OIF started three new electrical interface projects

OIF Hosting Workshop at Packet Optical Transport Evolution Conference
Fremont, CA – May 16, 2012 – The OIF started three new electrical interface
projects addressing next generation needs for high speed and low power
electrical interfaces. These projects were proposed at the OIF’s second quarter
meeting that took place last month in Dubrovnik, Croatia. As with all projects
within the OIF, members define the initial proposal within the working groups and
then drive the technology to a level that can be implemented by vendors, usually
in the form of an implementation agreement.

“These projects address different elements of the important electrical
interface beyond 100G transmission, where speed and power will become an
increasingly difficult issue,” said Dave Stauffer of IBM Corp. and the OIF’s
Physical and Link Layer Working Group Chair. “Based on our Common
Electrical Interface (CEI) work, the industry has turned to the OIF to drive the
next phase in electrical interfaces which will include data rates up to 56 Gbps.”
Electrical Interface Projects
The Ultra Short Reach Electrical Interface defines a link of less than 10
mm between an ASIC and an Optical Engine (OE) at data rates up to and
including 56 Gpbs. This will enable the industry to develop Multi Chip Modules
(MCMs) and alternate advanced packaging schemes that are optimized for
minimum power consumption.
A second project, titled Close Proximity Electrical Interface, defines a link
with a reach of less than 50 mm from chip to discrete OE at data rates up to and
including 56 Gbps. This will facilitate an efficient board mounted OE at low
power.
The third project start, CEI-56G-Very Short Reach, will determine optimum
modulation format based on measurements, verification and CMOS Switch ASIC
I/O capability. The project looks at single lane electrical I/O data rates beyond 28
Gbps needed for future chip-to-module applications, including single lane
interfaces for 40 Gbps modules and 8-10 lane interfaces for 400 Gbps modules.
OIF Workshop at Light Reading’s POTE 2012
The OIF is hosting its 4th workshop at Light Reading’s Packet Optical
Transport Evolution Conference in New York City on Thursday, May 17th from
8:00 to 9:30 am.
Networking Topic: Enabling High Speed Dynamic Services
In this session, Monica Lazer of AT&T and former OIF board member, will
present on the OIF interoperability demonstration of dynamic GbE and 10GE
Ethernet services over flexible and configurable high bandwidth OTN networks. It
demonstrates the use of optical control plane for end-to-end provisioning of
dynamically switched Ethernet Private Line (EPL) services over multi-domain
intelligent optical core network, using the OIF UNI 2.0 and E-NNI 2.0
Implementation Agreements.

Physical and Link Layer Topic: Next Generation Connectivity to drive
Optical Networks Beyond 100G.

In this session, John McDonough of NEC America and former OIF board
member, will present the efforts within the OIF to identify key components, areas
of focus, and application spaces the Optical Communications Industry needs to
consider when preparing for tomorrow's network. The OIF was instrumental in
the successful launch and adoption of 100G technology and is continuing its
efforts to determine what technology should be considered next. The initial
project is a framework effort that will, with industry input and support, outline a
number of areas to focus effort.

Launched in 1998, the OIF is the first industry group to unite
representatives from data and optical networking disciplines, including many of
the world's leading carriers, component manufacturers and system vendors. The
OIF promotes the development and deployment of interoperable networking
solutions and services through the creation of Implementation Agreements (IAs)
for optical, interconnect, network processing, component and networking
systems technologies. The OIF actively supports and extends the work of
standards bodies and industry forums with the goal of promoting worldwide
compatibility of optical internetworking products.

Information on the OIF can be found at http://www.oiforum.com