FTBx-88260 - 1G to 100G network tester

Rapid evolution in transceiver technology

Whether motivated by cost, power requirements, space or increased demand for bandwidth, pluggable transceivers are evolving rapidly. Predicting how long an existing transceiver will be required before another comes along to take its place is tough—making the obsolescence of today’s hardware simply a waiting game.
Another challenge is that network operators and data centers still need to support existing technologies, but also be ready to address new rates and technologies without always doing forklift upgrades. Whether we consider SFP and SFP+ (for rates up to 10G) or QSFP28 and CFP4 (for 100G) or SFP28 (for 25G rates), it’s clear that integrating all these into a network—as well as testing and validating them—is a huge task. The smart move is to allocate budget for versatile—not limited—solutions.

EXFO’s Open Transceiver System (OTS)

Introducing a new concept for the latest Power Blazer modules: EXFO’s Open Transceiver System (OTS). The OTS is an innovative, evolutionary design enabling any transceiver (now or future) to fit into an EXFO test solution. Benefits include:

• Experience ultimate flexibility—swap out OTS modules right in the field, lab or on the production floor, choosing only the ones needed for whichever applications, rates or technologies under test.
• Save tens of thousands of dollars by eliminating the necessity to completely replace an expensive testing module. Instead, change a less costly OTS module and extend the life of testing equipment.
• Support multiple transceiver types simultaneously with a future-proof architecture designed to handle both current and upcoming high-speed transceiver technologies as they are developed and launched.

Support for multiple transceiver types

 _{From left to right they are: Dual SFP28, Single CFP4, Dual QSFP28, Sync}

Dual SFP28

• 10G / 25G / FC32x data rates
• Ethernet Dual Port testing (EBERT, RFC2544, ESAM, TGEN), OTN, SONET/SDH, FC testing
• The dual port can be shared with another OTS module, one port from each OTS module

Dual QSFP28

• 40G/100G data rates
• Framed Ethernet Dual Port testing (EBERT, RFC2544, ESAM, TGEN), OTN testing
• The dual port can be shared with another OTS module, one port from each OTS module

Single CFP4

• 100G data rate
• Ethernet Dual Port testing (EBERT, RFC2544, ESAM, TGEN), OTN testing
• The dual port can be shared with another OTS module, one port from each OTS module

Sync

• Built-in GPS
• Ideal solution for latency and clock testing
• Next-generation timing application