From EETimes: Facebook helped define a low cost 100 Gbit/second optical Ethernet transceiver it expects to start deploying next year. The move is another example of ways big data centers are driving design in computers and networking.
Facebook specified a 100G transceiver using single-mode fiber it believes it can drive to a cost of $1/Gbyte. To hit the lower costs it relaxed distance requirements to 500 meters down from 2km and eased specs on operating temperature and product lifetime.
The transceivers are based on QSFP28, a pluggable form factor which uses four 25Gbit/second lanes. They also leverage the CWDM4 multi-source agreement, a definition for 4x25G modules using Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplexing (CWDM4), supported by vendors such as Avago, Finisar, JDSU, Oclaro and Sumitomo Electric.
Facebook’s decision was the result of a major optical interconnects study. The study canvassed options in an effort to deliver greater bandwidth at the lowest possible costs for its rapidly expanding data centers.
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