Berk-Tek partners with ProLabs to launch optical transceiver line

Berk-Tek, a Nexans Company, is using the 2016 BICSI Winter Conference and Exhibition to launch a new line of optical transceivers for Ethernet and Fibre Channel protocols. The line is a result of a partnership with independent optical module vendor ProLabs (see "Forget about the labels").

Berk-Tek says the new optical modules are fully compatible with systems from all major switch and server manufacturers. Pairing Berk-Tek's 40GBASE-SR4 enhanced optical transceivers with company's GIGAlite-10XB fiber-optic cable creates a power budget that will support a 40G link distance up to 500 m, the company guarantees. This performance represents more than 3X the reach guaranteed with standard-compliant fiber and transceivers, Berk-Tek asserts.

Combining the optical transceivers with the GIGAlite fiber cable also simplifies link maintenance, as the optical modules and cable will come from the same supplier, Berk-Tek points out.

The new line also includes optical modules for short-wavelength 8G and 16G Fibre Channel applications.

"As bandwidth increases, the reach and number of connections that each link can support decreases. This is especially relevant with our data center customers," states Mike Connaughton, Data Center Market Segment manager for Berk-Tek. "Our TEK Center has been working with data center customers for years to help them overcome this inverse relationship. Up until now, our engineers were able to achieve additional reach by employing our premium GIGAlite glass. But with no control over transceiver performance, they were limited to the cabling. Now, they can take it a step further by pairing GIGAlite glass with our enhanced transceivers to support links well beyond the limits defined by the standards."

For more information on optical transceivers and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer's Guide.