XFP transceiver
Encyclopedia
The XFP is a standard for transceiver
s for high-speed computer network
and telecommunication
links that use optical fiber
. It was defined by an industry group in 2002, along with its interface to other electrical components which is called XFI.
-independent. They typically operate at optical wavelength
s (colors) of 850 nm, 1310 nm or 1550 nm.
Principal applications include 10 Gigabit Ethernet
, 10 Gbit/s Fibre Channel
, Synchronous optical networking
(SONET) at OC-192 rates, Synchronous optical networking
STM-64, 10 Gbit/s Optical Transport Network
(OTN) OTU-2, and parallel optics links.
They can operate over a single wavelength or use dense wavelength-division multiplexing
techniques.
They include digital diagnostics that provide management that were added to the SFF-8472 standard.
XFP modules use an LC fiber connector type to achieve high density.
The XFP specification was developed by the XFP Multi Source Agreement Group. It is an informal agreement of an industry group, not officially endorsed by any standards body. The first preliminary specification was published on March 27, 2002. The first public release was on July 19, 2002. It was adopted on March 3, 2003, and updated with minor updates through August 31, 2005.
The chair of the XFP group was Robert Snively of Brocade Communications Systems
, and technical editor was Ali Ghiasi of Broadcom
.
The organization's web site was maintained until 2009.
XFI provides a single lane running at 10.3125 Gbit/s when using a 64B/66B encoding
scheme.
A serializer/deserializer
is often used to convert from a wider interface such as XAUI
that has four lanes running at 3.125 Gbit/s using 8B/10B encoding
.
XFI is sometimes pronounced as "X" "F" "I" and other times as "ziffie".
s for greater cooling.
XFP dimensions are:
The XFP packaging was smaller than the XENPAK
form-factor which had been published earlier (by almost a year).
Some vendors supported both, or the XENPAK follow-ons called XPAK and X2.
Transceiver
A transceiver is a device comprising both a transmitter and a receiver which are combined and share common circuitry or a single housing. When no circuitry is common between transmit and receive functions, the device is a transmitter-receiver. The term originated in the early 1920s...
s for high-speed computer network
Computer network
A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of hardware components and computers interconnected by communication channels that allow sharing of resources and information....
and telecommunication
Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
links that use optical fiber
Optical fiber
An optical fiber is a flexible, transparent fiber made of a pure glass not much wider than a human hair. It functions as a waveguide, or "light pipe", to transmit light between the two ends of the fiber. The field of applied science and engineering concerned with the design and application of...
. It was defined by an industry group in 2002, along with its interface to other electrical components which is called XFI.
Description
XFP modules are hot-swappable and protocolCommunications protocol
A communications protocol is a system of digital message formats and rules for exchanging those messages in or between computing systems and in telecommunications...
-independent. They typically operate at optical wavelength
Wavelength
In physics, the wavelength of a sinusoidal wave is the spatial period of the wave—the distance over which the wave's shape repeats.It is usually determined by considering the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same phase, such as crests, troughs, or zero crossings, and is a...
s (colors) of 850 nm, 1310 nm or 1550 nm.
Principal applications include 10 Gigabit Ethernet
10 Gigabit Ethernet
The 10 gigabit Ethernet computer networking standard was first published in 2002. It defines a version of Ethernet with a nominal data rate of 10 Gbit/s , ten times faster than gigabit Ethernet.10 gigabit Ethernet defines only full duplex point to point links which are generally connected by...
, 10 Gbit/s Fibre Channel
Fibre Channel
Fibre Channel, or FC, is a gigabit-speed network technology primarily used for storage networking. Fibre Channel is standardized in the T11 Technical Committee of the InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards , an American National Standards Institute –accredited standards...
, Synchronous optical networking
Synchronous optical networking
Synchronous Optical Networking and Synchronous Digital Hierarchy are standardized multiplexing protocols that transfer multiple digital bit streams over optical fiber using lasers or highly coherent light from light-emitting diodes . At low transmission rates data can also be transferred via an...
(SONET) at OC-192 rates, Synchronous optical networking
Synchronous optical networking
Synchronous Optical Networking and Synchronous Digital Hierarchy are standardized multiplexing protocols that transfer multiple digital bit streams over optical fiber using lasers or highly coherent light from light-emitting diodes . At low transmission rates data can also be transferred via an...
