NVIDIA and Cisco unveil USFP, a 400Gbps-per-lane optical module spec

Data center networks keep demanding more bandwidth, so pluggable optical modules are moving toward faster speeds per lane, and new standards need to keep up with these designs.

NVIDIA and Cisco have jointly announced USFP, the industry's first pluggable optical module spec that supports 400Gbps per lane. It is about the same size as OSFP. The first products come with 16 full-duplex lanes and can later expand to 32 or more lanes, reaching 12.8 Tb/s of throughput.

On performance, USFP offers 4 times the bandwidth of today's 200G-per-lane pluggable modules, and with 400G SerDes technology, its energy efficiency is 1.3 times higher. It uses a new 2D array connector with a two-step design that joins the high-speed contacts only after the module is inserted. This reduces contact wear, improves signal integrity, and makes insertion force more predictable. It also supports 100W power, which simplifies switch design.