SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The 10-Gigabit Small Form-factor Pluggable (XFP) Module Group, a module Multi Source Agreement (MSA) association, announced today that the XFP specification is available for final public review. This specification is intended to help speed development of multi-sourced, application transparent, ultra-small form factor 10 Gigabit per Second (Gb/s) modules, designed to occupy one-fifth the space and use one-half the power of current modules. The specification is complete and available on the web at www.xfpmsa.org. It is scheduled for final adoption in February. Instructions are provided for transmitting public review comments to the XFP Group."We are pleased to make the XFP specification available to the industry," said Bob Snively, Principal Engineer at Brocade and Chairman of the group. "Since its inception, the XFP MSA has grown to over 80 companies, illustrating the growing interest in accelerating the development of 10 Gb/s Fibre Channel, Ethernet, SONET, and related 10 Gb/s technology to market. XFP products compliant with this specification are being shipped by several companies."Modules built to the XFP specification feature an electrical interface called XFI, which removes the complexity and power associated with placing electrical transceivers inside other available modules, resulting in significant space, power and cost savings to module suppliers and system manufacturers. The small size of XFP modules will enable the development of boards having up to sixteen 10 Gb/s ports to be deployed in a 19-inch rack space, and their cost structure will help accelerate the deployment of inexpensive 10 Gb/s client interfaces. Additional cost benefits can be achieved as higher levels of circuit integration become available at the 10 Gb/s data rate. Because the XFP specification is not protocol dependent, multiple market segments will benefit from the aggregate volume of XFP modules. 10-Gigabit Small Form-factor Pluggable (XFP) Module Group