Providing a low-cost point-to-point link, 400G-SR4.2 will also support a 4x100G breakout, although
100G-SR1.2 is not an IEEE standard. A 4x4 fiber shuffle allows a 32-port 400G switch to be used as a 128-port
100G switch (Figure 16).
Additionally, 400G-SR8 is an 8 fiber-pair solution supporting link distances up to 70 m on OM3 fiber
and 100 m using OM4/OM5. Either single-row MPO-16 or 24-fiber MPO (MPO-12 two-row) can be used as the
connector interface (Figure 17).
FIGURE 16: 400GBASE-SR4.2 point-to-point, breakout and shuffle modes.
60 I ICT TODAY
LEFT SR4.2 Low Cost Point-to-Point Link
RIGHT SR4.2 4 x 100G breakout
LEFT 4 x 4 fiber shuffle allows
a 32-port 400G switch to be used
as a 128-port 100G switch
SR4.2
SR4.2 SR4.2
SR4.2 SR4.2
SR4.2 SR4.2
SR4.2 SR4.2
SR4.2
SR1.2
SR1.2
SR1.2
SR1.2
SR4.2
FIGURE 17: 400G-SR8 adopted connector options for MDI.24