- News
15 March 2018
QSFP-DD MSA releases QSFP-DD thermal white paper
© Semiconductor Today Magazine / Juno PublishiPicture: Disco’s DAL7440 KABRA laser saw.
At the Optical Networking and Communication Conference and Exhibition (OFC 2018) in San Diego (11-15 March), Molex, Cisco, Juniper Networks and other multi-source agreement (MSA) group members have released a white paper focused on the Quad Form Factor Pluggable Double Density (QSFP-DD).
In total, 62 companies have come together in support of the QSFP-DD MSA to address the need for a high-density, high-speed networking solution. Established in March 2016, the QSFP-DD MSA group accepted the challenge to meet market demand for a next-generation high-density, high-speed pluggable backwards-compatible module form factor, and has succeeded in releasing a 3.0 Hardware specification with broad market support that overcomes the technical challenges of specifying a QSFP28-compatible double-density interface.
The white paper addresses how the thermal performance of the QSFP-DD module is evaluated for use in a high-performance data-center environment. Thermal test data is presented and analyzed showing temperature rise versus air flow. Feasibility of 15W QDFP-DD modules is shown.
“Building and sustaining the pipeline of interoperable interconnect solutions is absolutely critical to support advances in transceiver modules, switch technologies and servers,” says Molex’s group product manager Scott Sommers. “Through QSFP-DD strategic collaborations, we have provided the expertise needed within the industry to meet the rising demands for high-speed network solutions,” he adds.
“Cisco has always had confidence in QSFP-DD being the right choice for broad industry adoption as the market moves to 400GbE. This white paper shows that any concerns with a system vendor’s ability to effectively integrate and cool these modules into their networking products is overblown,” believes Mark Nowell, distinguished engineer, Cisco Data Center Switching.
“The QSFP-DD form factor with system cooling support of 15W of dissipated power for data-center applications is direct leverage of industry knowledge gained over many generations of adoption of form factors such as those defined by the SFF Committee and the CFP MSA along with innovation in system air-flow characteristics,” says Jeffery Maki, distinguished engineer II, Juniper Networks. “Thermal management is seen primarily as a system responsibility, which leaves open opportunity for even further innovation over system generation,” he adds.
QSFP-DD MSA Group releases 3.0 Hardware specification
QSFP Optical transceivers 400G