QSFP/QSFP+ (Quad Small Form Factor Pluggable)

11 Apr 2013

QSFP cages and connectors are designed for data rates up to 10 Gb/s per channel, supporting Fibre Channel, Ethernet, SDH/SONET, and InfiniBand standards.

The Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable (QSFP) interconnect system from TE Connectivity is a four-channel package, offering 3 times the density of traditional SFP ports and each channel is capable of transferring data at 10Gb/s and supports a total of 40Gb/s as specified for QSFP+. The system is ideal for switches, routers, and host bus adapters (HBA's) where bandwidth is essential. The QSFP product family includes cages in single and ganged configurations with various heat sink and lightpipe options.

Cages feature enhanced EMI springs that have been proven in our SFP product to effectively contain EMI between both cage-to-bezel and cage-to-module interfaces. Cages are available with options for riding heat sinks (similar to XFP) and light pipes. Ganged (multi-port) cages are available for additional density gains. All cages use press-fit technology for board termination, and can be used in belly-to-belly (double-sided) applications. An XFP-style gasket is also supported to maintain the cage opening behind the bezel. All QSFP cages will accept copper cables, optical cables, and transceiver modules.

The connector is a 38 position high-speed SMT connector, and EMI plugs are offered for empty ports. TE Connectivity offers PARALIGHT active optical QSFP cable assemblies, which eliminate the need for a separate transceiver and optical interface. The QSFP and QSFP+ direct attach copper cable assemblies are a high speed and cost effective alternative to fiber optics in short reach 10Gb Ethernet and InfiniBand applications. These assemblies enable hardware OEMs and data centre operators to achieve higher port density and configurability at a low cost while reducing the power requirement.