A new design of 4x10Gb/s transceiver module for ethernet applications

With the drastic data traffic requirements of Internet, the demand of high bandwidth optical communication for local-area-network (LAN) and storage-area-network (SAN) are increasing. A novel design of Z-axis pluggable 4x10Gb/s fiber-optic transceiver module, which owns the advantages of high port density, low cost, thermal stability and compact size is studied in this paper. The Xenpak-like transceiver modules with 4 channels LC type connectors are designed in the Xenpak mechanical dimension specified in Xenpak Multi-Source Agreement (MSA) to accomplish signal transmission. The Xenpak-like 850nm transceiver modules make use of the 70-way two-row electrical connector, which is originally designed for 10Gigabit Extended Attachment Unit Interface (XAUI), to transmit and receive the 4x10G/bs signal. A signal compensated circuit would be not only implemented to solve and overcome the loss and distortion of the connector interface but to improve signal integrity of 10Gb/s data transmitted over 100mm distance with standard FR4 printed circuit board. Moreover, in order to improve the performance of high-density printed circuit, the effects of electromagnetic interference (EMI) will also consider and discuss in this study. The optical performance of each lane of transceiver module is evaluated to pass the requirements of 10Gigabit Ethernet, respectively. The transmit eye diagram of each lane in the Xenpak-like transceiver modules is tested compliant with 10GE eye mask. And the extinction ratio of each transmitter is also evaluated above 3.5dB, averagely. Besides, the receiver sensitivity of each lane is demonstrated below -11dBm. To fulfill the future traffic demand of Ethernet, the authors have provided an alternative and novel design of 4x10Gb/s transceiver module for LAN/SAN applications.