STM-64, 10 Gbit/s Optical Transport Network
Optical Transport Network
ITU-T defines an Optical Transport Network as a set of Optical Network Elements connected by optical fibre links, able to provide functionality of transport, multiplexing, switching, management, supervision and survivability of optical channels carrying client signals...
(OTN) OTU-2, and parallel optics links.
They can operate over a single wavelength or use dense wavelength-division multiplexing
Wavelength-division multiplexing
In fiber-optic communications, wavelength-division multiplexing is a technology which multiplexes a number of optical carrier signals onto a single optical fiber by using different wavelengths of laser light...
techniques.
They include digital diagnostics that provide management that were added to the SFF-8472 standard.
XFP modules use an LC fiber connector type to achieve high density.
The XFP specification was developed by the XFP Multi Source Agreement Group. It is an informal agreement of an industry group, not officially endorsed by any standards body. The first preliminary specification was published on March 27, 2002. The first public release was on July 19, 2002. It was adopted on March 3, 2003, and updated with minor updates through August 31, 2005.
The chair of the XFP group was Robert Snively of Brocade Communications Systems
Brocade Communications Systems
Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. , based in Silicon Valley , is a vendor of storage area network hardware and software. The company also designs, manufactures, and sells networking products and management applications for local, metro, and wide area networks...
, and technical editor was Ali Ghiasi of Broadcom
Broadcom
Broadcom Corporation is a fabless semiconductor company in the wireless and broadband communication business. The company is headquartered in Irvine, California, USA. Broadcom was founded by a professor-student pair Henry Samueli and Henry T. Nicholas III from the University of California, Los...
.
The organization's web site was maintained until 2009.
XFI
The XFI electrical interface specification was a 10 gigabit per second chip-to-chip electrical interface specification defined as part of the XFP multi-source agreement. It was also developed by the XFP MSA group.XFI provides a single lane running at 10.3125 Gbit/s when using a 64B/66B encoding
64b/66b encoding
In data networking and transmission, 64b/66b is a line code that transforms 64-bit data to 66-bit line code to provide enough state changes to allow reasonable clock recovery and facilitate alignment of the data stream at the receiver....
scheme.
A serializer/deserializer
SerDes
A Serializer/Deserializer is a pair of functional blocks commonly used in high speed communications to compensate for limited input/output. These blocks convert data between serial data and parallel interfaces in each direction...
is often used to convert from a wider interface such as XAUI
XAUI
XAUI is a standard for extending the XGMII between the MAC and PHY layer of 10 Gigabit Ethernet . XAUI is pronounced "zowie", a concatenation of the Roman numeral X, meaning ten, and the initials of "Attachment Unit Interface"...
that has four lanes running at 3.125 Gbit/s using 8B/10B encoding
8B/10B encoding
In telecommunications, 8b/10b is a line code that maps 8-bit symbols to 10-bit symbols to achieve DC-balance and bounded disparity, and yet provide enough state changes to allow reasonable clock recovery. This means that the difference between the count of 1s and 0s in a string of at least 20 bits...
.
XFI is sometimes pronounced as "X" "F" "I" and other times as "ziffie".
Dimensions
The physical dimensions of the XFP transceiver are slightly larger than the original small form-factor pluggable transceiver (SFP). One of the reasons for the increase in size is to allow for on-board heat sinkHeat sink
A heat sink is a term for a component or assembly that transfers heat generated within a solid material to a fluid medium, such as air or a liquid. Examples of heat sinks are the heat exchangers used in refrigeration and air conditioning systems and the radiator in a car...
s for greater cooling.
XFP dimensions are:
- Height: 0.33 inches (8.5 mm)
- Width: 0.72 inches (18.3 mm)
- Depth: 3.1 inches (78 mm)
The XFP packaging was smaller than the XENPAK
XENPAK
XENPAK is a Multisource Agreement , instigated by Agilent Technologies and Agere Systems, that defines a fiber-optic or wired transceiver module which conforms to the 10 Gigabit Ethernet standard of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 802.3 working group...
form-factor which had been published earlier (by almost a year).
Some vendors supported both, or the XENPAK follow-ons called XPAK and X2.