4WDM MSA Group targets 10-40 km 100 Gbps optical transceivers

The 4WDM MSA Group announced the formation of a new industry consortium dedicated to defining optical specifications and promoting adoption of interoperable 100 Gbits/sec (4x25 Gbits/sec) optical transceivers for 10 km based on the CWDM4 wavelength grid and for 20 and 40 km based on the LAN-WDM wavelength grid over duplex single-mode fiber (SMF).

The extended reaches will address data interconnect and mobile backhaul applications. The group says it is responding to previously unmet industry needs for longer reaches, lower costs, and lower power consumption in small form factors, as compared to previously available standards.

"The CWDM4 MSA defined the first duplex low-cost 100 Gbps specification for 2 km reaches based on a CWDM grid and using RS (528, 514) FEC," says Dale Murray, principal analyst at LightCounting Market Research. "Now the 4WDM MSA is extending the value proposition of the CWDM4 MSA and RS-FEC to define an even more cost-effective set of specifications for reaches from 10 to 40 km. Customers, particularly hyperscale cloud service providers and carriers, are looking or optimized solutions for up to 40 km."

Founding members of the 4WDM MSA include Broadcom Ltd., Brocade, Ciena, ColorChip, Dell Inc., Finisar Corp., Foxconn Interconnect Technology, Huawei Technology Co. Ltd., Intel Corp., Juniper Networks, Kaiam Corp., Lumentum, MACOM Technology, Oclaro Inc., Skorpios Technologies Inc., Source Photonics, and Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd.

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