WO2017065734A1

WO2017065734A1 - Pluggable communication devices

Info

Publication number: WO2017065734A1
Application number: PCT/US2015/055131
Authority: WO
Inventors: Paul T. VU
Original assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development Lp
Priority date: 2015-10-12
Filing date: 2015-10-12
Publication date: 2017-04-20

Abstract

The present disclosure broadly discloses a pluggable communication device configured to support the use of multiple data communication ports with a single slot of a communication device. In one example, the pluggable communication device includes a pluggable transceiver device having a data communication transceiver, an integrated connector device including multiple data communication ports, and a flexible communication medium communicatively connecting the pluggable transceiver device and the integrated connector device. In one example, the pluggable communication device includes a pluggable transceiver device having a data communication transceiver, a plurality of integrated connector devices supporting a respective plurality of data communication ports, and a plurality of flexible communication media communicatively connecting the pluggable transceiver device and the plurality of integrated connector devices.

Description

PLUGGABLE COMMUNICATION DEVICES

BACKGROUND

[0001] Ethernet is a group of computer networking technologies used in various types of communication networks. 1000Base-T Ethernet is a standard for Gigabit (G) Ethernet over twisted pair wiring. 10GBase-T Ethernet, which is becoming more widely implemented in communication networks, is a standard for 10G Ethernet over twisted pair wiring. 10GBase-T Ethernet has the potential to deliver ten times the performance of 1000Base-T Ethernet with a fractional increase in cost.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0002] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example system including an example pluggable communication device of the present disclosure.

[0003] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example pluggable communication device of the present disclosure.

[0004] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example pluggable communication device having an example arrangement of data communication ports.

[0005] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example pluggable communication device having an example arrangement of data communication ports.

[0006] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an example pluggable communication device of the present disclosure.

[0007] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of an example method for communicating data via a pluggable communication device of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0008] The present disclosure discloses a pluggable communication device configured to support the use of multiple data communication ports with a single slot of a communication device. The pluggable communication device may include a pluggable transceiver device including a data communication transceiver and configured to be inserted within a slot of a communication device, an integrated connector device including multiple data communication ports, and a flexible communication medium configured to communicatively connect the pluggable transceiver device and the integrated connector device such that the pluggable transceiver device may communicate via the multiple data communication ports of the integrated connector device. The flexible communication medium enables the integrated connector device to be extended away from the communication device when the pluggable transceiver device is inserted within the slot of the communication device, thereby giving the integrated connector device at least some freedom of motion and enabling the integrated connector device to support multiple data communication ports without interfering with adjacent slots of the communication device (e.g., avoiding one or both of horizontal or vertical interference with adjacent slots of the communication device).

[0009] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example system including an example pluggable communication device of the present disclosure. For example, the system 100 includes a communication device 1 10 and a pluggable

communication device 120.

[0010] The communication device 1 10 may be a communication device configured for communicating within various communication environments. For example, the communication device 1 10 may be a router, a switch, a server, a blade switch, or the like. For example, the communication device 1 10 may be deployed with a telecommunication service provider network, a data center environment, an enterprise environment, or the like.

[0011 ] The communication device 1 10 includes a chassis 1 1 1 having a plurality of shelves 1 12-1 - 1 12-S (collectively, shelves 1 12). The shelves 1 12- 1 - 1 12-S each includes a plurality of slots 1 13 (illustratively, a first shelf 1 12-1 includes a plurality of slots 1 13-1 1 - 1 13-1 N, a second shelf 1 12-2 includes a plurality of slots 1 13-21 - 1 13-2N, and so forth, with the s-th shelf 1 12-S including a plurality of slots 1 13-S1 - 1 13-SN). The slots 1 13 are each configured to receive respective pluggable communication devices of a Multi- Source Agreement (MSA) standard (e.g., Quad Small Form-Factor Pluggable (QSFP) devices, QSFP+ devices, CXP devices, CDFP devices, or the like) which may be inserted within the slots 1 13. The type(s) of pluggable

