Finisar demonstrates 40-km XFP optical transceiver

Finisar announced the shipment of its first 10-km XFP transceiver in September 2002, and has been shipping them to several customers for evaluation since then. The new breakthrough of 40-km XFP transceivers enables extremely cost-effective 10-Gbit/sec optical links for extended reach applications and metropolitan-area distances, claim company representatives. They have the same mechanical footprint as the 10-km version and fit in the standard XFP cage. The 1310-nm version dissipates less than 2.5W, and the 1550-nm version less than 3.5W.
“Customer adoption of the SFP continues to increase at an accelerated pace,” asserts Christian Urricariet, director of marketing for high-speed optics at Finisar. “These new 40-km XFP products show that the cost and power savings inherent to XFP can also be achieved for DWDM metropolitan-distance applications, and almost certainly for even longer distances in the future as well,” he adds.
The SFP+ is an application-agnostic ultra-small 10-Gbit/sec optical transceiver module standardized by the XFP MSA Group (www.xfpmsa.org). Its small footprint and low power dissipation enables the highest board density 10-Gbit/sec applications in the industry, say member companies. These factors, in addition to its protocol independence, provide the lowest overall system cost solution for OEMs. The Group currently has more than 75 member companies.
XFP transceivers feature a serial 10-Gbit/sec electrical interface called XFI, which removes the need to place electrical mux/demux chips inside the optical module–resulting in significant space, power, and cost savings for datacom and telecom system manufacturers.
The XFP modules support digital diagnostics and monitoring functions, which are accessed through a 2-pin serial bus and provide calibrated, absolute real-time measurements of the laser bias current, transmitted optical power, received optical power, internal transceiver temperature, and the supply voltage. Digital diagnostic functionality allows telecommunication and data communications companies to implement reliable performance monitoring of the optical link in an accurate and cost-effective way. Additionally, Finisar’s hot-pluggable XFP transceiver includes a “bail” latch release mechanism for easy insertion and removal into a standardized metallic cage, which is press-fit on the host board and includes a new modular heat-sink design to facilitate heat management.