(Newswire.net — September 5, 2022) — The cost and power consumption of data centers are important driving forces for the development of the optical communication market. Looking back at the development of 100G optical modules, the development and improvement of its packaging styles (CFP, CFP2, CFP4, QSFP28) and standards are also mainly carried out around the two aspects of low cost and low power consumption.
CFP MSA is the first industry standard to support 40 and 100Gbe Ethernet optical transceivers. The CFP multi-source protocol is to define a package specification for hot-swappable optical modules to drive 40 and 100Gbit/s applications, including next-generation high-speed Ethernet applications (40 and 100GbE). The following article compares the QSFP28 optical module with other 100G optical modules in terms of port density, power consumption, and cost.
Introduction: CFP, CFP2, CFP4 and QSFP28
CFP
The size of the CFP optical module is the largest, the CFP2 optical module is half of the CFP, the CFP4 optical module is a quarter of the CFP, and the QSFP28 optical module has a smaller package style than the CFP4 optical module. , As shown below. It should be remembered that CFP/CFP2/CFP4 optical modules cannot be used interchangeably, but they can be used simultaneously in the same system.
CFP optical modules support transmission over single-mode and multi-mode fibers at a variety of rates, protocols, and link lengths, including all Physical Medium Dependent (PMD) interfaces included in the IEEE802.3ba standard.
The CFP optical module is designed based on the small form-factor pluggable optical module (SFP) interface, which is larger and supports 100 Gbps data transmission. CFP optical modules can support a single 100G signal, OTU4, one or more 40G signals, OTU3, or STM-256/OC-768.
CFP2
100G CFP2 is often used as a 100G Ethernet interconnect link, with higher transmission efficiency than CFP optical modules, and its smaller size also makes it suitable for higher-density wiring.
CFP4
The 100G CFP4 optical module has the same rate as the CFP/CFP2 optical module, and the transmission efficiency is greatly improved, but the power consumption is reduced, and the cost is lower than that of the CFP2, so the CFP4 optical module has irreplaceable advantages. Talk about the benefits of CFP4 optical modules.
Advantages:
- Higher transmission efficiency: The early 100G CFP optical module achieves a 100G transmission rate through 10 10G channels, while the current 100G CFP4 optical module achieves 100G transmission through 4 25G channels, so the transmission efficiency is higher and more stable Sex is more vigorous.
- Smaller volume: The volume of the CFP4 optical module is one-quarter of that of the CFP, and it is the smallest optical module in the CFP series of optical modules.
- Higher module integration: CFP2 has twice the integration level of CFP, and CFP4 has four times the integration level of CFP.
- Lower power consumption and cost: The transmission efficiency of CFP4 optical modules is significantly improved, but the power consumption is reduced, and the system cost is also lower than that of CFP2.
QSFP28
100G QSFP28 is an important part of the 100G network, the standard of 100G QSFP28 optical module is defined by two main organizations (IEEE and MSA), IEEE defines QSFP28 SR4, QSFP28 LR4, QSFP28 ER4, and QSFP28 ZR4 standards. MSA defines the QSFP28 CWDM4 and QSFP28 PSM4 standards. Among them, “QSFP” refers to the package of the optical module. “28” means that the maximum transmission rate of each channel is 28Gbps. The advantages of QSFP28 are described below.
Advantages:
- Higher port density: The first generation of 100G optical modules is a very large CFP optical module, followed by CFP2 and CFP4 optical modules. Among them, CFP4 optical modules are the latest generation of 100G optical modules, and their width is only CFP optical modules. 1/4, the package size is the same as that of the QSFP+ optical module. The package style of the QSFP28 optical module is smaller than that of the CFP4 optical module, which means that the QSFP28 optical module has a higher port density on the switch. A total of 36 QSFP28 optical modules can be installed on the front panel of a 1RU switch.
- Lower power consumption: The power consumption of QSFP28 optical modules is usually no more than 3.5W when working, while the power consumption of other 100G optical modules is usually between 6W and 24W. From this point of view, the power consumption of QSFP28 optical modules is much lower than that of other 100G optical modules.
- Lower cost: The current data center is mainly a 10G network architecture, and its interconnection solutions are mainly 10GBASE-SR optical modules and duplex LC multimode fiber patch cords. If the existing 10G network architecture is directly upgraded to a 40/100G network will save a lot of time and cost
Comparison: CFP, CFP2, CFP4 and QSFP28
Port Density
The first generation of 100G optical modules is a very large CFP optical module, and then CFP2 and CFP4 optical modules appeared. Among them, the CFP4 optical module is the latest generation of 100G optical modules, and its width is only 1/4 of the CFP optical module. The package style of the QSFP28 optical module is smaller than that of the CFP4 optical module, which means that the QSFP28 optical module has a higher port density on the switch.
Power Consumption
The power consumption of QSFP28 optical modules when working is usually no more than 3.5W, while the power consumption of other 100G optical modules is usually between 6W and 24W. From this point of view, the power consumption of QSFP28 optical modules is much lower than that of other 100G optical modules.
Cost
The current data center is mainly a 10G network architecture, and its interconnection solutions are mainly 10GBASE-SR optical modules and duplex LC multimode fiber patch cords. If the existing 10G network architecture is directly upgraded to a 40/100G network, the Will save a lot of time and cost.