OIF unveils 40-Gbit/sec SerDes framer interface spec

The membership of the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) has approved a Serializer/Deserializer (SerDes) Framer Interface Level 5 (SFI-5) Implementation Agreement (IA).

Created by the OIF's Physical & Link Layer Working Group, the SFI-5 IA is an integral part of a series of agreements addressing the interfaces for packet and cell transfer in 40-Gbit/sec applications like OC-768 ATM and Packet-over-SONET/SDH (POS). The SFI-5 interface allows manufacturers of high speed SerDes devices and Optical Modules to develop components with the certainty that complementary products from FEC and Framer suppliers will be interoperable.

"SFI-5 and other high performance component and interface specifications enable suppliers to develop interoperable components for 40-Gbit/sec systems," contends Mike Lerer, chairman of the OIF's Physical & Link Layer Working Group and technology facilitator at Avici Systems Inc. "Through its work on SFI-5 and other specifications, the OIF is providing the technical underpinnings that are the foundation for the next generation optical network."

SFI-5 specifies an interface between the SerDes component, the forward-error-correction (FEC) processor and Framer devices within the Physical Layer. SFI-5 addresses aggregate data bandwidths of OC-768, STM256, OTN OTU-3, as well as other applications at the 40-Gbits/sec data rate. System applications of SFI-5 include the interface between optical transponders and framers and transponders and FEC components.

For more information about the OIF (Fremont, CA), visit the company's Web site at www.oiforum.com.