CWDM4 MSA releases initial specifications for 4x25G 100 Gigabit Ethernet transceivers

The CWDM4 MSA consortium, one of several groups launched this year to create 100 Gigabit Ethernet (100GbE) optical transceivers for data center links up to 2 km, has released Revision 1.0 of its specifications.

The specifications, available on the MSA’s website, detail an optical module architecture based on four lanes of 25 Gbps combined via CWDM for transmission over duplex singlemode fiber (SMF). The optical transmission is expected to leverage IEEE 802.3bj KR4 RS forward error correction (FEC) on the host port.

The consortium asserts they developed the specifications via what a press release described as "a broad review process" that included feedback from more than 40 companies, including system OEMs, optical component vendors, chip vendors, and fiber cabling manufacturers.

The MSA launched this past March with Avago Technologies, Finisar, JDSU, Oclaro, and Sumitomo Electric as founding members (see "CWDM4 MSA to target 100-Gbps at 2 km for data centers"). Those five optical transceiver vendors have since added Brocade, ColorChip, Hitachi Metals, Juniper Networks, Kaiam, Mitsubishi Electric, Neophotonics, Oplink, Skorpios Technologies, and SiFotonics to the consortium’s ranks.

Hints regarding when compliant transceivers might hit the market have not been forthcoming. However, such information may begin to filter out during ECOC in Cannes September 21-25.

"The CWDM4 MSA has achieved a key milestone today in the push towards mass adoption of 100G interfaces in data center applications," commented Vladimir Kozlov, founder and CEO of Lightcounting Market Research. "Achieving Revision 1.0 allows the industry to move forward in developing a common, ubiquitous optics platform for next-generation data center applications."

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