800G MSA defines PSM8 while eyeing 400G’s progress

A key current issue regarding data centres is forecasting the uptake of 400-gigabit optics.

If a rapid uptake of 400-gigabit optics occurs, it will also benefit the transition to 800-gigabit modules. But if the uptake of 400-gigabit optics is slower, some hyperscalers could defer and wait for 800-gigabit pluggables instead.

So says Maxim Kuschnerov, a spokesperson for the 800G Pluggable MSA (multi-source agreement).

Maxim Kuschnerov

The 800G MSA has issued its first 800-gigabit pluggable specification.

Dubbed the PSM8, the design uses the same components as 400-gigabit optics, doubling capacity in the same QSFP-DD pluggable form factor.

“Four-hundred-gigabit modules hitting volume is crucially important because the 800-gigabit specification leverages 400-gigabit components,” says Kuschnerov. “The more 400-gigabit is delayed, it impacts everything that comes after.”

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Companies gear up to make 800 Gig modules a reality

Nine companies have established a multi-source agreement (MSA) to develop optical specifications for 800-gigabit pluggable modules.

Maxim Kuschnerov

The MSA has been created to address the continual demand for more networking capacity in the data centre, a need that is doubling roughly every two years. The largest switch chips deployed have a 12.8 terabit-per-second (Tbps) switching capacity while 25.6-terabit and 51-terabit devices are in development. 

“The MSA members believe that for 25.6Tbps and 51.2Tbps switching silicon, 800-gigabit interconnects are required to deliver the required footprint and density,” says Maxim Kuschnerov, a spokesperson for the 800G Pluggable MSA.

A 1-rack-unit (1RU) 25.6-terabit switch platform will use 32 such 800-gigabit modules while a 51.2-terabit 2RU platform will require 64.

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Books in 2018 - Part 2

Some more books consumed in 2018, as recommended by Maxim Kuschnerov and Andrew Schmitt.

Maxim Kuschnerov, senior R&D manager at Huawei.

It is hard to believe the book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff was published in 2018. Judging by what has happened since Trump’s inauguration, this recollection of his first days in the White House seems outdated. But it was fun to read while the memory of the election was still fresh. It is hard to judge whether all the book’s sources are truthful but the main message is certainly not too far off.

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400ZR will signal coherent’s entry into the datacom world

• 400ZR will have a reach of 80km and a target power consumption of 15W 
• The coherent interface will be available as a pluggable module that will link data-centre switches across sites    
• Huawei expects first modules to be available in the first half of 2020
• At OFC, Huawei announced its own 250km 400-gigabit single-wavelength coherent solution that is already being shipped to customers

Coherent optics will finally cross over into datacom with the advent of the 400ZR interface.  So claims Maxim Kuschnerov, senior R&D manager at Huawei.

Maxim Kuschnerov400ZR is an interoperable 400-gigabit single-wavelength coherent interface being developed by the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) {add link}.

The 400ZR will be available as a pluggable module and as on-board optics using the COBO specification {add link}. The IEEE is also considering a proposal to adopt the 400ZR specification, initially for the data-centre interconnect market. “Once coherent moves from the OIF to the IEEE, its impact in the marketplace will be multiplied,” says Kuschnerov. 

But developing a 400ZR pluggable represents a significant challenge for the industry. “Such interoperable coherent 16-QAM modules won’t happen easily,” says Kuschnerov. “Just look at the efforts of the industry to have PAM-4 interoperability, it is a tremendous step up from on-off keying.” 

Despite the challenges, 400ZR products are expected by the first half of 2020.

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