Molex CMOS Active Optical Cable Spans 4km at 40 Gbps

Molex introduced a Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable (QSFP+) Active Optical Cable (AOC) assembly that can achieve 40 Gbps data rates over long reaches of up to 4km (2.49 miles) using only 0.78W per cable end. The innovation reduces overall data center power consumption while supporting longer reaches.


Molex's QSFP+ AOC assemblies' use Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) Photonics technology, which integrates most of the transceiver functionality onto a single chip, providing a low-cost cable that delivers a reliable, long-reach solution. With four bi-directional optical data links per end, each operating at data rates from 1.0 to 10.3125 Gbps, the Molex QSFP+ AOC assemblies are compatible with multiple protocols including InfiniBand single data rates (SDR), dual data rates (DDR) and quad data rates (QDR), Ethernet systems (10 and 40 Gbps); Fiber Channel (8 and 10 Gbps) and SAS (6 Gbps). In addition to QDR data rate products, Molex plans the release of next generation InfiniBand FDR data rate AOC products based on low power consumption Silicon Photonics 56 Gbps optical engine technology in Q3 of 2011.


Molex also noted its recent acquisition of Luxtera's AOC business in January 2011. Luxtera transferred all aspects of its existing and future AOC business to Molex including its QSFP+ 40 Gbps Ethernet and InfiniBand products and customers.
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