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OIF to Update Industry on Next-Generation Electrical and Optical Interface Projects, including 224 Gbps & Co-Packaging, at DesignCon 2023

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Industry thought leaders will provide an update on work to deliver electrical interfaces for 224 Gbps equipment architectures, co-packaging of optical and electrical interfaces

Fremont, Calif.—January 11, 2023 –OIF has worked to advance the development of interoperable electrical interface specifications, known as CEI (common electrical I/O), for over two decades, leading to the widespread adoption of industry-changing standards. At DesignCon 2023, Jan 31 – Feb 2, in Santa Clara, CA, industry experts will reveal the work OIF is doing to address electrical interfaces optimized for new electrical and optical architecture aspirations, including 224 Gbps and the co-packaging of optical and electrical interfaces with ASICs.

OIF experts will present its work during two panels at the event:

Tuesday, Jan 31, 2023: 4:45-6:00 pm PT
Enabling Next Generation Co-Packaging Solutions
Moderator: Jeff Hutchins, OIF Physical & Link Layer (PLL)  Working Group Co-Packaging Vice Chair and Board Member, Ranovus

Panelists include Jeff Hutchins; Kenneth Jackson, Sumitomo Electric Device Innovations, USA; Yi Tang, Cisco; Nathan Tracy, OIF Market Awareness & Education Committee Co-Chair, PLL, TE Connectivity; and Richard Ward, Astera Labs

OIF experts will summarize OIF’s work on studying the various co-packaging applications, the technical tradeoffs and choices between different approaches, OIF’s projects, and future co-packaging trends. The panel will also cover OIF’s work to create standards (interoperability agreements) that foster the development of a co-packaging ecosystem.

Wednesday, Feb 1, 2023: 4:00 pm-5:15 pm PT
Enabling Next Generation Architectures: 224 Gbps Electrical Interfaces
Moderator: Nathan Tracy, OIF MA&E Committee Co-Chair PLL, TE Connectivity

Panelists include; John Calvin, Keysight; Mike Klempa, OIF PLL Interoperability Working Group Chair, Alphawave IP Group; Mike Li, OIF Board Member, Intel; Cathy Liu, OIF President, Broadcom Inc.

This session will include lessons learned from 112 Gbps and how those lessons are being leveraged for the new 224 Gbps work in OIF. Experts will also discuss the challenges OIF must overcome to enable 224 Gbps electrical I/O interface solutions where reach, performance, power, and cost optimizations become paramount. These solutions are critical to keep the industry moving forward with the next generation of interoperable electrical I/O interface specifications that address the escalating network power consumption trends.

About OIF
OIF is where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done. Celebrating 25 years of effecting forward change in the industry, OIF represents the dynamic ecosystem of 130+ industry leading network operators, system vendors, component vendors and test equipment vendors collaborating to develop interoperable electrical, optical and control solutions that directly impact the industry’s ecosystem and facilitate global connectivity in the open network world. Connect with OIF at @OIForum, on LinkedIn and at http://www.oiforum.com.

PR Contact:

Leah Wilkinson
Wilkinson + Associates for OIF
Email: leah@wilkinson.associates
Office: 703-907-0010

OIF Q1 2022 Member Meeting Results in New CEI and CMIS Projects, Working Group Election

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Dave Stauffer re-elected as Chair of OIF Physical & Link Layer Working Group

Fremont, Calif.—March 16, 2022 – Highlights from OIF’s first member meeting of the year include four new Common Electrical I/O (CEI) projects, two new Common Management Interface Specification (CMIS) project launches, an OIF Working Group election, and an industry talk from Scott Wilkinson, Lead Analyst, Networking Components, Cignal AI. The Q122 Technical and MA&E Committees Meeting was held virtually February 7-11.

NEW PROJECTS

CEI

OIF launched four new CEI projects during the meeting: CEI-224G-Extra Short Reach (XSR) Common Electrical On-Package Interface Project, CEI-224G-Very Short Reach (VSR) Common Electrical Chip-to-Module Interface Project, CEI-224G-Medium Reach (MR) Common Electrical Chip-to-Chip Interface Project, and CEI-224G-Long Reach (LR) Common Electrical Backplane and Copper Cable Interface Project. These projects are the first set to target the 224G generation of electrical interfaces.