communication devices which may be inserted within slots 1 13 of the

communication device 1 10 may vary depending on the device type of the communication device 1 10. It will be appreciated that the slots 1 13, although depicted as having a specific shape and a specific arrangement within the shelves 1 12 of chassis 1 1 1 , may have other shapes (e.g., depending on the type of pluggable communication device to be inserted within the slots 1 13, depending on the form factor of the pluggable communication device to be inserted within the slots 1 13, or the like), other arrangements within the shelves 1 12 of chassis 1 1 1 , or the like. It will be appreciated that pluggable

communication devices that are inserted within respective slots 1 13 of chassis 1 1 1 may share or otherwise interact with various other devices which may be included within the chassis 1 1 1 (e.g., a communication backplane, a data plane, a management plane, a control bus, a power supply, or the like), which have been omitted from FIG. 1 for purposes of clarity.

[0012] The pluggable communication device 120 is a pluggable device that is configured to be communicatively connected to a slot 1 13 of communication device 1 10 (e.g., via insertion of a portion of the pluggable communication device 120 into a slot 1 13 of communication device 1 10), thereby supporting communications by communication device 1 10. As discussed further herein, pluggable communication device 120 is configured to provide a physical separation of a pluggable transceiver device (a portion of pluggable

communication device 120 which is configured to be inserted within a slot 1 13 of communication device 1 10) from an integrated connector device (which includes data communication ports configured to have data communication cables or links connected thereto). It is noted that examples of the pluggable

communication device 120 of FIG. 1 are depicted and described with respect to FIG. 2 and FIG. 5. [0013] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example pluggable communication device of the present disclosure. The pluggable communication device 200 of FIG. 2 may be used as pluggable communication device 120 depicted and described with respect to FIG. 1 .

[0014] The pluggable communication device 200 includes a pluggable transceiver device 230, an integrated connector device 240, and a flexible communication medium 250. The pluggable transceiver device 230 and the integrated connector device 240 are communicatively connected via the flexible communication medium 250.

[0015] The pluggable transceiver device 230 is configured to be inserted within, and removed from, one of the slots 1 13 of the communication device 1 10 of FIG. 1 . The pluggable transceiver device 230 includes a data communication transceiver 231 . The data communication transceiver 231 may be configured to support electrical communications, optical communications, or the like. The data communication transceiver 231 may be configured to support

communications using various protocols (e.g., Ethernet where the data communication transceiver 231 supports electrical communications or optical communications, Fibre Channel (FC) where the data communication transceiver 231 supports electrical communications or optical communications, or the like).

[0016] In one example, data communication transceiver 231 may be an Ethernet transceiver (e.g., a 10GBase-T Ethernet transceiver, a 40GBase-T Ethernet transceiver, or any other suitable type of Ethernet transceiver). In this example, the data communication transceiver 231 may include a physical (PHY) layer interface (e.g., physical layer integrated circuits (ICs)) and associated transceiver circuitry, which have been omitted from FIG. 2 for purposes of clarity. The PHY layer interface and associated transceiver circuitry may be implemented on a printed circuit board (PCB). It will be appreciated that various other types of electrical communications, and associated protocols, may be supported by the data communication transceiver 231 .

[0017] In one example, data communication transceiver 231 may be an FC optical transceiver (e.g., an FC8G optical transceiver, an FC16G optical transceiver, or any other suitable type of FC optical transceiver). In this example, the data communication transceiver 231 may include various components, which have been omitted from FIG. 2 for purposes of clarity. For example, the data communication transceiver 231 may include a transmitter optical subassembly (TOSA), a receiver optical subassembly (ROSA), a laser driver / post amplifier (LDPA), clock data recover (CDR), or the like. The various components may be implemented on a PCB.

[0018] The pluggable transceiver device 230 may be a hot-swappable pluggable communication device. The pluggable transceiver device 230 may have any suitable form factor of an MSA standard, such as QSFP, QSFP+, CXP, CDFP, or like form factors supporting breakout to multiple ports.

