COBO to chase optical module issues in networking

INDIA: A new consortium created to solve switch faceplate bandwidth density and airflow constraints caused by the ever-increasing speeds of networking technologies like 400 Gigabit Ethernet today opened its doors. Through the Consortium for On-Board Optics (COBO), technology leaders will promote collaboration in defining industry standards that permit relocating the optical module from the faceplate to inside the networking equipment, tells an announcement.

Founding members include Arista Networks, Broadcom Corp. , Cisco, Coriant, Dell, Finisar Corp., Inphi Corp., Intel Corp. , JDSU , Juniper Networks , Luxtera Inc., Mellanox Technologies, Microsoft Corp.  Oclaro, RANOVUS, Source Photonics and TE Connectivity which will work together to develop specifications and technology roadmaps for on-board optical modules.

The consortium will immediately begin collaborating on a set of industry standards that define electrical interfaces, management interfaces, thermal requirements and pinouts to permit the development of interchangeable and interoperable optical modules that can be mounted or socketed on a network switch or adapter motherboard. COBO will enable the development of optical modules that can be placed closer to the network integrated circuits to decrease the power required to interface to the modules while also increasing faceplate bandwidth density and airflow.

“The founding companies of the Consortium for On-Board Optics are taking a major step forward in improving the efficiency of optical interconnects in datacenter networks,” said Brad Booth, COBO Chair and Principal Architect, Microsoft Azure Global Networking Services. “With ever-increasing data rates, the ability to move the optical modules closer to the network silicon provides a real economic and environmental benefit.”

“LightCounting has tracked the decade-long use of proprietary on-board/embedded optical modules inside high-performance systems,” said Dale Murray, Principal Analyst for LightCounting Market Research. “Standardizing these on-board modules via an industry consortium helps accelerate their use in the much larger datacenter market.”

“Cloud data center networks are setting the pace for switch ASIC and high speed optics innovations. Cisco is committed to work as part of the Consortium for On-Board Optics towards standards-based interoperable solutions,” said Thomas Scheibe, senior director of product management for Insieme Business Unit, Cisco

“Dell is pleased to be a founding member of this consortium to help define open standards for on-board optics. This will set the stage for interchangeable, multi-party solutions that combine the flexibility offered by pluggable modules with improved face-plate density to meet the growing demands of next-generation data centers,” said Subi Krishnamurthy, CTO, Dell Networking. “The Consortium for On-Board Optics is an important step in the right direction to continue driving efficiency into data center systems and deployments.”

“As a founding member of the Consortium for On-Board Optics, Juniper intends to promote open innovation in the networking industry and eliminate the barrier of adoption for on-board optics through a new set of industry standards that aims to deliver greater efficiency and performance for cloud data centers,” stated Jeffery J. Maki, distinguished engineer II, Juniper Networks