The Small Form Factor Pluggable Double Density (SFP-DD) Multi Source Agreement (MSA) Group, which is backed by leading vendors, has released an initial hardware specification for an SFP-DD pluggable interface.
Founding members of the group include Alibaba, Broadcom, Brocade, Cisco, Dell EMC, Finisar, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Huawei, Intel, Juniper Networks, Lumentum, Mellanox Technologies, Molex, and TE Connectivity.
The SFP-DD goal is to standardize a high-density, pluggable form factor interface that builds on the existing SFP pluggable form factor by leveraging an additional 2 rows of electrical contacts for double the lane density and data speed in next-generation networking equipment. The new spec will support up to 3.5 W optical modules in an enterprise environment.
SFP-DD key features include
- A single port SMT connector and cage
- Heat sink options for thermal management flexibility
- Module mechanical definition
- Support for optical and copper interfaces, with physical layer specifications to be determined outside the scope of the SFP-DD MSA
SFP-DD key benefits include
- Support for up to 3.5 W for optical modules
- Enables two channels of high-speed electrical interfaces connecting to host
- Backward compatibility to all current SFP style interfaces
- Developed by industry consortium to enable multi-vendor interoperability