[0019] The integrated connector device 240 is a multiport device having a plurality of data communication ports 241 -1 - 241 -P (collectively, data communication ports 241 ). The integrated connector device 240, like data communication transceiver 231 , may be configured to support electrical communications, optical communications, or the like. The integrated connector device 240, like data communication transceiver 231 , may be configured to support communications using various protocols (e.g., Ethernet where data communication transceiver 231 supports Ethernet-based communications, FC where data communication transceiver 231 supports FC-based

communications, or the like). The data communication ports 241 may be electrical ports supporting electrical communications, optical ports supporting optical communications, or the like.

[0020] In one example, integrated connector device 240 may be an integrated Ethernet connector device in which the data communication ports 241 are Ethernet ports (e.g., 10GBase-T Ethernet ports, 40GBase-T Ethernet ports, or the like). In this example, the data communication ports 241 may be implemented as modular connectors (e.g., Registered Jack (RJ) modular connectors such as RJ45 connectors (e.g., RJ45 MagJacks) or other suitable types of RJ connectors or other modular connectors). In an example in which the data communication ports 241 are Ethernet ports implemented as RJ45 connectors, the data communication ports 241 may be referred to as RJ45 Ethernet ports and integrated connector device 240 may be referred to as an integrated RJ45 Ethernet connector device.

[0021 ] In one example, integrated connector device 240 may be an integrated FC optical connector device in which the data communication ports 241 are FC optical ports (e.g., FC8GB optical ports, FC16G optical ports, or the like). In this example, the data communication ports 241 may be implemented as optical fiber connectors (e.g., LC connectors, Multi-fiber Push-On (MPO) connectors, or the like). In an example in which the data communication ports 241 are FC optical ports implemented as LC connectors, the data

communication ports 241 may be referred to as LC optical ports and integrated connector device 240 may be referred to as an integrated LC optical connector device. In an example in which the data communication ports 241 are FC optical ports implemented as MPO connectors, the data communication ports 241 may be referred to as MPO optical ports and integrated connector device

240 may be referred to as an integrated MPO optical connector device. It will be appreciated that other types of FC optical connectors may be used.

[0022] The data communication ports 241 of integrated connector device 240, as discussed further herein, may be arranged in various arrangements or configurations with respect to each other. In one example, as depicted in FIG. 3, the plurality of data communication ports 241 includes two data

communication ports 341 arranged side-by-side. In one example, as depicted in FIG. 4, the plurality of data communication ports 241 includes two data communication ports 441 arranged top-to-bottom. The plurality of data communication ports 241 may include more than two data communication ports

241 (i.e., P≥ 2). The plurality of data communication ports 241 may be arranged in various other arrangements. It is noted that the integrated connector device 240 also may be referred to as a head assembly or using other related terms depending on the communication type(s) supported by integrated connector device 240.

[0023] The flexible communication medium 250 is communicatively connected to both the pluggable transceiver device 230 and the integrated connector device 240. The flexible communication medium 250 may be communicatively connected to the pluggable transceiver device 230 and to the integrated connector device 240 via a permanent connection type and/or a temporary connection type. For example, the flexible communication medium 250 may be communicatively connected to the pluggable transceiver device 230 and to the integrated connector device 240 in various ways, such as via soldering, female/male or male/female connections, snap-on connections, or the like, as well as various combinations thereof. In one example, a first end of the flexible communication medium 250 is connected to a PCB (e.g., a rigid PCB or other physical circuitry) of the pluggable transceiver device 230 and a second end of the flexible communication medium 250 is connected to a PCB (e.g., a rigid PCB or other physical circuitry) of the integrated connector device 240. In one example, a first end of the flexible communication medium 250 is connected to a PCB (e.g., a rigid PCB or other physical circuitry) of the pluggable transceiver device 230 via a snap-on connection and a second end of the flexible communication medium 250 is connected to a PCB (e.g., a rigid PCB or other physical circuitry) of the integrated connector device 240 via a snap-on connection. It will be appreciated that various combinations of such connection types may be used to communicatively connect the flexible communication medium 250 to the pluggable transceiver device 230 and to the integrated connector device 240 (e.g., using soldering between the flexible communication medium 250 and the pluggable transceiver device 230 and a snap-on connection between the flexible communication medium 250 and the integrated connector device 240, using a snap-on connection between the flexible communication medium 250 and the pluggable transceiver device 230 and a male/female connection between the flexible communication medium 250 and the integrated connector device 240, or the like). It is noted that use of snap-on connections for connecting the flexible communication medium 250 may enable various different integrated connector devices to be easily changed out to support different flexible communication mediums and associated

communication types.

