Lasers Prep for 16-Gig FC

SAN DIEGO -- OFC/NFOEC -- With 8 Gbit/s Fibre Channel just getting its feet wet, the first signs of 16 Gbit/s Fibre Channel are already popping up.

At OFC/NFOEC, the premiere optical networking conference, Avago Technologies Pte. and Finisar Corp. (Nasdaq: FNSR) each showed off prototype 17 Gbit/s Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSELs).

The exhibits aren't meant to imply 16 Gbit/s Fibre Channel is imminent. In fact, standards work isn't even scheduled to start until April, which would mark the standard to emerge in possibly two years.

"The pressure has been mostly internal," says Dave D'Andrea, director of marketing for Avago's fiber optic products division.

But there's a practical reason for working this far ahead, D'Andrea says. Switch vendors would like to get their hands on chips and optics early, so they can start designing early. It's the usual drill: Vendors want to have their pre-standard systems already available once the standard is stabilized but not yet completed.Avago's exhibit included an SFP+ transceiver sporting the 17 Gbit/s VCSEL. It was attached to an ASIC, developed by a different Avago group, that included circuitry such as a serializer/deserializer crafted for the eventual 17 Gbit/s traffic.

Finisar was showing off just its VCSEL, which was produced by a Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) group acquired four years ago. (See Finisar Takes On Agilent.) Finisar's 17 Gbit/s VCSEL got put into the same package as its 10 Gbit/s part, but that won't necessarily stay true when the company moves to high-volume production.

"We've been meeting with laser driver guys who've said, 'Holy cow, you're running at 17 Gbit/s already. We'd better get going,'" says Greg Hart, VP of sales and marketing for Finisar's advanced optical components division.

It's yet to be seen whether 16 Gbit/s Fibre Channel will face challenges from 10 Gbit/s standards, including Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCOE). Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) has certainly thrown its weight behind FCOE, omitting Fibre Channel from the recent Nexus launch. (See Storage Must Wait for Cisco's Data Center Vision .)

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