The International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage, and Analysis
Next-generation high-performance copper and optical interconnects must solve multiple technical challenges including higher data rates, increased system and chassis density and improved signal integrity.
Samtec’s diverse product and technology portfolio provides system designers architectural solutions to the challenges faced by the industry. Several key solutions will be featured at SC19.
Samtec and its partners feature an extensive number of demos at Booth 343 at SC19. A number are briefly described below.
56 Gbps PAM4 Direct Connect to Silicon Package for HPC Applications
Samtec Direct Connect™ Technology gives the benefit of exiting a higher number of lanes at low loss from the chip package, which can be very useful in both high performance computing and network switching applications, especially at 56G/112G PAM4.
Samtec is the only company that offers both optical and copper connectivity to the same connector, giving designers the flexibility of choosing the appropriate solution for their application.
Samtec Flyover® Technology solutions are mid-board applications, meaning the signal launches from the cable assembly located next to the chip. Others are front panel pluggable.
With Direct Connect, the cable interface is on the package where the high speed signals connect directly to the silicon package. The signal path is from the die, to a Samtec UEC5 connector, to the FireFly® optical engine.
The demo has eight BGA-style packages, all with Direct Connect technology. Three of them are Direct Connect with Samtec Flyover to QSFP-DD. These incorporate Samtec 34 AWG Eye Speed® ultra-low skew twinax cable. The system in the video has 32 Direct Connect assemblies, routing to 16 QSFP-DD ports.
One connects directly to a backplane, also using Samtec 34 AWG Eye Speed ultra-low skew twinax cable. While connecting directly to the chip, we could also directly connect to the front panel ports using the same Samtec Flyover technology.
The other four BGAs are Direct Connect with Samtec Flyover optical FireFly assemblies. These terminate to 16, MTP x 24.
Submersible 112 Gbps (4×28 Gbps) Optical Transceiver For AI/HPC
Next generation super computers, quantum computing, AI engines, and high-performance emulation systems are all evaluating the benefits of liquid cooling. Liquid cooling removes the heat more efficiently than airflow, eliminates the noisy, power-hungry fans used in traditional air-cooled systems and enables denser, more-efficient processing boards and systems.
One technology holding back the adoption of liquid cooling has been the lack of optical transceivers which perform reliability while submersed. A new submersible mid-board optical transceiver option with Samtec FireFly™ now solves this problem.
The demo highlights the error-free operation possible with new FireFly optical transceivers when fully submersed in 3M™ Fluorinert™ Electronic Liquid FC-43.
The FireFly transceiver is less than 25% of the size of a QSFP module, and uses less than 50% of the power of a normal transceiver.
112 Gbps PAM4 Front-Panel to Mid-board and Mid-Board to Backplane
112 Gbps PAM4 switching ASICs are on the road-maps of leading Silicon Valley heavyweights. How can all that data be routed throughout the system? Samtec Flyover Technology offers a 112 Gbps high-density escape from the system ASIC to the front panel.
At SC19, Samtec and its silicon partners will demonstrate 112 Gbps PAM4 traffic using Samtec Flyover technology in real world applications. One will route Front-Panel to Mid-board and the other from Mid-Board to Backplane.
For the front-panel to mid-board demo, 112 Gbps PAM4 data will route from bleeding-edge transceiver/SERDES test chips via Double Density Flyover QSFP28 Cable System. The near-ASIC, mid-board interconnect option will be 0.80 mm NovaRay™ Extreme Density & Performance Socket Cable Assembly (NVAC series) and terminal (NVAC-C series).
One the second demo, 112 Gbps PAM4 data will route from bleeding-edge transceiver/SERDES test chips via NovaRay™ interconnect solutions. The connection to a backplane comes via ExaMAX® Backplane Cable Header (ECBM series).
Stop by Samtec Booth 343 at SC19 for more details from Samtec and our silicon partners.
eSilicon and Samtec Demonstrate Next-Gen Data Center Architectures
eSilicon and Samtec have co-developed system-level solutions that emulate next-generation data center architectures for typical 19-inch rack-mount applications. More specifically, mid-board to backplane solutions are explored.
In one application, eSilicon will demonstrate its SerDes operation over two 67cm AcceleRate® Slim Body Cable Assemblies and a five-meter (16-foot) ExaMAX® Backplane Cable Assembly providing mid-board to backplane communications via a cabled backplane architecture from Samtec.
This demonstration highlights eSilicon’s SerDes architecture’s flexibility in supporting independent data rates and protocols on each individual lane, e.g., 50G PAM4 Ethernet, 24G NRZ CPRI and proprietary protocols up to 58Gb/s.
56 Gbps PAM4 Active Product Demonstrator
The 56 Gbps PAM4 Active Product Demonstrator showcases Samtec’s comprehensive portfolio of high-performance interconnects in a typical data center chassis application.
It offers a complete system design based on Credo Semiconductor SERDES ICs that measure and display 56 Gbps PAM4 performance over 88 lanes. Key features of the demo include:
- PRBS-31 generated 56 Gbps PAM4 Data Rate
- Analyzes performance across all channels
- Bit Error
- Eye Height
- Eye Pattern
- Key products included
Scalable 32 GT/s Silicon Test Platform for AI
AI hardware systems are highly-complex. Samtec and its partners have developed a configurable, next-generation GPU-based system combining a cable mesh backplane (AcceleRate® Slim Body Cable Assemblies) and next-generation High-Speed Edge Card Connector topologies.
This is a demonstration of configurable, next-generation GPU-based system combining a cable mesh backplane (AcceleRate® Slim Body Cable Assemblies) and next-generation High-Speed Edge Card Connector topologies.
The demonstration incorporates an Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning style interconnect based on the Gen-Z PECFF form factor. The topology incorporates up to eight risers that include PCIe Gen5 AI usage models, and the Samtec Flyover® concept.
The system provides scalability of the PCB and cable interconnect via moving add-in cards and swapping cables, all operating within PCIe Gen 3, Gen 4, and Gen 5 performance requirements.
REFLEX CES/Samtec 448 Gbps (16×28 Gbps) Fiber Optic Development Platform
The Sargon Stratix® 10 FPGA FMC+ Instant Development Kit from Paris-based Reflex CES provides developers the best Out-Of-The box experience, combining the Best-In Class compact hardware platform with the most efficient intuitive software environment.
Its unique install and GUI interface allows an immediate start, and its reference designs enable fast turn-around designs, shortening and securing developments.
Target markets include High Performance Computing and IP & ASIC Prototyping. For more information on this platform, please click here.
Samtec’s 25/28 Gbps FireFly FMC+ Module provides up to 448 Gbps full-duplex bandwidth over 16 channels from an FPGA to an industry-standard multi-mode fiber optic cable or optical loopbacks.
The FireFly optical engines can support cable lengths up to 100 m. The module supports Data Center, HPC and FPGA-to-FPGA protocols including Ethernet, InfiniBandTM, Fibre Channel and Aurora.
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