These active fiber optic cable assemblies utilize proprietary technology that results in lower costs per 10G connection than existing copper cables. This, combined with higher performance, lighter weight, and easier cable management, enables the interconnection of high data throughput with a range of up to 100 meters.
According to LightCounting's forecast, the AOC market is projected to grow to $100 million by 2015. "The primary market remains high-performance computing (HPC) with the InfiniBand protocol," says Brad Smith, senior vice president and industry analyst for Data Center Interconnects at LightCounting. "In recent years, AOC usage has increased in data centers, using the Ethernet protocol to connect switch layers, and also in telecommunications applications, interconnecting DWDM and long-distance routers in central offices."
The first AOC products to reach the market using the new Avago Atlas™ 75X integrated optical engine will be the new SFP+ and QSFP+. This optical technology enables significantly higher performance and range at a lower cost than copper cabling. Avago AOC CXP products utilize the proven Atlas™ 77X optical engines (also known as MicroPOD™ modules), providing all the performance, long-range connectivity, and features like DMI in separate transceivers at a more competitive price.
AOCs offer numerous advantages over the direct-attach copper (DAC) cables used in previous-generation applications, which can no longer deliver the necessary features for today's high-performance applications. The bit error rate (BER) of Avago AOCs is 10⁻¹⁵, while that of DACs is 10⁻¹². Statistically, this means that Avago AOCs produce less than one bit error per day, whereas copper cables produce a bit error every 1 to 2 minutes. Immunity to electromagnetic interference is greater than in DACs, since the high-frequency electromagnetic interference signal is limited to the pluggable modules; however, only the optical signal is transmitted over the cable. The range of AOCs reaches up to 20 meters for the SFP+ and QSFP+ versions, while DACs have a range slightly greater than 5 meters, at a maximum of 10G. Furthermore, an AOC weighs approximately 25% less than a DAC, has a smaller cable diameter, and offers a minimum cable bend radius of only 30 mm, significantly better than a DAC. These advantages provide customers with the solution and form factor needed to meet the demands of high-density optical interconnects.
Product Features:
Atlas 75X SFP+ Active Optical Cables with Integrated Optical Engines.
Cable length up to 20 meters.
Conventional power consumption 275 mW per end, less than half that of SFP+ MSA transceivers.
10 Gigabit Ethernet, 8 Gigabit Fibre Channel, Fibre Channel over Ethernet.
Atlas 75X QSFP+ Active Optical Cables with Integrated Optical Engines.
Cable length up to 20 meters.
Conventional power consumption 1.1 W per end.
40 Gigabit Ethernet QSFP+, Infiniband 40G-IB-QDR, 20G-IB-DDR, 10G-IB-SDR.
Detachable version with cover for high-density 10G Ethernet applications.
Atlas 77X MicroPOD CXP Active Optical Cables with Integrated Optical Engines.
10.3125 Gbps and 12.5 Gbps versions with up to 12 channels.
Cable length up to 100 meters.
Complete Transceiver Set with
100 Gigabit DMI Ethernet, Infiniband QDRx12, PCIe Gen3, Private Protocols
