A global standardization trend for high-speed client and line side transceivers

Through the recent progress in information oriented society, the required information volume is expanding rapidly. Under these circumstances, high-speed and high-capacity optical communication systems are deployed in the industry. Especially high speed optical transceiver is the key device to realize high-speed system, and the practical development is accelerated in the industry. In order to develop these leading edge products timely, the establishment of the global standards is strongly demanded in the industry. Based on these backgrounds, Forum standardization bodies such as OIF/IEEE802.3 are energetically creating the standards in the industry. With regard to 40G/100G standardization activities, OIF leads telecom field and IEEE802.3 leads datacom field, and both activities become important recently. The recent topics of these two standardization bodies are reviewed and its future direction is discussed. Two organizations have completed the 1st gen 40G/100G standards, and soon after they starts creating the 2nd gen 40G/100G standards for targeting more compact size and low power consumption transceivers, mainly because the unexpected huge increase of the information volume. Key factor for the 2nd gen is the low power consumption technology such as new CMOS technology and the design improvement of the heat dissipation. Also from the mechanical point of view, the development of the new electrical interface such as 25G/50G and the brand-new hybrid integration technologies are strongly expected in the industry. New configurations using silicon-photonics are reported by many organizations in the recent standardization meetings.