In addition to these 224G project launches, OIF membership approved publishing the 224G Framework Project white paper that was kicked off in August 2020. “OIF’s CEI-224G framework project white paper provides a roadmap for the applications, challenges and projects needed to support new specifications and technologies – these four new projects will develop the Implementation Agreements (IAs) to address that roadmap,” said Dave Stauffer, Kandou Bus and Chair, OIF Physical and Link Layer (PLL) Working Group.

CMIS: Form-Factor Specific Hardware Management

OIF initiated a new project to create supplemental specifications to CMIS for Form-factor Specific Hardware Management (FSHM). CMIS has been adopted to manage future generation of small form-factor pluggable (SFP) 112, SFP-DD/SFP-DD112, and quad small form-factor pluggable (QSFP) 112. Currently, CMIS does not provide hardware management control for these form-factors. FSHM will define form-factor specific module hardware management registers in CMIS allocated page 05h.

CMIS: Adding CMIS Support for Host-Module Link Training

OIF started another new project that will add CMIS Support for Host-Module Link Training. This project will provide an optional out-of-band, protocol agnostic, management mechanism for optimizing link tuning and training.

OIF ELECTION
Stauffer was re-elected to serve a two-year term as Chair of OIF’s PLL Working Group. Dr. Stauffer has served in this role since 2006. The OIF PLL Working Group develops IAs related to physical and data link layer interfaces between optical internetworking elements and their internal components, reusing existing standards when applicable. The OIF PLL Working Group is guided by requirements developed by the Physical Layer User Group (PLUG) Working Group and Network Operators Working Group and OIF members.

GUEST SPEAKER
The meeting’s guest speaker, Scott Wilkinson, provided attendees with an overview of the pluggable coherent optical technologies market, including trends, forecasts, and expected changes.

“The OIF’s wildly successful 400ZR specification is largely responsible for the recent growth of 400Gbps coherent pluggables and the emergence of IP-over-DWDM as a valid network configuration,” said Wilkinson. “The group’s quarterly meetings are an invaluable source of information on what’s next in optical interfaces.”

 

About OIF

OIF is where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done. Building on more than 20 years of effecting forward change in the industry, OIF represents the dynamic ecosystem of 130+ industry leading network operators, system vendors, component vendors and test equipment vendors collaborating to develop interoperable electrical, optical and control solutions that directly impact the industry’s ecosystem and facilitate global connectivity in the open network world. Connect with OIF at @OIForum, on LinkedIn and at http://www.oiforum.com.

 

PR Contact:

Leah Wilkinson

Wilkinson + Associates for OIF

Email: leah@wilkinson.associates

Office: 703-907-0010

 

OIF Reveals New Common Electrical I/O Project to Strengthen an Open Ecosystem for Near Package Optics Architecture, Launches Management Track and Facebook joins Board of Directors at Q3 2021 Virtual Meeting

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Fremont, Calif.—August 27, 2021 – OIF’s Q3 2021 Technical and MA&E Committees Meeting, held virtually August 2-6, 2021, demonstrated OIF’s leadership in next-generation channel definition by revealing a new Common Electrical I/O (CEI) project. Two projects under the Physical and Link Layer (PLL) newly formed Management track were also initiated. Jimmy Yu, vice president of Dell’Oro Group, was featured as the guest speaker, and a new Board Member was appointed.

NEW PROJECTS:

The CEI-112G-Extra Short Reach (XSR)+ project will allow lower power, multi-source 112Gbps (optimized for 106.25Gbps) electrical I/O interface to be developed with advanced PCB and substrate technology. The project will also support an open ecosystem based on Near Package Optics (NPO) architecture. OIF members are proposing that an “XSR+” type interface is used to add reach for NPO applications over the existing XSR interface to enable a multi-vendor open ecosystem without adding significant power.

The two projects under the PLL Management track include one to transition ownership and maintenance of the Common Management Interface Specification (CMIS) from the Quad Small Form Factor Pluggable Double Density (QSFP-DD) Multi-Source Agreement (MSA) to OIF, and the second project will focus on CMIS extensions for co-packaging implementations.

“Our quarterly meetings provide a critical platform for our members to discuss and debate interoperability challenges and industry standards that help OIF continue its mission to accelerate industry innovation,” explained David Stauffer, OIF Physical & Link Layer WG Chair and Kandou. “The new CEI-112G-XSR+ project will help strengthen an open ecosystem for NPO demonstrating OIF’s leadership in next-generation channel definition. Another significant new activity that addresses industry interoperability and standards is OIF’s new Management track. Due to the complementary/synergistic nature of the work with the OIF co-packaged optics, NPO, CEI and coherent optics projects, OIF will take over the ongoing CMIS revisions as well as further enhancements and CMIS extensions under this track.”

