Molex intros iPass+ high-speed channel (HSC) CXP copper and optical products at DesignCon

DesignCon 2011, LISLE, USA: Molex Inc. has announced its newest additions to the iPass+ product family.

The iPass+ High-Speed Channel (HSC) CXP copper and optical system offers connectors and cables that achieve rates of up to 120 Gbps of pluggable data over 12 lanes in one assembly. The first-to-market technology will be on display in Molex booth 501 at DesignCon 2011, February 1 and 2, Santa Clara, CA. This dual paddle-card system was adopted as the InfiniBand* CXP 12x QDR standard and by IEEE 802.3ba as the 100G Ethernet standard, providing 10 lanes of 10 Gbps data rates.

Molex has leveraged the latest high data-rate capable wafer technology and compliant-pin tails to develop two integrated connector offerings for the growing server-storage market:

The enhanced footprint version is a high-density, 10-channel connector, which conforms to IEEE 802.3ba requirements for the 10-channel 100 Gigabit Ethernet interface and provides a path to future terabit networks.

The standard version is a high-density, 12-channel connector capable of achieving Quad Data Rates (QDR) of 10 Gbps. The one-piece press-fit connector and cage assembly provides one-step placement to the board and is offered in both single and stacked dual-port configurations.

“Not only does the iPass+ HSC CXP deliver one of the highest data-rate capable I/Os on the market today, but it provides the most effective utilization of space,” said Larry Schultz, global product manager, Molex. “This allows our customers, the server and switch manufacturers, to provide twice as many high data-rate capable channels as their current products and deliver a superior solution to the end-user.”

Other Molex iPass+ HSC CXP products include:
Stacked Dual-Port Integrated Connector: The stacked dual-port connector and cage assembly integrates two individual 12x ports into a single press-fit connector that provides one-step placement to the board.

Copper Cable Assemblies: The copper cables are designed to accommodate single, ganged or stacked connector configurations in extremely high-density requirements. CXP passive copper cables are available in a variety of lengths.

Active Optical Cable Assemblies: CXP active optical cable (AOC) assemblies and pluggable transceiver modules utilize 12 transmit (TX) and 12 receive (RX) channels and deliver 10 Gbps per channel over multimode optical fiber with transmission distances up to 1km (3280.840’). Optical-to-electrical conversion at the cable ends is provided by integrated transceiver modules containing an optical engine specifically optimized for low-power consumption and high reliability.

Optical Module Assemblies: The low profile CXP optical 4.50mm round module assemblies offer improved fiber management over traditional flat cables for connecting CXP transceivers. The CXP optical module assemblies utilize 24 fibers using industry-standard MTP/MPO connectors to provide 12 transmit (TX) and 12 receive (RX) channels over 10 Gbps high-bandwidth (OM3) fiber. This design meets InfiniBand bandwidth requirements for CXP modules spaced up to 300m.