[0024] The flexible communication medium 250 is configured to support data communication between the pluggable transceiver device 230 and the integrated connector device 240. The flexible communication medium 250 may be configured to support bidirectional communication between the pluggable transceiver device 230 and the integrated connector device 240. The flexible communication medium 250 may support transport of data communication frames or packets (e.g., Ethernet frames, FC frames, or other types of frames or packets) between data communication transceiver 231 (e.g., an Ethernet transceiver, an optical transceiver, or the like) of pluggable transceiver device 230 and the data communication ports 241 (e.g., Ethernet ports, optical ports, or the like) of integrated connector device 240.

[0025] The flexible communication medium 250 is configured to extend the integrated connector device 240 (and associated data communication ports 241 ) away from the pluggable transceiver device 230 and, thus, away from a communication device in which the pluggable transceiver device 230 is inserted (e.g., away from communication device 1 10 when pluggable transceiver device 230 is inserted within one of the slots 1 13 of the communication device 1 10). The flexible communication medium 250 may separate the integrated connector device 240 and the pluggable transceiver device 230 by any suitable length. For example, the flexible communication medium 250 may separate the integrated connector device 240 and the pluggable transceiver device 230 by 2 inches, 4 inches, 6 inches, 8 inches, or any other suitable length, which may vary depending on various factors.

[0026] The flexible communication medium 250 may be configured in various ways. The flexible communication medium 250 may be a flexible PCB (e.g., a Rigid-Flex circuit board or other type of flexible PCB), a direct attached cable (e.g., a Direct Attached Copper (DAC) cable or other type of direct attached cable), a flexible cable assembly (e.g., a flexible copper cable assembly or other type of flexible cable assembly), or the like. The flexible communication medium 250 may be semi-rigid so as to keep the integrated connector device 240 aligned or substantially aligned with the slot of the communication device into which the pluggable transceiver device 230 is inserted. It is noted that the use of a semi-rigid flexible communication medium 250 may improve the ability of a technician to identify pluggable communication device 200 (or at least integrated connector device 240) as being associated with a particular slot of the communication device into which the pluggable transceiver device 230 is inserted, improve the aesthetics of the communication device into which the pluggable transceiver device 230 is inserted, or the like. The flexible

communication medium 250 may be configured (e.g., characteristics such as length, rigidity, or the like) on the basis of various potential competing factors or considerations, such as the number of data communication ports 241 to be supported by the integrated connector device 240, the ability of a technician to quickly identify pluggable communication device 200 as being associated with a particular slot of the communication device into which the pluggable transceiver device 230 is inserted, aesthetics of the communication device into which the pluggable transceiver device 230 is inserted, or the like.

[0027] As discussed further below, the physical separation of the pluggable transceiver device 230 and the integrated connector device 240 via the flexible communication medium 250 enables a communication device into which the pluggable transceiver device 230 is inserted to support a larger number of data communication ports 241 than would otherwise be possible if pluggable transceiver device 230 and integrated connector device 240 were to be integrated or directly connected (i.e., without use of the flexible communication medium 250) to form an integrated pluggable communication device. Namely, it is noted that, if pluggable transceiver device 230 and integrated connector device 240 were integrated or directly connected to form an integrated pluggable communication device and the integrated pluggable communication device was inserted within a given slot of a communication device, then certain arrangements of the data communication ports 241 on the integrated pluggable communication device, for at least some combinations of types or arrangements of slots of the communication device or types or arrangements of data communication ports 241 of integrated connector device 240, may result in blocking of an adjacent slot of the communication device (e.g., a slot that is to the right or to the left of the given slot into which the integrated pluggable communication device was inserted, a slot that is above or below the given slot into which the integrated pluggable communication device was inserted, or the like). It will be appreciated that the flexible communication medium 250 provides physical separation of the integrated connector device 240 from the pluggable transceiver device 230 such that the integrated connector device 240 has some freedom of movement to prevent interference with slots adjacent to the slot of the communication device into which the pluggable transceiver device 230 is inserted. Accordingly, the physical separation of the pluggable transceiver device 230 and the integrated connector device 240 via flexible communication medium 250 enables a given communication device into which pluggable transceiver device 230 to support a greater capacity than would otherwise be possible without use of flexible communication medium 250. This may be further understood by way of reference to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4.

