Finisar has unveiled a pair of shortwave wavelength-division multiplexing (SWDM) transceivers in a QSFP form factor. A 40-Gbps SWDM4 QSFP+ transceiver debuted in March 2015. It offers 300-m transmission distance on duplex OM3 multimode fiber (MMF) and consumes less than 1.5 W. A 100-Gbps SWDM4 QSFP28 transceiver was introduced in September 2015. Duplex MMF is the most common optical interconnection medium between data center systems (i.e., servers, network switches and routers). To upgrade from 10G to 40G or 100G, data centers must typically quadruple their fiber infrastructure to use parallel SR4 transceivers. By contrast, SWDM technology enables data center operators to maintain the same duplex MMF infrastructure they have already deployed, resulting in significant capex and opex savings.
The transceivers also are compatible with the emerging wideband multimode fiber (WBMMF). Such fibe promises even greater reach than currently possible over existing OM3 and OM4 fibers.Judge's comment: "These products enable network operators to grow the capacity of their networks without laying new fiber cabling. For those that have laid new fiber cabling, this allows for an increased number of endpoints. In particular, the 100-Gbps product is the only solution available to carry 100 Gbps over MMF duplex. This is a great product."Click here to return to the 2016 Lightwave Innovation Reviews page.
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