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Transceiver Connectivity Scenarios

The transceiver is used for connecting 400G and 200Gb/s ConnectX-7/OSFP-based, PCIe-bus network cards.  Typically, the transceiver is linked to a single 800Gb/s Twin-port 2x400G OSFP transceiver (MMS4X00-NS) in a Quantum-2 InfiniBand or Spectrum-4 Ethernet switch. The 400Gb/s transceiver has two speeds depending on the number of fibers attached:

  1. 400Gb/s mode: Using 4-channels and straight 100-meter crossover fiber cables (MFP7E30), the transceiver draws 9 Watts maximum or 9 Watts typical. In this case, the Twin-port 2x400G transceiver supports 400G transceivers in two ConnectX-7/OSFP.
  2. 200Gb/s mode: Using 2-channels and 1:2 splitter fiber cables (MFP7E40), the transceiver operates at 200Gb/s NDR200 rate and draws 5 Watts maximum. It automatically reduces power from 9 Watts as only 2 channels are activated.  This case creates links to four 200Gb/s ConnectX-7/OSFP cards. 


  • QSFP112 are not for use in switches. BlueField-3 only accepts QSFP112s
  • Both fibers in the Twin-port 2x400G transceiver linked to the QSFP112s must be the same type – straight or splitter and cannot be mixed

Use cases

  1. Switch-to-two 400G ConnectX-7/OSFP
    A Twin port QSFP transceiver using two, straight fiber cables can support up to two ConnectX-7 adapters. Each of the two, 4-channel fiber cables (MFP7E30) can link to the 400G OSFP MMS4X00-NS400 transceiver up to 100-meters.
    - ConnectX-7 adapters are offered on both OSFP and QSFP112 
    - BlueField-3 adapters only accept QSFP112 devices



  2. Switch-to-two 200G ConnectX-7/OSFP
    A Twin port OSFP transceiver using two, 1:2 fiber splitter cables can support up any combination of four ConnectX-7/OSFPs. Each of the two, 4-channel 1:2 fiber splitter cables (MFP7E40) can link to a 400G OSFP MMS1X00-NS400 transceiver up to 50-meters.
    The two-fiber channel ends only activate two of the lanes in the 400G transceiver creating a 200G device and automatically reduces the power consumption of only the 400G transceivers from 8 Watts typical to 5.5 Watts typical. Twin port OSFP power consumption remains at 17 Watts.

    OSFP is not for use in BlueField-3 DPUs.