800G MSA defines PSM8 while eyeing 400G’s progress

A key current issue regarding data centres is forecasting the uptake of 400-gigabit optics.

If a rapid uptake of 400-gigabit optics occurs, it will also benefit the transition to 800-gigabit modules. But if the uptake of 400-gigabit optics is slower, some hyperscalers could defer and wait for 800-gigabit pluggables instead. So says Maxim Kuschnerov, a spokesperson for the 800G Pluggable MSA (multi-source agreement).

The 800G MSA has issued its first 800-gigabit pluggable specification.

Dubbed the PSM8, the design uses the same components as 400-gigabit optics, doubling capacity in the same QSFP-DD pluggable form factor.

“Four-hundred-gigabit modules hitting volume is crucially important because the 800-gigabit specification leverages 400-gigabit components,” says Kuschnerov. “The more 400-gigabit is delayed, it impacts everything that comes after.”