Introduction to Category Success and Networking Equipment Standards
The key to the success of a category – an extremely different thing than the success of a company within an existing networking equipment category – is a general agreement about the structure of the technology. There is no market and no business if there is no playing field.
Formation of the μQSFP Multi-Source Agreement
With that in mind, 12 companies last month created The Micro Quad Small-Form-Factor Pluggable (μQSFP) Multi-Source Agreement.
The press release positions the goals for μQSFP in general and the μQSFP MSA. The idea is to create a standard for hot-pluggable transceiver modules with 33 percent higher port density than QFSP with thermally-enhanced housing, the release says. μQSFP – pronounced “micro QSFP” – will work on fiber and copper. The founding members of the group are Avago Technologies, Broadcom, Brocade, Cisco, Dell, Huawei, Intel, JDSU, Juniper Networks, Microsoft, Molex, and TE Connectivity, the release says.
Objectives and Benefits of μQSFP
The idea is to reduce bottlenecks that can slow networking equipment:
The µQSFP specification will define requirements for a form factor supporting up to four electrical channels, higher system density, and a thermally-enhanced solution. Support for 28 gigabits per second (Gb/s) data rates on each channel enables many applications including 10 Gigabit Ethernet, 25 Gigabit Ethernet, 50 Gigabit Ethernet, and 100 Gigabit Ethernet, where higher densities are required than are possible with existing form factors.
Future Prospects and Standard Refinements
Future advances and refinements of the expected standard will accelerate the speeds available. More information is available in a Q&A from the group, including the roadmap to faster speeds.
Updates and Industry Participation
The members of the microQSFP Multi-Source agreement group released draft mechanical specifications of the microQSFP module and cage in January 2016. The draft will allow designers, optical module manufacturers and copper cable assembly providers to begin the process of developing the next wave of hardware. In the press release issued in January 2016, the MSA founding promoter members(such as Cisco, Microsoft, Intel) were seeking new members to help expand the adoption of the microQSFP in the industry.
Call to Action and Community Engagement
The microQSFP has four electrical channels which support direct attach copper cables as well as optical modules. You can view the rest of the January press release here.
Are you on board with the microQSFP movement? When do you think the switch will really take place? We'ld love to hear your thoughts, comment below!
