The Development Path of 40G Ethernet

2010 is the most milestone year for Ethernet technology. On June 17, 2010, IEEE officially approved the IEEE802.3ba standard. This standard marks the beginning of the commercial approach of 40/100G Ethernet. This standard has also derived from many optical modules such as 40GBASE-SR4. In this article, we will introduce the 40GBASE-SR4 module, and will also introduce in detail the 40G standard. How to build, through this article, you will know more about the 40GBASE-SR4 module

How 40/100G Ethernet Was Born?

In the Ethernet standard, 40G has always been a special rate, from 10M to 100M to 1000M, 1G to 10G, Ethernet has always been 10 times the rate to define a higher interface rate, why 40G changed the Ethernet interface speed which is always been obey the law. As early as 2006, when the next-generation high-speed Ethernet was being formulated, there was a choice of 40 or 100G. Should the next-generation Ethernet be 40G or 100G?

The supporters of 40G Ethernet as the next-generation standard have very good reasons: the related technology industry chain of 40G ports is relatively mature, and it has very realistic significance in terms of chip cost, optical module cost, and port deployment. In order to achieve large-scale commercial use soon.

And 100G supporters are more willing to face greater technical challenges: although 100GbE has technical and cost problems in many aspects, it cannot be abandoned for technical reasons when considering 10G*10=100G. Disagreements and debates between the two sides have persisted, and have been defined when it affects the final published results. However, from the perspective of market positioning, both of them have their own emphasis on application. 100G Ethernet is more focused on network aggregation and backbone. 40G Ethernet is mainly for data centers

At the same time as IEEE’s 40G/100G Ethernet standard was released, several optical communication standards organizations are also actively formulating relevant specifications covering 40G/100G devices, optical modules, OTN overhead processing, system equipment, and other fields. Specifically, IEEE mainly formulates client-side network interfaces and Ethernet-related mapping standards, providing specifications for 40G/100G client-side interfaces; ITU-T mainly formulates network-related standards for operators. A revision was made to further standardize the OTN interface standard and clearly define the bearer and mapping of 40G/100G Ethernet; OIF is responsible for formulating the electrical and mechanical interfaces, software management interfaces, integrated The protocol specification of transmitter and receiver components and forward error correction technology has strongly promoted the standardization of WDM side interface design.

Since the second half of 2010, chip suppliers have significantly accelerated the pace of development on 40G/100G Ethernet. We have reason to believe that the official release of 40G/100G related standards will definitely activate the R&D enthusiasm of the entire industry chain. From 2011 to the future, 40G/100G will become a technology hotspot.

What are 40GBASE-SR4 Optical Modules?

40GBASE-SR4 transceiver module is equipped with an MTP-12 male optical fiber connector, which can reach a link of up to 150m through laser-optimized OM4 multimode fiber (100m through OM3 MMF). This QSFP+ 40G SR4 has a bidirectional 4-channel QSFP+ connector. Each channel can achieve a total bandwidth of 40Gbps and a data rate of 10 Gbps. QSFP 40G optical fiber transceiver supports DOM / DDM (digital diagnostic monitoring) function to realize real-time operation parameter monitoring. The 40GBASE-SR4 is fully compliant with QSFP+ MSA (SFF-8436) and IEEE 802.3ba 40GBASE-SR4 specifications.

Conclusion

After the introduction of this article, I believe you know how 40G Ethernet is established. At the same time, this article introduces the 40GBASE-SR4 module. The 40GBASE-SR4 module is generally used in short-distance multi-mode transmission, which can build high-density, cost-effective 40G Ethernet. If you want to know more about 40GBASE-SR4 or 40G Ethernet, you can contact QSFPTEK customer service via [email protected] The QSFPTEK company provides a series of high-quality and cost-efficient 40G optical modules and related products.