Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: KEYS) said that its solutions group Ixia (NASDAQ: XXIA) is the first to ship a 400 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) test system with multi-rate speed options thanks to the K400 QSFP-DD-R400GE load module family. With these multi-rate options, network equipment manufacturers (NEMs) can test products at speeds based on the new IEEE 802.3cd draft standard and IEEE 802.3bs standard using the 400GbE QSFP-DD optical module at 200GbE, 100GbE, and 50GbE speeds, from a single port.
Network equipment manufacturers are moving from technology based on 28-Gbps electrical lanes with non-return-to-zero (NRZ) encoding to more accelerated 56-Gbps electrical lanes with PAM4 encoding, says the test and measurement instrument maker. Optical transceivers that leverage 56-Gbps technology to support the need for 200GbE, 100GbE, and 50GbE interfaces are expected to enter the market this year. According to Keysight, its Ixia K400 QSFP-DD load module family is the only shipping module line that can authenticate these technologies using 400GbE-port fan-out media to offer a future-proof platform for testing multi-speed or single-speed network devices at these new high-speed Ethernet rates.
"Flexible test solutions are necessary to develop higher speed, multi-rate, high density Ethernet products for the leaders in the data center space," said Sunil Kalidindi, vice president product management at Keysight's Ixia solutions group. "Network devices such as routers, switches, and servers must be able to operate at all new speeds in the IEEE 802.3cd draft specification and IEEE 802.3bs on most, or all, ports on their devices."
Keysight acquired Ixia in January of 2017 in an all-cash deal worth approximately $1.6 billion, net of cash (see "Keysight confirms Ixia buy"). Its Ixia QSFP-DD test system accelerates the development of new IEEE 802.3bs-compliant 400GbE network equipment and systems, and is available in two configurations (see "Ixia Solutions Group, A Keysight Business, K400 QSFP-DD-400GE load module").
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