High-speed fiber-optic interconnect firm Molex Inc of Lisle, IL, USA says that the interface of its recently released zCD active optical cable (AOC) interconnect solution has been selected by the CDFP MSA (multi-source agreement) as the interface for the consortium’s 400Gbps hot-pluggable module. The zCD AOC assembly is being highlighted at Molex’s booth 3863 at the Optical Fiber Communications exposition (OFC 2014) in San Francisco (11-13 March).
The zCD AOC is one of the highest-density interconnect assemblies available on the market, claims Molex’s global group product manager Scott Sommers. “The zCD AOC solution delivers a winning form factor that will serve to advance industry adoption of 400Gbps data-rate technology,” he adds.
Scalable up to 400Gbps, the zCD interconnect is suitable for high-bandwidth telecoms, networking and enterprise computing data signaling rates. Based on single-mode silicon photonics technology, Molex’s zCD AOC assembly transmits 28Gbps over 16 bi-directional channels with what is claimed to be excellent signal integrity, electromagnetic interference (EMI) protection, and thermal cooling properties. The tight pitch of the zCD interconnect solution enables OEMs to design systems of up to 5 terabytes capacity on one line-card.
The zCD AOC transmits up to 4km for a fraction of the cost and power of long-reach optical modules. At 6W of power dissipation, it offers what is reckoned to be one of industry’s lowest-power fiber-optic solutions and longest AOC reaches. The assemblies are designed for Ethernet, InfiniBand and proprietary protocol applications.
The mating zCD connector is available in a short-body version for passive or active copper cables and a long-body version for AOCs and transceivers, and features a straight, back-route footprint with a 0.75mm pitch. An elastomeric gasket or metal spring fingers provides EMI containment and suppression. Designed to accept a broad range of thermal modules and heat sinks, the press-fit connector design ensures a robust and simple board termination, the firm says.
“The zCD interconnect solution offers a high level of integration, performance and long-term reliability for Molex customers requiring 400Gbps with individual lane data rates up to 28 Gbps,” says Sommers.
