InterBOARD® QSFP Active Optical Cable

QSFP (Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable) InterBOARD® Active Optical Cable

The 4-Channel QSFP Active Optical Cable (QSFP-AOC) provides bi-directional Electrical-to-electrical connectivity over distances up to 100 meters using multimode optical fiber. Each independent channel is capable of 5, 8 or 10 Gbps for an aggregate bi-directional bandwidth of up to 40 Gbps*. The QSFP-AOC module offers an extremely compact solution for DDR/SDR Infiniband™, 10 Gigabit Ethernet CX4 (XAUI), 4 x OC-48 SONET, multi-lane PCI Express, 10 Gigabit Fibre Channel, as well as proprietary backplane interconnections.

These modules employ Reflex Photonics’ next generation LightABLE™ packaging technology, enabling extremely high feature-integration and functionality. The QSFP-AOC is designed to meet the harshest external operating conditions including temperature, humidity and EMI interference.

Reflex Photonics hot-pluggable QSFP-AOC modules offer 4 transmit and 4 receive independent channels operating at up to 10 Gbps per channel. Figure 1 presents a schematic of one side of the QSFP-AOC connection with the host board using a standard IPass™ electrical interface receptacle (as per the QSFP MSA). The host board supplies power at +3.3 V to the QSFP-AOC when connected.

The QSFP-AOC module consists of an array of 4 850-nm VCSELs (Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers) which converts 4 parallel high-speed electrical data signals to 4 parallel optical data outgoing signals, while simultaneously converting 4 parallel incoming optical signals to 4 parallel electrical signals using an array of 4 850-nm PIN photodiodes. An optical fiber ribbon cable is permanently attached to the opto-electronic circuitry within the QSFP-AOC module.

* Actual link distance depends on fiber type and data rate.

Highlights:

• 4 independent channels per direction
  
• 5, 8, or 10 Gbps per channel
  
• Aggregate bandwidth of up to 40 Gbps (4 x 10 Gbps) in each direction
  
• QSFP MSA compliant
  
• Hot-pluggable electrical interface
  
• Low power consumption (1 Watt)
  
• Employing proven LightABLE™ encapsulated optical sub-assembly technology
  
• 0 to 70 Celsius operating temperature
  

Applications

• High-performance computing, Datacom, Telecom and Server data links for:
  
  • Board to board interconnects
    
  • Rack to rack interconnects
    
  • System to system interconnects
    
• High-performance proprietary Backplanes
  
• 4 independent channels for high-speed data communication standards:
  
  • Infiniband™ - 4x SDR/DDR
    
  • SONET/SDH
    
  • 10 & 40 Gigabit Ethernet (XAUI)
    
  • 2, 4, 8, 10 Gigabit Fibre Channel
    
  • PCI Express 4X etc…
    

InterBOARD® QSFP Active Optical Cables- Product Brief & Specifications