Cable Technology Feature Article
November 19, 2009
Finisar Intros 120 Gb/s CXP to QSFP Active Breakout Cable
By Rajani Baburajan, TMCnet Contributor
Finisar, a provider of fiber optic solutions for high-speed networks, has announced the first public demonstration of a 120 Gb/s CXP to QSFP active breakout cable at the SuperComputing 2009 (SC09) exhibition.
Having a single CXP transceiver at one end and three 40 Gb/s QSFP transceivers at the other end, the active optical cable provides maximum flexibility in high performance computing and network infrastructure environments, say Finisar officials.
According to Finisar, the multi-connector cable provides high density switches with connectivity to multiple top-of-rack switches and/or server nodes. The cable is compliant with both CXP and QSFP specifications, and provides a hot-pluggable, low power, low-weight, and flexible solution for high port-count network topologies.
Another product on display is an active 10 Gb/s Ethernet copper cable, the latest member of the Laserwire cable family targeted at server connectivity applications. Company officials say that the cable is designed to comply with the SFF-8461 specification through the use of SFP+ to Laserwire adapters and optimized for very short, low cost, intra-rack links.
At SC09, Finisar is also demonstrating a new QSFP to Laserwire adapter, which will drive the convergence of multiple connector form factors in data center applications. This adapter will enable system manufacturers to design a single PCB layout for both 10G and 40G solutions.
Finisar is also showcasing its extended family of high-performance active optical cables, which includes Quadwire, a 40 Gb/s parallel cable for 40GbE and InfiniBand QDR, as well as C.wire, a 150 Gb/s parallel cable for 100GbE and InfiniBand 12xQDR applications.
In September, Finisar announced its new WaveShaper S-series programmable optical processors designed to provide advanced arbitrary filter generation and switching capabilities for making the optical system development and production test more precise, TMCnet reported.
WaveShaper optical processors are suitable as dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) system and component testing tools besides helping in optical pulse shaping and control and high-speed optical research and development, company officials said.
Having a single CXP transceiver at one end and three 40 Gb/s QSFP transceivers at the other end, the active optical cable provides maximum flexibility in high performance computing and network infrastructure environments, say Finisar officials.
According to Finisar, the multi-connector cable provides high density switches with connectivity to multiple top-of-rack switches and/or server nodes. The cable is compliant with both CXP and QSFP specifications, and provides a hot-pluggable, low power, low-weight, and flexible solution for high port-count network topologies.
Another product on display is an active 10 Gb/s Ethernet copper cable, the latest member of the Laserwire cable family targeted at server connectivity applications. Company officials say that the cable is designed to comply with the SFF-8461 specification through the use of SFP+ to Laserwire adapters and optimized for very short, low cost, intra-rack links.
At SC09, Finisar is also demonstrating a new QSFP to Laserwire adapter, which will drive the convergence of multiple connector form factors in data center applications. This adapter will enable system manufacturers to design a single PCB layout for both 10G and 40G solutions.
Finisar is also showcasing its extended family of high-performance active optical cables, which includes Quadwire, a 40 Gb/s parallel cable for 40GbE and InfiniBand QDR, as well as C.wire, a 150 Gb/s parallel cable for 100GbE and InfiniBand 12xQDR applications.
In September, Finisar announced its new WaveShaper S-series programmable optical processors designed to provide advanced arbitrary filter generation and switching capabilities for making the optical system development and production test more precise, TMCnet reported.
WaveShaper optical processors are suitable as dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) system and component testing tools besides helping in optical pulse shaping and control and high-speed optical research and development, company officials said.
Rajani Baburajan is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Rajani's articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Patrick Barnard
