800G Product Benchmark: DAC, ACC, AEC, AOC and Optical Transceivers Compared

2 days ago

2 min read

I previously summarized the current 800G specifications (800G optical communication market trends and specifications). This article compiles the 800G product specs that major vendors have published. Many vendors are surely still developing products whose specs aren't yet released on their websites, so those aren't listed here. Product categories include DAC, ACC, AEC, AOC and optical transceiver modules.

QSFP-DD vs OSFP Adoption

First, the obligatory comparison of the two form factors. As it happens, the data I found has exactly 23 entries for each, a 1:1 split.

Distribution by Product Category

In the copper family (DAC, ACC, AEC), DAC is still the largest group, with 10 entries. In the optical family, DR8 solutions are the most common, mainly because moving from 400G to 800G didn't change the DR spec: both use 100 Gbps/lane technology. The once-common SR8/AOC products are relatively scarce; they're discussed separately later in this article.

Copper Cable Reach vs AWG

For copper, I broke out each vendor's length and conductor gauge specs for comparison. Because copper is bandwidth-limited, longer reaches need thicker conductors to carry the data, but overly thick cables can be hard to install and route. That's why some vendors have started adopting ACC (Active Copper Cable) or AEC (Active Electrical Cable) solutions.

Based on the vendors' specs, the chart below roughly draws a red dashed line marking the boundary between DAC and ACC/AEC in terms of length and gauge.

Amphenol ICC's and TE Connectivity's 3m DACs use 25 AWG and 26 AWG respectively.

The main vendors focused on ACC are Luxshare and FIT (Foxconn Interconnect Technology).

At OFC 2022, Luxshare announced its ACC with a target of extending reach to 5m. More information: http://www.luxshare-tech.com/5.1_800GActiveCopperCable.html
FIT also demoed its ACC solution at OFC 2022, noting it is based on Broadcom's BCM87850. More information: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220309005903/en/FIT-Introduces-QSFP-DD800-Connector-DAC-Solutions-at-OFC-2022

I haven't added these two vendors' solutions to the chart yet because their gauge specs aren't published, but I expect 26 AWG at most; anything thicker would erase the advantage of the approach.

Short-Reach Technologies for SR8 and AOC

As noted in my earlier article, for short-reach links, traditional multimode VCSEL technology may not support the full 100m maximum reach defined for SR. In practice, Gigalight, Innolight and Eoptolink do use VCSEL and SiPh/EML technologies respectively, and their declared maximum reaches differ accordingly.

Optical Module Power Consumption

Finally, power. As also mentioned in the earlier article, higher data rates inevitably mean higher power in the active components, which brings thermal dissipation challenges. The 800G MSA has already updated some QSFP-DD housing specs to add heat-dissipation paths and thermal capacity. The chart below shows the AOC and optical module power figures I compiled: most sit at 16W, the maximum reaches 18W, and the lowest, 13W, is a shorter-reach AOC.