Implementing Four-Channel 28Gbps Fiber High-Speed Data Transmission with Xilinx VCU118 Evaluation Kit

The Optical Fiber Communication Conference & Exposition (OFC) is jointly organized by the Optical Society of America (OSA), the IEEE Communications Society (IEEE/ComSoc), and the IEEE Laser and Electro-Optics Society (IEEE/LEOS). OFC is the most significant event in the global optoelectronic communication exhibition and has been recognized as the highest standard, largest scale, oldest, most professional, and most influential international event in the field of optical communications. At the OFC 2017 conference, Samtec showcased a demo that achieved four-channel 28Gbps high-speed data communication with zero errors using the Xilinx VCU118 evaluation kit and its FireFly FQSFP dual-core cable.

The Xilinx VCU118 evaluation kit integrates the Xilinx Virtex UltraScale+ VU9P FPGA device, which employs the most advanced FinFET structural design, providing the highest performance and flexible system integration capabilities, equipped with rich high-speed serial I/O interfaces and greater signal processing bandwidth, as well as abundant on-chip storage resources. This evaluation kit is primarily used for prototyping and developing networks and data center systems of up to 1+ Tb/s and fully integrated radar/early warning systems.

Figure 1: Xilinx’s Virtex UltraScale+ FPGA VCU118 Evaluation Kit

Features of the Xilinx VCU118 evaluation kit:

• Dual 80-bit DDR4 memory components

• RLDRAM3 (2×36-bit) memory chips

• 2 QSFP28 interfaces

• PCIe Gen3 x16 interface

• VITA 57.4 FMC+ and VITA 57.1 FMC standard interfaces

• Samtec FireFly communication interface and FireFly Loopback cable

This demonstration instance primarily uses the 120 GTY transceivers integrated into the Xilinx VU9P FPGA (which supports transmission rates of up to 32.75Gbps) to achieve a data loop transmission, with external transmission channels using Samtec FireFly Flyover components and QSFP fiber interfaces. QSFP (Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable) is a four-channel SFP interface designed to meet the market demand for higher density high-speed pluggable solutions, with a transmission rate of up to 40Gbps for the four-channel interface.

Moreover, the use of Samtec FireFly flyover modules detaches the signal transmission path from traditional PCB designs, resulting in a direct change that simplifies PCB design, reduces size, lowers PCB production costs, and eliminates concerns related to signal integration and transmission impedance in high-speed data transmission.

Figure 2: Samtec’s Flyover QSFP28 High-Speed Data Transmission Module

Increased data transmission rates expose issues that did not appear during low-speed transmission. As application demands continue to rise, traditional PCB routing methods can no longer meet requirements; thus, isolating this part and using dedicated transmission components is a more optimal solution.