XENPAK
Encyclopedia
XENPAK is a Multisource Agreement (MSA), instigated by Agilent Technologies
and Agere Systems
, that defines a fiber-optic or wired transceiver
module which conforms to the 10 Gigabit Ethernet
(10GbE) standard of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
(IEEE) 802.3 working group
. The MSA group received input from both transceiver and equipment manufacturers during the definition process. XENPAK has been replaced by more compact devices providing the same functionality.
The most recent revision of the MSA, Issue 3.0, was published on September 18, 2002. The result covered all physical media dependent (PMD) types defined by the IEEE at that time for 802.3ae 10GbE.
Although the XENPAK agreement received early support, its modules were thought to be overly large for high density applications. , vendors generally changed to use XFP modules for longer distances, and Enhanced small form-factor pluggable transceivers, known as SFP+ modules, for higher densities.
The newer modules have a purely serial interface, compared to the four "lane" XAUI
interface used in XENPAK.
and single mode
fiber optic cables
and InfiniBand
copper cables with connectors known as CX4. Transmission distances vary from 100 metres (328.1 ft) to 80 kilometres (49.7 mi) for fiber and up to 15 metres (49.2 ft) on CX4 cable. Newer XENPAKs using the 10GBase-LX4 standard operated using multiple wavelengths on legacy multi-mode fibres at distances of up to 300 metres (984.3 ft), eliminating the need to reinstall cable in a building when upgrading certain 1 Gbit/s circuits to 10 Gbit/s.
Soon after the standard was introduced in 2001, two related standards emerged: XPAK and X2. These two standards have the same electrical interface as XENPAK (known as XAUI
) but different mechanical properties.
The XPAK group was announced on March 19, 2002, first published their specification on May 24, 2002, and version 2.3 on August 1, 2003.
The X2 group was announced on July 22, 2002, and published their specification on February 13, 2003.
Issue 3.0 of the XENPAK MSA was transferred to the Small Form Factor committee
as document INF-8474 on September 18, 2002.
The XENPAK MSA website existed through the end of 2008.
Agilent Technologies
Agilent Technologies , or Agilent, is a company that designs and manufactures electronic and bio-analytical measurement instruments and equipment for measurement and evaluation...
and Agere Systems
Agere Systems
Agere Systems Inc. was an integrated circuit components company based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Spun out of Lucent Technologies in 2002, Agere was merged into LSI Corporation in 2007....
, that defines a fiber-optic or wired transceiver
Transceiver
A transceiver is a device comprising both a transmitter and a receiver which are combined and share common circuitry or a single housing. When no circuitry is common between transmit and receive functions, the device is a transmitter-receiver. The term originated in the early 1920s...
module which conforms to the 10 Gigabit Ethernet
10 Gigabit Ethernet
The 10 gigabit Ethernet computer networking standard was first published in 2002. It defines a version of Ethernet with a nominal data rate of 10 Gbit/s , ten times faster than gigabit Ethernet.10 gigabit Ethernet defines only full duplex point to point links which are generally connected by...
(10GbE) standard of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is a non-profit professional association headquartered in New York City that is dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence...
(IEEE) 802.3 working group
IEEE 802.3
IEEE 802.3 is a working group and a collection of IEEE standards produced by the working group defining the physical layer and data link layer's media access control of wired Ethernet. This is generally a local area network technology with some wide area network applications...
. The MSA group received input from both transceiver and equipment manufacturers during the definition process. XENPAK has been replaced by more compact devices providing the same functionality.
History
The XENPAK MSA was publicly announced on March 12, 2001 and the first revision of the document was publicly released on May 7, 2001.The most recent revision of the MSA, Issue 3.0, was published on September 18, 2002. The result covered all physical media dependent (PMD) types defined by the IEEE at that time for 802.3ae 10GbE.
Although the XENPAK agreement received early support, its modules were thought to be overly large for high density applications. , vendors generally changed to use XFP modules for longer distances, and Enhanced small form-factor pluggable transceivers, known as SFP+ modules, for higher densities.
The newer modules have a purely serial interface, compared to the four "lane" XAUI
XAUI
XAUI is a standard for extending the XGMII between the MAC and PHY layer of 10 Gigabit Ethernet . XAUI is pronounced "zowie", a concatenation of the Roman numeral X, meaning ten, and the initials of "Attachment Unit Interface"...
interface used in XENPAK.
Description
XENPAK modules were supplied for physical layer interfaces supporting multi-modeMulti-mode optical fiber
Multi-mode optical fiber is a type of optical fiber mostly used for communication over short distances, such as within a building or on a campus...
and single mode
Single-mode optical fiber
In fiber-optic communication, a single-mode optical fiber is an optical fiber designed to carry only a single ray of light . Modes are the possible solutions of the Helmholtz equation for waves, which is obtained by combining Maxwell's equations and the boundary conditions...
fiber optic cables
Optical fiber
An optical fiber is a flexible, transparent fiber made of a pure glass not much wider than a human hair. It functions as a waveguide, or "light pipe", to transmit light between the two ends of the fiber. The field of applied science and engineering concerned with the design and application of...
and InfiniBand
InfiniBand
InfiniBand is a switched fabric communications link used in high-performance computing and enterprise data centers. Its features include high throughput, low latency, quality of service and failover, and it is designed to be scalable...
copper cables with connectors known as CX4. Transmission distances vary from 100 metres (328.1 ft) to 80 kilometres (49.7 mi) for fiber and up to 15 metres (49.2 ft) on CX4 cable. Newer XENPAKs using the 10GBase-LX4 standard operated using multiple wavelengths on legacy multi-mode fibres at distances of up to 300 metres (984.3 ft), eliminating the need to reinstall cable in a building when upgrading certain 1 Gbit/s circuits to 10 Gbit/s.
Replacement form factors
The XENPAK form factor was initially supported by numerous network equipment manufacturers and module makers. However, advances in technology led to more compact form factors for 10 Gigabit Ethernet applications.Soon after the standard was introduced in 2001, two related standards emerged: XPAK and X2. These two standards have the same electrical interface as XENPAK (known as XAUI
XAUI
XAUI is a standard for extending the XGMII between the MAC and PHY layer of 10 Gigabit Ethernet . XAUI is pronounced "zowie", a concatenation of the Roman numeral X, meaning ten, and the initials of "Attachment Unit Interface"...
) but different mechanical properties.
The XPAK group was announced on March 19, 2002, first published their specification on May 24, 2002, and version 2.3 on August 1, 2003.
The X2 group was announced on July 22, 2002, and published their specification on February 13, 2003.
Issue 3.0 of the XENPAK MSA was transferred to the Small Form Factor committee
Small Form Factor committee
The Small Form Factor committee is an ad hoc electronics industry group formed to quickly develop interoperability specifications ....
as document INF-8474 on September 18, 2002.
The XENPAK MSA website existed through the end of 2008.