BOARD OF DIRECTORS APPOINTMENT

Rob Stone of Facebook was appointed to the OIF Board of Directors, filling an open position. Stone will serve the term for this position that goes through September 2022.

GUEST SPEAKER

Jimmy Yu served as the guest speaker providing OIF members with an update on the optical transport market. He leads Dell’Oro’s Optical Transport, Microwave Transmission and Mobile Backhaul Transport market research.

“OIF is a critical enabler to the optical market’s progression,” commented Yu. “The work of OIF members in these quarterly meetings to help guide interoperability is a significant benefit to the industry.”

About OIF

OIF is where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done. Building on more than 20 years of effecting forward change in the industry, OIF represents the dynamic ecosystem of 125+ industry leading network operators, system vendors, component vendors and test equipment vendors collaborating to develop interoperable electrical, optical and control solutions that directly impact the industry’s ecosystem and facilitate global connectivity in the open network world. Connect with OIF at @OIForum, on LinkedIn and at http://www.oiforum.com.

 

PR Contact:

Leah Wilkinson

Wilkinson + Associates for OIF

Email: leah@wilkinson.associates

Office: 703-907-0010

 

 

 

OIF Approves CEI-224G Development Project, Reviews Co-packaging of Optics with ASICs Workshop, Announces Optical Module Management Interface Survey Results at Q3 Meeting

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Fremont, Calif.—August 26, 2020 – OIF members continued to drive industry interoperability efforts forward during the Q3 2020 Technical and MA&E Committees Meeting, held August 3-7. This quarter’s virtual meeting resulted in the approval of the CEI (Common Electrical I/O) -224G Development Project, a wrap-up of the “Co-packaging of Optics with ASICs” members-only workshop that was held July 20th and a readout of the results of the public Optical Module Management Interface Survey.

“OIF strives to challenge our member companies to achieve more in order to accelerate industry innovation and standards that maintain alignment with network operator trends and needs,” explained Nathan Tracy, TE Connectivity and OIF President. “We are continually advocating for increased interoperability and the OIF quarterly meetings provide the ideal forum for members to debate and discuss the interoperability challenges that the industry is trying to overcome. For example, getting electrical signals to travel at 224 Gbps over workable distances is a challenge we are looking forward to exploring.”

NEW PROJECT – 224 Gbps CEI PROJECT APPROVED

During OIF’s Q2 meeting in May, members previewed a proposed project start to address next generation architectures and data rates around 224 Gbps for CEI interfaces. The project was formally approved during this month’s meeting. The expected result will be a technical white paper summarizing a consensus-based body of knowledge which will then enable several project starts for next generation CEI clauses addressing specific reaches and architectures.

“CO-PACKAGING OF OPTICS WITH ASICs” WORKSHOP RECAP

OIF held a “Co-packaging of Optics with ASICs” workshop on July 20th for OIF members. The workshop explored the various challenges of co-packaging of optics and identified opportunities for industry collaboration. Presenting companies included Applied Optoelectronics, Inc., Facebook, Inphi, Intel, Keysight Technologies, Microsoft, Ranovus, Senko Advanced Components, Inc. and TE Connectivity. Based on the success of the member workshop and increasing interest in the topic industry-wide, OIF is planning a public workshop on co-packaging of optics. Details and registration will be available soon.

OPTICAL MODULE MANAGEMENT INTERFACE SURVEY

OIF recently conducted a public industry survey designed to determine how the Coherent Common Management Interface Specification Implementation Agreement is viewed by the industry and the level of industry alignment and support for further standardization of optical module management. Results of the survey were presented on a public webinar on July 30 and recapped during the Q3 meeting. Click HERE to download the survey results.

About OIF

OIF is where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done. Building on more than 20 years of effecting forward change in the industry, OIF represents the dynamic ecosystem of 100+ industry leading network operators, system vendors, component vendors and test equipment vendors collaborating to develop interoperable electrical, optical and control solutions that directly impact the industry’s ecosystem and facilitate global connectivity in the open network world. Connect with OIF at @OIForum, on LinkedIn and at http://www.oiforum.com.

 

PR Contact:

Leah Wilkinson

Wilkinson + Associates for OIF

Email: leah@wilkinson.associates

Office: 703-907-0010