Reference Design For Signal Conditioning 

This reference design provides a comprehensive, cost-effective, and low-power signal conditioning solution that addresses the challenges of extending reach and maintaining signal integrity in front-port QSFP+ applications. 

This verified reference design TIDA-00417 by Texas Instruments (TI) provides an optimised signal conditioning solution tailored for design engineers working on front-port QSFP+ implementations. It supports two 40GbE ports compatible with 40G-CR4/SR4/LR4 and 10G SFF-8431 requirements, ensuring high performance and reliability. Suitable for both optical and passive/active copper cables, this design enables reach extension between the Switch ASIC and the front-port QSFP+. This functionality is particularly useful for the outermost ports of Top-of-Rack (ToR) switches or mezzanine implementations of QSFP+ line cards, making it an essential resource for engineers looking to enhance signal integrity and extend operational ranges in their systems.

This design incorporates a front-port stacked QSFP+ implementation with robust signal conditioning to support 40GbE and 10GbE optical and passive copper applications. It extends the reach between the switch and front-port by up to three times beyond the nPPI/SFF-8431 host channel loss limits, ensuring excellent performance even in challenging setups. The low-power, cost-efficient design requires a single power supply and operates without the need for firmware, heatsinks, or reference clocks, simplifying implementation. Additionally, the hardware example has been rigorously lab-tested, including 40GbE/10GbE-specific test data, providing engineers with confidence in its real-world applicability.

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This reference design is highly versatile and supports a wide range of applications across different industries. In communications, it is well-suited for campus and branch switches, cell site gateway routers, datacom optical modules, and telecom optical modules. In the data center, it serves fixed data center switches and Top-of-Rack systems. For industrial applications, it can be utilized in air circuit breakers (ACBs), aircraft cockpit displays, and interconnect/distribution boxes. The design is also applicable in outdoor backhaul units, small cell base stations, and indoor backhaul systems. Moreover, it caters to the broadcast industry with its suitability for production switchers and mixers.

Its lab-verified performance, broad compatibility, and ease of implementation make it an excellent choice for engineers working on high-performance networking and communication systems.TI has thoroughly tested this reference design, ensuring its reliability and performance. The design package includes a bill of materials (BOM), schematics, assembly drawings, printed circuit board (PCB) layouts, and additional resources on the TI website.For more information, click here.