The QSFP-DD Multi-Source Agreement (MSA) has revealed plans to create specifications for a 1.6-Tbps version of the module form factor. The QSFP-DD1600 will leverage 200-Gbps serial PAM4 SerDes technology over the module’s standard eight lanes and maintain backwards compatibility with QSFP and previous QSFP-DD modules and cables.
The MSA members say the new specification will also maintain the QSFP-DD’s riding heatsink feature. They did not say when they expect work on the new specification to be completed.
“QSFP-DD’s backwards compatibility has been critical to our operational approach to upgrading the network,” commented Jamie Gaudette, partner network engineering manager at Microsoft. “We encourage the MSA’s work on QSFP-DD1600.”
“The system design flexibility that QSFP-DD enables greatly reduces the challenges in building systems with high-power modules,” added Mark Nowell, MSA co-chair. “The riding heatsink, besides enabling backwards compatibility, is an asset to system designers.”
The QSFP-DD MSA is supported by more than 60 companies who seek to address the technical challenges of achieving a double-density interface and ensuring mechanical, electrical, thermal, and signal-integrity interoperability.
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