9 March 2011

Interoperability testing completed between Xilinx Virtex-6 HXT FPGAs and Avago SFP+ and QSFP+ modules

Avago Technologies and programmable chip provider Xilinx Inc of San Jose, CA, USA have completed interoperability testing between Xilinx’s Virtex-6 HXT field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and Avago’s SFP+ and QSFP+ optical transceiver modules. The testing proves the design and interoperability of 10 and 40 Gigabit Ethernet ports using optical interfaces from Avago with what is claimed to market-leading transceiver jitter performance for the Virtex-6 HXT FPGAs.

“The Xilinx Virtex-6 HXT FPGA with integrated GTH transceivers was designed to meet the demanding jitter requirements for the 10Gbps optical interfaces,” says Nick Possley, Xilinx’s director of Wired Communications. “The superior jitter performance enables us to support Avago’s 10 Gigabit Ethernet SFP+ optical module connectivity without the need for external re-timers,” he adds.

“Xilinx designed the GTH transceivers in Virtex-6 HXT devices to be optimized for demanding optical interfaces, and the proof of that effort is evident in our ability to support 10 Gigabit SFP+ Ethernet optical ports up to 300m for 10GBase-SR using modules from Avago,” Possley continues.

“System engineers can now design with confidence when developing systems using high-bandwidth optical interconnects and Xilinx FPGAs,” comments Victor Krutul, director of marketing for Avago’s Fiber Optics Product Division.

Link verification has been completed with 10 Gigabit Ethernet SFP+ modules using both short-range and long-range fiber, as well as with 40 Gigabit Ethernet QSFP+ modules using short-range fiber. Avago claims to be the only firm shipping 40 Gigabit QSFP transceivers. In addition, a complete test suite to verify compatibility with the IEEE 802.3ae 10GBASE-SR, 10GBASE-LR, and the SFP+ SFF-8431 MSA specifications has been completed using SFP+ modules, with operation verified over full specified link distances of 300m for OM3 multi-mode fiber and 10km for single-mode fiber.

Xilinx Virtex-6 HXT devices interface to industry-standard SFP+ and QSFP+ optical modules at line rates up to 11.18Gbps addressing next-generation application needs. Furthermore, due to the jitter performance (sub-500fs rms random jitter at 11.18Gbps) and signal integrity, the need for external conditioning circuitry is eliminated. The jitter performance provides system designers with the margin required to build robust high-speed interfaces.

Avago is demonstrating its SFP+ and QSFP+ modules in booth 2001 at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference (OFC 2011) in Los Angeles (8–10 March). Xilinx is demonstrating Virtex-6 HXT FPGAs in booth 2335.

Tags: Avago SFP+ QSFP+

Visit: www.xilinx.com

Visit: www.avagotech.com

Join Semiconductor Today's LinkedIn networking and discussion group