16 January 2003 -- The 10 Gigabit Small Form-factor Pluggable (XFP) Module Group, a module multi-source agreement (MSA) association, has announced that the XFP specification is available for final public review.
The specification is intended to help speed development of multi-sourced, application-transparent, ultra-small-form-factor 10Gbit/s modules, which are designed to occupy one-fifth the space and use one-half the power of current modules. The specification is complete and available on the web at www.xfpmsa.org. It is scheduled for final adoption in February. Instructions are provided for transmitting public review comments to the XFP Group.
"Since its inception, the XFP MSA has grown to over 80 companies, illustrating the growing interest in accelerating the development of 10Gbit/s Fibre Channel, Ethernet, SONET, and related 10Gbit/s technology to market," says said Bob Snively, principal engineer at Brocade and chairman of the group. "XFP products compliant with this specification are being shipped by several companies."
Modules built to the XFP specification feature an electrical interface called XFI, which removes the complexity and power associated with placing electrical transceivers inside other available modules. This results in significant space, power and cost savings to module suppliers and system manufacturers.
The small size of XFP modules will enable the development of boards having up to 16 10Gbit/s ports to be deployed in a 19-inch rack space, and their cost structure will help accelerate the deployment of inexpensive 10Gbit/s client interfaces. Additional cost benefits can be achieved as higher levels of circuit integration become available at the 10Gbit/s data rate. Because the XFP specification is not protocol dependent, multiple market segments will benefit from the aggregate volume of XFP modules.