Molex to Showcase with Cisco and Keysight Technologies at DesignCon 2019

Molex, a leading global manufacturer of electronic solutions, announces a collaboration with Ixia, a Keysight Business, in a joint demonstration at DesignCon 2019 on January 30^th and 31^st at booth 631.

The demonstration will show Ixia’s AresONE 8x400GE test system generating a combined 3.2 Tbps live Ethernet traffic over Molex QSFP-DD passive copper direct attach cable (DAC) assemblies at up to 3 meters to the device under test. Cisco’s N3432D-S 32-port 400 Gpbs Ethernet switch will be used in the demonstration. Real-time analysis on AresONE will showcase test results of pre-FEC (forward error correction) per lane BER (bit error rate) of around 1E-9. The superior performance of the “inherent” BER of the cable provides ample margin for the KP4 FEC to correct these errors, resulting in zero Frame Loss Ratio (FLR). The impressive operation of a 400 Gbps Ethernet DAC over a 3-meter cable demonstrates that the companies’ innovative solutions fulfill industry standard IEEE specs.

“Through strategic collaborations, we are providing the expertise needed to achieve solutions that not only meet the needs of the industry, but also support the speeds that are required for the next-generation of high-speed, high-density networking,” said Scott Sommers, group product manager at Molex and co-chair of the QSFP-DD MSA.

“Keysight is excited to participate in this industry’s first public demonstration of live Ethernet traffic to Cisco’s N3432D-S over Molex direct attached cables using our award-winning second generation 400GE QSFP-DD test system, AresONE,” said Ram Periakaruppan, vice president, product development, Ixia Solutions Group, Keysight Technologies. “It is vital to continue to deliver higher density test systems to support advances within the market to address customers’ needs.”

"Cisco is pleased to see our vision on QSFP-DD continues to be proven to be the leading industry solution. The deep experience of the industry with the QSFP form-factor enables continual innovation to meet the growing market needs for 400 Gbps Ethernet and beyond," said Mark Nowell, distinguished engineer, Cisco Data Center Switching.

For more information about the 3-meter DAC QSFP-DD cable demo please visit booth 631, or www.molex.com/link/directattachcables.html.