OIF Addresses Long Reach and 40 Gbps Enhancements

The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) has initiated technical work on Electronic Dispersion Compensation (EDC) aimed at long reach (LR)(80 km) and very long reach (VR)(120 km) 10 Gbps optical transceivers and transponders. The OIF's Physical & Link Layer Working Group is reviewing the current state of 10 Gbps EDC technology and evaluating the modeled and measured performance of the components. This effort will facilitate the maturation of EDC technology appropriate for 10 Gbps LR and VR fiber optic links. The OIF's intent is to recommend the parameters and specification methodology necessary for industry interoperability and standardization.



Another new project within the Physical & Link Layer Working Group will extend the OIF Serdes Framer Interface (SFI-5) Implementation Agreement. The goal is to change the OC-768 interface from the current 16-lane to a new four-lane interface based on the 11 Gigabit Short Reach Common Electrical Interface (CEI). The project will define the data path between 40 Gbps optical modules, SONET/SDH framers and Forward Error Correction (FEC) components. Next generation equipment platforms will need higher density and a reduced CAPEX for optical modules for OC-768 ports. This project will further the integration, density and expense reduction of 40 Gbps line cards.



At its July quarterly meeting, the OIF announced that Jim Jones of Alcatel was elected as the Forum's new Technical Committee chair, Trey Malpass of Mindspeed was elected as the new Technical Committee vice-chair and Rama Ati of Cisco Systems was elected as Market Awareness & Education (MA&E) Committee co-chair. The election results are effective October 1, 2004. Prior to the last quarterly meeting, Karl Gass of Sandia National Laboratories was elected to serve as the Physical Layer User Group chair. http://www.oiforum.com