OFC, the Optical Fiber Communications Conference, is all about optical networking and communications. Samtec was front and center showcasing 224 Gbps PAM4 solutions, next-generation transceivers for optical and copper, CXL-over-optics, and PCIe 6.0 solutions, just to name a few.
If you weren’t at the show, here’s a quick tour of the product and technology demonstrations at our booth.
Future Proof Optical Interconnects
Samtec’s new Halo™ system is a future-proof, next-generation optical solution for copper or optical interconnects. Halo is capable of up to 112 Gbps PAM4 per lane, up to 16 channels, 8 channels bidirectional. The two-piece system has a low profile (< 6.5 mm) and is designed to withstand high shock and vibration.
Optically pluggable for easy field replacement, Halo™ is protocol agnostic and supports data center, HPC, and FPGA Protocols, including 10/40/100/400/800 GbE Ethernet, InfiniBand™, Fibre Channel, PCIe®, CXL® and Aurora.
224 Gbps Through Bulls Eye Connector System
A Cadence 224G-LR SerDes PHY is generating 224 Gbps PAM4 data, which travels to a Samtec BE70A, a Bulls Eye® high-performance test assembly. The Bulls Eye is on an eight differential pair, variable insertion loss Samtec block chain board. The signal travels through 75 mm of trace, to another Bulls Eye connector, and back through the Cadence 224G-LR for analysis. At 224 G, the BER is e-7.
OSFP Front Panel to Mid-Board, 112 Gbps PAM4
An Alphawave Ethernet PHY generates 112 Gbps PAM4 signals, which travel through a Samtec NovaRay® mid-board connector, then Samtec Eye Speed® Ultra Low Skew twinax cable, to a Samtec Flyover® OSFP front panel connector. The Samtec OSFP front panel connector handles up to 1.6 Tbps aggregate data rate with excellent thermal performance using Samtec Flyover Cable Technology
Note the e-7 BER performance that is stable over time.
Optical Interconnects for CXL
In the demo, an AMD Genoa platform hosts a Samtec FireFly™ add-in card. On the endpoint, another Samtec add-in card communicates with NVMe and a Rambus CXL endpoint. The host and the endpoint are separated by 100 meters of OM4 multi-mode optical fiber.
A Samtec PCUO FireFly is the focal interconnect on both add-in cards. PCUO is a PCIe-over-fiber active optical cable assembly available in x4, x8, and x16 configurations. It meets PCIe 3.0 and 4.0 specifications. PCIe 5.0 options are under development.
Linear Direct Drive
This demonstration is a proof-of-concept for an on-package, or near-package, linear direct drive electrical channel that gives us a 100-meter link at 112 Gbps. These links could be used in mid-board optical and copper designs using Samtec Flyover cable assemblies or high-speed mezzanine connector sets, as well as for full-channel front-panel and back-panel cable applications. The BER is e-7.
Components include:
- An EXFO BA-4000 bit-error-rate tester (BERT) generates a 112 Gbps PAM4 signal
- Samtec Bulls Eye test point system (BE70A)
- Macom 4 X 112 Gbps PAM4 laser driver and TIA for the electrical/optical interface
- 100 meters of OM4 fiber
112 G Demonstrator
Samtec’s 112 Gbps PAM4 Demonstrator showcases a variety of board-to-board connector sets, as well as Samtec Flyover® cable systems. Cable solutions include mid-board to cable backplane and mid-board to front-panel. These cable systems emulate real-world data center system architectures. For each connector set, an Alphawave AlphaCORE Multi-Standard SerDes transmits 112 Gbps PAM4 PRBS data, and signal performance is received and analyzed on the other board.
Of the six DUT connector systems, the BERs were e-7 to e-9.
Leave a Reply