800G to 2×400G Active Electrical Cable

The 800G breakout AEC cable addresses a prevalent issue in high-performance computing environments, such as AI training clusters and large-scale data centers, where 800G-enabled switch ports often need to be connected to servers or storage devices that only support 400G links. For the 800G QSFP-DD connection, the eight SerDes lanes operate at a speed of 112 Gbps, utilizing PAM4 modulation. In contrast, the integrated re-timer within the cable down-converts the lanes to 56 Gbps PAM4 for the two 400G QSFP-DD output ports, which matches the standard speed supported by 400G network interface cards and graphics processing units. Signal conditioning is actively applied at both ends the need training. The cable negotiates automatically using the CMIS 2 management interface through I² This results in quicker initialization, compatibility with multiple vendors, and consistent performance over cable distances ranging from 0.5 m to 6m. The range of copper conductor sizes, from 34 AWG for a slender and flexible design to 26 AWG for reduced signal loss and extended distance, allows for customization to various rack configurations without requiring a change in component families.