Vitesse and Avago reference design targets 100G/120G connectivity

Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: VTSS) and Avago Technologies (NASDAQ: AVGO) are making available what they tout as the first CXP host joint reference design that offers 100G/120G connectivity for high-speed routers, enterprise data centers, and high-performance cloud computing applications. The companies are showing off the design this week at SC12 in Salt Lake City, UT.

The reference design features Vitesse’s VSC7227 12-channel signal conditioner and Avago’s AFBR-83PDZ 100G CXP optical transceiver module. The reference design will help systems developers who seek to increase 10-Gbps port density as well as migrate to 100-Gbps support.

Vitesse’s 12-channel VSC7227 supports data rates from 155 Mbps to 14.1 Gbps. It offers adaptive equalization on each channel with no requirement for firmware. The VSC7227 combines a CTLE/DFE input receiver that can equalize more than 30 dB of loss, along with a three-tap FIR output driver with better than 18 dB of de-emphasis.

The Avago AFBR-83PDZ 100G CXP optical transceiver module supports 100 Gigabit Ethernet and Infiniband IB-QDR/IB-DDR/IB-SDR applications. It is designed to exceed the electrical requirements of IEEE 802.3ba 100G (100GBase-SR10 and CPPI) and optical specifications for the 100G SR standard of 100 m or even 150 m on OM4 fiber.

“The Vitesse reference design demonstrates the combined superior performance of the Avago CXP transceivers with the Vitesse signal conditioning ICs,” said Sharon Hall, product manager for parallel fiber-optic products at Avago. “With this combined solution, system designers can design 100G/120G optically connected systems with confidence and improved signal integrity.”

“This reference design gives our customers a proven way to solve higher bandwidth demands in optical networks,” said Gary Paules, product marketing manager at Vitesse. “Through ecosystem developments such as with Avago, Vitesse continues to extend its connectivity leadership, enabling our customers to rapidly bring to market advanced solutions for high-density 100G Ethernet and Infiniband applications.”

The reference design is available immediately.

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