethernet applications.

The AFBR-79Q4xACyyZ is a high-performance integrated AOC 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 10Gbps with lengths of 1–100m.

The AFBR-79Q4xACyyZ QSFP+ active optical cable assembly and AFBR-79Q4Z transceiver use multi-mode fiber utilizing 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 what is claimed to be 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,” says Sami Nassar, senior director of marketing for Avago’s Fiber Optic product division. Copper cabling typically has a limited reach of 3–15m at 10Gbps/lane data rate. A fiber-optic QSFP+ solution provides a longer reach and a tighter bend radius. “As a result, parallel optics is now a natural replacement for parallel copper interconnects,” he adds. The QSFP+ active optical cable assembly and transceiver provide a hot-pluggable solution with data rates of 5–10Gbps 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% to allow systems companies to lower their overall cost per port.”

At SC’09, Avago is conducting live demonstrations of its QSFP+ AOC and transceiver products, including a 120Gbps 12x QDR Infiniband link streaming traffic from the SCInet network and an example of a real-time advanced remote desktop that allows exhibitors to share simulations, live video and presentations.

Pricing for the AFBR-79Q4xACyyZ AOC is about $500 for a 10m cable in small quantities.

Search: Avago AOC

Visit: www.avagotech.com