[0028] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example pluggable communication device having an example arrangement of data communication ports. The pluggable communication device 300 of FIG. 3 may be used as pluggable communication device 120 depicted and described with respect to FIG. 1 .

[0029] The pluggable communication device 300 is an example of the pluggable communication device 200 of FIG. 2 in which the pluggable communication device 200 supports 10GBase-T Ethernet communication using a QSFP+ form factor. In an example in which pluggable communication device 300 of FIG. 3 may be used as pluggable communication device 120 depicted and described with respect to FIG. 1 , it is assumed that the slots 1 13 of the communication device 1 10 are QSFP+ slots.

[0030] The pluggable communication device 300 includes a QSFP+

10GBase-T Ethernet transceiver device 330, an integrated Ethernet connector device 340, and a flexible communication medium 350 that communicatively connects the QSFP+ 10GBase-T Ethernet transceiver device 330 and the integrated Ethernet connector device 340. The QSFP+ 10GBase-T Ethernet transceiver device 330 is configured to be inserted within a QSFP+ slot (e.g., one of the slots 1 13 of the communication device 1 10 where the slots 1 13 of the communication device 1 10 are QSFP+ slots). The integrated Ethernet connector device 340 includes two 10GBase-T Ethernet ports 341 -1 and 341 -2 (collectively, 10GBase-T Ethernet ports 341 ), which are implemented as RJ45 connectors. It will be appreciated that, since FIG. 3 illustrates a profile view of the pluggable communication device 300 in which the 10GBase-T Ethernet ports 341 may not visible (e.g., the 10GBase-T Ethernet ports 341 may be physically located on the side of integrated Ethernet connector device 340 that is opposite the side to which flexible communication medium 350 is attached, such that the 10GBase-T Ethernet ports 341 face away from the chassis when the pluggable communication device 300 is inserted within a QSFP+ slot of the chassis), the arrangement of the 10GBase-T Ethernet ports 341 is illustrated using a separate box to the left of the pluggable communication device 300 in FIG. 3.

[0031 ] As depicted in FIG. 3, the 10GBase-T Ethernet ports 341 are arranged in a side-by-side arrangement. It is noted that, if QSFP+ 10GBase-T Ethernet transceiver device 330 and integrated Ethernet connector device 340 were to be integrated or directly connected (i.e., without use of flexible communication medium 350) to form an integrated pluggable communication device and the integrated pluggable communication device was inserted within a given QSFP+ slot of a given shelf of a communication device (e.g., within slot 1 13-21 of the communication device 1 10 of FIG. 1 ), the side-by-side

arrangement of 10GBase-T Ethernet ports 341 would result in blocking of at least one adjacent QSFP+ slot of the communication device (illustratively, slot 1 13-22 of the communication device 1 10 of FIG. 1 ). This is due to the fact that the QSFP+ width form factor is limited to 18.75mm and two 10GBase-T

