- News
6 November 2017
Finisar releases 100G SWDM4 QSFP28 transceiver to full production
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Fiber-optic communications component and subsystem maker Finisar Corp of Sunnyvale, CA, USA says that it is now in full production of its 100G shortwave wavelength division multiplexing (SWDM) optical transceiver.
The pluggable QSFP28 transceiver is claimed to be the first mass-produced module capable of transmitting 100Gbps over a single pair of multi-mode fibers, enabling users to upgrade from existing 10Gbps to 100Gbps without altering the existing fiber infrastructure. The transceiver is also the first optical module on the market compliant with the 100G SWDM4 specification defined by the SWDM multi-source agreement (MSA).
Many data centers currently carry 10Gbps optical signals over duplex multi-mode fiber (MMF), where one fiber is used to transmit a signal and the other is used to receive a signal. When upgrading to 40Gbps or 100Gbps over MMF, data-center operators must quadruple the amount of fiber deployed if they wish to use optical transceiver modules based on the IEEE 40GBASE-SR4 or 100GBASE-SR4 standards, both of which rely on four fiber pairs (i.e. 8 fibers). The transceiver, system and cabling suppliers that constitute the SWDM MSA have agreed on specifications that avoid the need for this additional fiber, and therefore allow data centers to further leverage their investment in their existing MMF plant.
Finisar says that it was the first optical transceiver vendor to complete reliability testing and release a 40Gbps SWDM4 module earlier this year, and is now also the first vendor to complete reliability testing and release a 100Gbps SWDM4 module. These modules comply with the 40G SWDM4 and 100G SWDM4 specifications of the SWDM MSA, respectively.
“The ability to leverage existing 10G fiber infrastructure not only saves our customers additional capital expenditure, but also provides operational savings by eliminating the need for new fiber installation and associated facility upgrades,” comment James Wynia, director of network product management at Dell EMC.
“Finisar’s SWDM modules are the first of their kind to finish qualification and be released to mass production,” comments Dale Murray, principal analyst at LightCounting Market Research. “These duplex MMF modules provide systems vendors with a strong competitive advantage against other vendors who offer only parallel multi-mode optics at 40G and 100G to their data-center customers,” he adds.
In addition to the 40G SWDM4 and 100G SWDM4 modules currently in production, Finisar previously demonstrated an extended-reach 100G eSWDM4 module at the European Conference on Optical Communications in Gothenburg, Sweden (ECOC 2017) in September.
MSA formed for shortwave WDM optical standards operating over duplex MMF
Finisar demos first 100G QSFP28 SWDM4 module for duplex multimode fiber
Optical communications QSFP28 Finisar
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