Molex recently unveiled a Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable (QSFP) product offering as part of a highly integrated system compatible with the QSFP Multi Source Agreement to combine optimal real estate, power and port density. The company believes this product offering integrates four high-speed channels into a single pluggable interconnect system, resulting in three times the port density of SFP and lower cost per channel. The system has the capacity to support speeds up to 10 Gbps per lane, and with an optional serial management interface, the copper QSFP cable assembly delivers the same performance as an optical solution. The offering consists of the 38-circuit SMT host connector, an electromagnetic interference (EMI)-shielding cage assembly, and both passive and active copper cable assemblies with data rates up to 40 Gbps. With a pitch of 0.80 mm (.031”), the SMT host connector allows the circuit designer the option to place the connector on either side of the PCB. Additional benefits include alignment posts to provide stability when placing the connector and standoffs to facilitate PCB cleaning. The EMI cage is a one-piece press-fit configuration designed for easy assembly and acceptance of either optical modules or copper cables. The single host connector and cage combination supports a belly-to-belly configuration. Up to 20-meter active cables enable longer-reach rack-to-rack connections. Additionally, the Molex QSFP cable assemblies feature zinc die-cast backshells to provide enhanced EMI shielding. They also support Ethernet, Fibre Channel, InfiniBand® and SONET/SDH.
ADVERTISEMENT