Ethernet ports arranged in a side-by-side arrangement would be approximately 27mm wide. In other words, if two 10GBase-T Ethernet ports in a side-by-side arrangement were directly integrated into the QSFP+ 10GBase-T Ethernet transceiver device 330 to form an integrated device, the integrated device would be wider than a standard QSFP+ slot and, thus, the integrated device could block at least one adjacent QSFP+ slot (thereby rendering any such blocked QSFP+ slot(s) unusable and, as a result, reducing the capacity of the communication device including the QSFP+ slots). In the above example, the use of the flexible communication medium 350 provides physical separation of the integrated Ethernet connector device 340 from the QSFP+ 10GBase-T Ethernet transceiver device 330 such that the integrated Ethernet connector device 340 has some freedom of movement to prevent interference with QSFP+ slots adjacent to the QSFP+ slot into which QSFP+ 10GBase-T Ethernet transceiver device 330 is inserted. Accordingly, use of flexible communication medium 350 enables support for a larger number of 10GBase-T Ethernet ports 341 (and, more generally, data communication ports 241 as depicted and described with respect to FIG. 2) than would otherwise be possible without use of the flexible communication medium 350. Additionally, use of flexible communication medium 350 enables the use of standard RJ45 jacks in the integrated Ethernet connector device 340, thereby allowing for use of standard RJ45 cables with the 10GBase-T Ethernet ports 341 of the integrated Ethernet connector device 340 and, thus, supporting compliance with 10GBase-T Ethernet standards.

[0032] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example pluggable communication device having an example arrangement of data communication ports. The pluggable communication device 400 of FIG. 4 may be used as pluggable communication device 120 depicted and described with respect to FIG. 1 .

[0033] The pluggable communication device 400 is an example of pluggable communication device 200 of FIG. 2 in which pluggable communication device 200 supports 10GBase-T Ethernet communication using a QSFP+ form factor. In an example in which pluggable communication device 400 of FIG. 4 may be used as pluggable communication device 120 depicted and described with respect to FIG. 1 , it is assumed that the slots 1 13 of the communication device 1 10 are QSFP+ slots.

[0034] The pluggable communication device 400 includes a QSFP+

10GBase-T Ethernet transceiver device 430, an integrated Ethernet connector device 440, and a flexible communication medium 450 that communicatively connects the QSFP+ 10GBase-T Ethernet transceiver device 430 and the integrated Ethernet connector device 440. The QSFP+ 10GBase-T Ethernet transceiver device 430 is configured to be inserted within a QSFP+ slot (e.g., one of the slots 1 13 of the communication device 1 10 where the slots 1 13 of the communication device 1 10 are QSFP+ slots). The integrated Ethernet connector device 440 includes two 10GBase-T Ethernet ports 444-1 and 441 -2 (collectively, 10GBase-T Ethernet ports 441 ) implemented as RJ45 connectors. It will be appreciated that, since FIG. 4 illustrates a profile view of the pluggable communication device 400 in which the 10GBase-T Ethernet ports 441 may not visible (e.g., the 10GBase-T Ethernet ports 441 may be physically located on the side of integrated Ethernet connector device 440 that is opposite the side to which flexible communication medium 450 is attached, such that the 10GBase-T Ethernet ports 441 face away from the chassis when the pluggable

communication device 400 is inserted within a QSFP+ slot of the chassis), the arrangement of the 10GBase-T Ethernet ports 441 is illustrated using a separate box to the left of the pluggable communication device 400 in FIG. 4.

[0035] As depicted in FIG. 4, the 10GBase-T Ethernet ports 441 are arranged in a top-to-bottom arrangement. It is noted that, if QSFP+ 10GBase-T Ethernet transceiver device 430 and integrated Ethernet connector device 440 were to be integrated or directly connected (i.e., without use of flexible communication medium 450) to form an integrated pluggable communication device and the integrated pluggable communication device was inserted within a given QSFP+ slot of a given shelf of a communication device (e.g., within slot 1 13-21 of the communication device 1 10 of FIG. 1 ), the top-to-bottom

arrangement of 10GBase-T Ethernet ports 441 would result in blocking of at least one adjacent QSFP+ slot of the communication device (illustratively, slot 1 13-1 1 of the communication device 1 10 of FIG. 1 , slot 1 13-31 of the

