OIF Announces VSR Specs

FREMONT, Calif, -- The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF)announced today the adoption of two Very Short Reach (VSR) OC-192interfaceImplementation Agreements. These VSR interfaces are intended to helpreducethe cost of OC-192/STM-64 links between equipment in a single centraloffice(CO). The first specification, OIF-VSR-01.0 (VSR-1) is titled Very ShortReach (VSR) OC-192 Interface Based on Parallel Optics. VSR-1 has 12fibersat 1.25 Gbit/s each, uses 62.5µm-core multi-mode ribbon fiber and reachesupto 300 meters. The second specification, OIF-VSR-02.0 (VSR-2) is titledSerial OC-192 1310 nanometer Very Short Reach (VSR) Interfaces. VSR-2usessingle mode fiber (SMF) and reaches up to 600 meters.VSR-1 and VSR-2 are complementary. VSR-1 uses lower speed signals andhasthe potential to be the lowest cost OC-192 link. It is particularlysuitable for the shortest reaches, where the ribbon fiber can be treatedlike any ordinary patch cable. VSR-2 uses installed SMF and can reachacross very large COs. The OC-192 VSR interfaces interconnect co-locatedequipment such as routers, Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexers (DWDM),optical cross-connects, and SONET/SDH Add-Drop Multiplexers (ADMs) withinaCO.

"Using existing interfaces designed for longer distances results inunnecessary cost," said Russ Tuck, chairman of the OIF's Physical andLinkLayer Working Group. "Carriers and network service providers can savethousands of dollars per interface by using OIF VSR interfaces to linkco-located equipment."

http://www.oiforum.com/public/technical.html