Ixia Demos 400GbE via Four-Level PAM4

Ixia successfully demonstrated 400 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) technology by combining eight electrical lanes of 56 Gbps, defined as 400GAUI-8 by IEEE802.3bs, via four-level Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM4).

Ixia said currently supports and collaborates with two key multisource agreement (MSA) development groups to help drive the effectiveness and efficiency of 400 GbE technology: double-density quad small-form-factor pluggable (QSFP-DD) MSA, and Octal Small Form Factor Pluggable (OSFP) MSA.

The QSFP-DD MSA Group is addressing the technical challenges of achieving a double-density interface and ensuring mechanical, electrical, thermal, and signal-integrity interoperability for module components produced by different manufacturers. Collaboration through the MSA is intended to enable faster implementation and easier operation of the high-speed, double-density quad small-form-factor pluggable interface in networking equipment. QSFP-DD addresses increasing global bandwidth consumption with its ability to quadruple aggregate switch bandwidth while maintaining port density.

The OSFP MSA is comprised of 49 industry leaders who are tasked with defining the form factor for new 400 GbE transceiver module that will support the full range of 400 GbE optics technologies, from datacenter to metro reach.

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