communication device 1 10 of FIG. 1 , or both) if the height of the shelf 1 12-2 of the communication device was less than the height of the integrated Ethernet connector device 440. In other words, if two 10GBase-T Ethernet ports in a top- to-bottom arrangement were directly integrated into the QSFP+ 10GBase-T Ethernet transceiver device 430 to form an integrated device, the integrated device would be taller than a standard QSFP+ slot and, if the height of the integrated device was greater than the height of the shelf, the integrated device could block at least one adjacent QSFP+ slot (thereby rendering any such blocked QSFP+ slots unusable and, as a result, reducing the capacity of the communication device including the QSFP+ slots). In the above example, the use of the flexible communication medium 450 provides physical separation of the integrated Ethernet connector device 440 from the QSFP+ 10GBase-T Ethernet transceiver device 430 such that the integrated Ethernet connector device 440 has some freedom of movement to prevent interference with QSFP+ slots adjacent to the QSFP+ slot into which the QSFP+ 10GBase-T Ethernet transceiver device 430 is inserted. Accordingly, use of flexible communication medium 450 enables support for a larger number of 10GBase-T Ethernet ports 441 (and, more generally, data communication ports 241 as depicted and described with respect to FIG. 2) than would otherwise be possible without use of the flexible communication medium 450. Additionally, use of flexible communication medium 450 enables the use of standard RJ45 jacks in the integrated Ethernet connector device 440, thereby allowing for use of standard RJ45 cables with the 10GBase-T Ethernet ports 441 of the integrated Ethernet connector device 440 and, thus, supporting compliance with 10GBase-T Ethernet standards.

[0036] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an example pluggable communication device of the present disclosure. The pluggable communication device 500 of FIG. 5 may be used as pluggable communication device 120 depicted and described with respect to FIG. 1 .

[0037] The pluggable communication device 500 includes a pluggable transceiver device 530, a plurality of integrated connector devices 540-1 - 540- X (collectively, integrated connector devices 540), and a plurality of flexible communication media 550-1 - 550-X (collectively, flexible communication media 550). The pluggable transceiver device 530 and the integrated connector devices 540-1 - 540-X are communicatively connected via the flexible communication media communication media 550-1 - 550-X, respectively.

[0038] The pluggable transceiver device 530 includes a data communication transceiver 531 . It is noted that the pluggable transceiver device 530 and data communication transceiver 531 may be configured to operate in a manner similar to the pluggable transceiver device 230 and the data communication transceiver 231 of FIG. 2, respectively.

[0039] The plurality of integrated connector devices 540 includes a plurality of data communication ports 541 -1 - 541 -X (collectively, data communication ports 541 ), respectively. It is noted that each of the integrated connector devices 540 and each of the data communication ports 541 may be configured to operate in a manner similar to the integrated connector device 240 and the data communication ports 241 of FIG. 2, respectively.

[0040] The flexible communication media 550 each may be configured in a manner similar to flexible communication medium 250 of FIG. 2. As depicted in FIG. 5, the pluggable transceiver device 530 is communicatively connected to each of the flexible communication media 550-1 - 550-X (e.g., via soldering, via a snap-on connection, or the like) and the integrated connector devices 540-1 - 540-X are communicatively connected to the respective flexible communication media 550-1 - 550-X (e.g., via soldering, via snap-on connections, or the like).

[0041] It will be appreciated that, although primarily depicted and described with respect to an example in which each of the integrated connector devices 540 includes a single data communication port 541 , one or more of the integrated connector devices 540 may include multiple data communication ports 541 which may be arranged in any suitable arrangement (e.g., using a side-by-side arrangement as depicted and described with respect to FIG. 3, using a top-to-bottom arrangement as depicted and described with respect to FIG. 4, or the like, as well as various combinations thereof). It will be

appreciated that various other numbers and arrangements of integrated connector devices 540 and associated data communication ports 541 may be used.

