What is Optical Transceiver MSA？

Anyone familiar with optical transceivers knows that the size of an optical transceiver is determined by the form factor. Common SFP, SFP+, XFP, QSFP+, QSFP28, etc. are stipulated by various multi-source agreement (MSA)organizations. Next, let’s talk about the optical transceiver MSA multi-source agreement.

The Origin and Introduction of the MSA Standard

As the world’s largest professional technical organization, IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) has established standards for optical transceivers, but the types of optical module interfaces from different manufacturers are diverse. In order to solve the problem of insufficient interoperability, multiple manufacturers jointly established an organization to standardize the interface types, installation, and functions of optical modules, and MSA came into being to supplement the IEEE standards.

The MSA is commonly referred as the SFP Transceiver MSA, also known as the SFP-MSA agreement.

MSA (Multi-source Agreement)

MSA was submitted to SFF and named INF-8074i.SFF extended the SFP-MSA agreement and the extended agreement was SFF-8472.SFF refers to the Small Form Factor Committee. It is a research committee that seeks for solutions and develops corresponding standards for problems that the industry does not have standards but urgently need to be solved.

The INF-8074i agreement standardizes the definition of mechanical structure, electrical interface and software interface. SFF-8472 standardizes module identification, manufacturer information, and digital diagnostic monitoring (DDM) functions of optical transceivers. MSA-compliant products include optical transceivers, fiber optic patch cords and other network equipment.

MSA Standard and Optical Transceiver

For optical transceivers, the MSA standard not only defines the overall dimensions, but also defines its electrical and optical interface. Therefore, optical transceiver suppliers must strictly abide by the MSA standard when designing systems to ensure operability and interchangeability between optical transceivers.

At the same time, MSA provides end users with a variety of choices. Since optical transceiver that comply with MSA standards have the same shape and size, third-party optical transceiver suppliers can also compete with mainstream brand manufacturers, win optical transceiver market share, and provide what users need. They reduce network construction costs for end users and prevent optical transceiver market from being monopolized.

Tracing the development of the MSA organization from the earliest defined GBIC MSA specification, MSA has accelerated the acceptance process of SFP+, CFP, QSFP-DD and other optical transceivers, thereby promoting optical transceivers to support higher-speed 400G bandwidth.

Approved optical transceiver MSA

With the development of technology, the size of optical transceivers will become smaller and smaller, and the data capacity transmitted per unit time will also become larger and larger. This also means that new MSAs will continue to appear in the future.