Enabling an “Active” plus “Smart” approach to higher-bandwidth Switch-to-Switch Ethernet interconnects
Challenges:
- At 50 Gbps/lane, passive DAC cables barely meet the 3-meter reach requirement, while experts predict 2-meters may be the practical limit for DACs at 100 Gbps/lane.
- At a typical 26 AWG and 16 twinax pairs per cable, DACs are too rigid, heavy, and bulky, which restrict airflow and make servicing the rack practically impossible.
- Switch PCB consumes too much of the overall 35-dB end-to-end channel budget, greatly limiting cable reach and increasing diameter.
- DACs and general-purpose Active Electrical Cables (AECs) lack advanced cable and fleet management features essential managing data center infrastructure.
- Active Optical Cables (AOCs) are high power and high cost.
- AOCs require a “short reach” interface to the host switch ASIC and designing such an interface to support 100G/lane Ethernet speed is costly, requiring exotic PCB materials or mid-board cables.
Solution: Taurus Smart Cable Module™ Benefits
- Active Electrical Cables provide a thin, flexible cable gauge, higher reliability, and lower-power profiles to meet 3-meter reach requirement — with a side benefit of relaxing the channel design requirements of the switch PCB.
- Offer system-wide visibility and management features that enable enhanced security, quick debug, and flexible firmware upgrade.
- Enable a flexible supply chain by qualifying with leading cable assembly suppliers to support multi-sourced cable solutions with a common set of fleet management features.