[0042] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of an example method for communicating data via a pluggable communication device of the present disclosure. The method 600 of FIG. 6 illustrates that a pluggable communication device, including a pluggable transceiver device and an integrated connector device that are communicatively connected via a flexible communication medium, may support bidirectional data communication. At block 601 , method 600 begins. At block 610, data is received at the pluggable communication device. At step 620, the data is propagated between the pluggable transceiver device and the integrated connector device via the flexible communication medium. In one example, the data may be received by the pluggable transceiver device and propagated toward the integrated connector device via the flexible

communication medium. In one example, the data may be received via a data communication port of the integrated connector device and propagated toward the pluggable transceiver device via the flexible communication medium. At block 699, method 600 ends.

[0043] As discussed herein, the use of a flexible communication medium to physically separate a pluggable transceiver device from an integrated connector device may enable support for a larger number of data communication ports than would otherwise be possible where the pluggable transceiver device and the integrated connector device were directly connected or integrated.

Additionally, use of a flexible communication medium to physically separate a pluggable transceiver device from an integrated connector device may eliminate designs of communication devices with fixed data communication ports (e.g., blade switches with fixed 10GBase-T ports), which may entail use of a full development program incurring expenses and consuming resources.

Additionally, use of a flexible communication medium to physically separate a pluggable transceiver device from an integrated connector device enables at least some power to be moved from the pluggable transceiver device out to the integrated connector device, thereby making it easier to cool the components remaining on the pluggable transceiver device (e.g., the PHY layer

components).

[0044] It will be appreciated that variants of the above-disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be combined into many other different systems or applications. Various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations, or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims.

Claims

1 . An apparatus, comprising:

a pluggable transceiver device comprising a data communication transceiver;

an integrated connector device comprising a plurality of data

communication ports; and

a flexible communication medium communicatively connected to the pluggable transceiver device and the integrated connector device.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the pluggable transceiver device is a Quad SFP (QSFP) device, a QSFP+ device, a CXP device, or a CDFP device.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the data communication transceiver comprises an Ethernet transceiver, the integrated connector device comprises an integrated Ethernet connector device, and the data communication ports comprise Ethernet ports.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the Ethernet ports comprise RJ45 connectors.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the data communication transceiver comprises an optical transceiver, the integrated connector device comprises an integrated optical connector device, and the data communication ports comprise optical ports.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein at least two of the plurality of data communication ports are arranged side-by-side or top-to-bottom.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the flexible communication medium comprises a flexible printed circuit board, a direct attached cable, or a flexible cable assembly.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a first end of the flexible

communication medium is connected to a printed circuit board of the pluggable transceiver device and a second end of the flexible communication medium is connected to a printed circuit board of the integrated connector device.

9. An apparatus, comprising:

a pluggable transceiver device comprising a data communication transceiver;

a plurality of integrated connector devices, each of the integrated connector devices comprising a respective data communication port; and

a plurality of flexible communication media, wherein each of the plurality of flexible communication media is communicatively connected to the pluggable transceiver device, wherein the plurality of flexible communication media is communicatively connected to respective ones of the integrated connector devices.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the pluggable transceiver device is a Quad SFP (QSFP) device, a QSFP+ device, a CXP device, or a CDFP device.

1 1 . The apparatus of claim 9, wherein one of:

the data communication transceiver comprises an Ethernet transceiver, the integrated connector devices comprise integrated Ethernet connector devices, and the data communication ports comprise Ethernet ports; or

the data communication transceiver comprises an optical transceiver, the integrated connector devices comprise integrated optical connector devices, and the data communication ports comprise optical ports.

12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein at least one of the flexible

communication media comprises a flexible printed circuit board, a direct attached cable, or a flexible cable assembly.

13. A method, comprising:

receiving data at a pluggable communication device comprising a pluggable transceiver device and an integrated connector device, wherein the pluggable transceiver device and the integrated connector device are communicatively connected via a flexible communication medium; and

propagating the data between the pluggable transceiver device and the integrated connector device via the flexible communication medium.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the data is received at the pluggable transceiver device, wherein the data is propagated from the pluggable transceiver device toward the integrated connector device via the flexible communication medium.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the data is received via a data communication port of the integrated connector device, wherein the data is propagated toward the pluggable transceiver device via the flexible communication medium.