TE Connectivity (TE) announced today a plan to create a standard for a new 100-Gb/s form factor pluggable interconnect with the functionality of QSFP28 in a thermally enhanced package approximately the size of the SFP form factor by way of a new MSA (multisource agreement) group.
“Customers are looking for a smaller form factor that will offer increased faceplate density and higher aggregate bandwidth, while still maintaining superior thermal performance,” reported Nathan Tracy, technologist, TE Data Communications. “By defining a standard that provides significant thermal management improvements and increased density over existing form factors in both short and long reach applications, our MSA group will meet those customer needs.”
“As the industry develops the next-generation datacenter equipment, there is value in an improved pluggable form factor that can support higher density designs and still meet high bandwidth requirements,” said Brad Booth, principal network engineer of Microsoft’s Global Networking Services. “Thermal management becomes more of an issue as form factors get smaller, and this new MSA is an innovative step to address these design and power challenges.”
In the coming months, the MSA will define the electrical connector, cage system, and module dimensions that will establish this new form factor. TE is inviting connector manufacturers, optical module makers, and communication equipment manufacturers to join the MSA and bring their areas of expertise to help ensure this system delivers on the goals of broad industry adoption and standardization. The new form factor will support direct-attach copper cables, active optical cables (AOCs), and transceivers with MPO and LC optical connections.
