TECHNICAL
The main advantage of PAM4 is the easiness to use regular electronics and optical components suitable for small form factor such as QSFP28 from factor.
Fig 3: 10G to 100G DWDM upgrade (100G PAM4 is on QSFP28 form factor and requires ampliication)
average believe that 30–80km optical reach is needed for approximately 30% of their data centre interconnections. For 80km application, different scenarios are feasible, both with Coherent and PAM4:
With demarcation line
MARCH 2025 Volume 47 No.1
89
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