Business

Chip and module manufacturers establish 10-Gbit/sec Miniature Device MSA for TOSA/ROSA

Sept. 1, 2004

September 1, 2004 Tokyo, Japan -- Optical manufacturers Avanex Corp., Eudyna Devices Inc., Mitsubishi Electric Corp., Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd., Opnext Inc., Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd., and TriQuint Semiconductor Inc., today announced the release of new common specifications for long-reach optical devices based on a 10-Gbit/sec Miniature Device Multi-Source Agreement (XMD-MSA).

September 1, 2004 Tokyo, Japan -- Optical manufacturers Avanex Corp., Eudyna Devices Inc., Mitsubishi Electric Corp., Oki Electric Industry Co. Ltd., Opnext Inc., Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd., and TriQuint Semiconductor Inc., today announced the release of new common specifications for long-reach optical devices based on a 10-Gbit/sec Miniature Device Multi-Source Agreement (XMD-MSA). The XMD-MSA specifications are designed for applications from short to long reach transmission functions.

Specifications established by the XMD-MSA enable the use of optical devices from multiple suppliers. The XMD-MSA has been created to establish compatible sources of 10-Gbit/sec transmitter optical sub-assembly (TOSA) and receiver optical sub-assembly (ROSA) devices embedded into the 10-Gbit/sec small form factor pluggable (XFP) MSA modules. The XFP module has been designed for use in large capacity network and data storage systems. The XMD-MSA covers optical devices that comply with 10 Gbit/sec interface standards, including 10-Gigabit Ethernet, 10-Gigabit Fiber Channel, and SONET OC-192.

The newly available XMD-MSA specifications detail the semiconductor-based external modulator TOSA and Avalanche photodiode transimpedance amplifier (APD-TIA) for long-reach (beyond 20 km) applications. XMD-MSA specifications now cover transmission applications for most optical networking systems.

These specifications for interchangeable TOSA/ROSA devices include:
• Common Mechanical Dimensions, including optical connector interface that determines the design of the XFP optical head;
• Common electrical interface standards using flexible printed circuit (FPC); and
• Optical and electrical characteristics.

The MSA enhances the XMD-MSA for direct-modulation distributed feedback (DFB) or Fabry-Perot (FP) laser TOSA, and the PIN photodiode transimpedance amplifier (PIN-TIA) ROSA for short-reach applications up to 20 km, previously announced on June 7th, 2004.

The MSA committee plans to revise TOSA/ROSA specifications issued on June 7, 2004. The revised specifications will be available on September 30, 2004 from any member of the XMD-MSA.