Fast comms clocks get the digital treatment

Abstract

The various 10Gb/s communications protocols look very similar until you get to the clocking systems they need. A digital approach to dock generation can make those differences much easier to deal with and let you produce more flexible line cards. As both business and residential customers demand greater access to high-speed network services, equipment suppliers are searching ways to provide low cost, multi-protocol interfaces that can quickly be provisioned for use. A prime example of this trend is the convergence of various data rates in the vicinity of 10Gb/s that can all share much of the same hardware and optics, even though each is generated by different protocols.