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Ethernet generations, lane rates & electrical interfaces

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Every Ethernet speed since 10G has been built from a small set of lane rates — 10G, 25G, 50G, 100G and now 200G per lane — combined in parallel. Knowing which lanes a given speed is made of explains the module's electrical interface, why breakout works or does not, why a 100G module can be either 4 × 25G or 1 × 100G, and what a host and a module have to agree on before the light means anything.

Timeline of IEEE 802.3 projects

YearAmendmentSpeedsLane signallingNotes
1998802.3z1000BASE-SX/LX/CX1.25 GBd 8B/10BGBIC → SFP era
1999802.3ab1000BASE-T4 pairs, PAM5copper 1G
2002802.3ae10GBASE-SR/LR/ER/LX410.3125 GBd 64B/66BXENPAK/X2/XFP → SFP+
2006802.3an / aq10GBASE-T / LRMcopper 10G; MMF 220 m with EDC
2010802.3ba40GBASE-SR4/LR4/CR4, 100GBASE-SR10/LR4/ER44 × 10G / 10 × 10G / 4 × 25GQSFP+, CFP
2014802.3bj100GBASE-CR4/KR44 × 25G NRZintroduces RS-FEC (528,514)
2015802.3bm100GBASE-SR4, CAUI-4, 40GBASE-ER44 × 25GQSFP28 becomes possible
2016802.3by25GBASE-SR/LR/CR1 × 25GSFP28; CA-25G-L/S/N cable classes
2017802.3bs200GBASE-FR4/LR4/DR4, 400GBASE-SR16/DR4/FR8/LR850G PAM4 (8 × 50G electrical)RS-FEC (544,514) KP4
2018802.3cd50GBASE-SR/FR/LR/CR, 100GBASE-SR2/DR/CR2, 200GBASE-SR4/CR450G PAM4 lanesSFP56, QSFP56
2019–21802.3cn / cu50/200/400G 40 km ER; 100GBASE-FR1/LR1, 400GBASE-FR4/LR4-6100G PAM4 optical lanesadopted the 100G Lambda MSA
2022802.3ck / db100G/lane electrical (100GAUI-1, 400GAUI-4, 800GAUI-8); 100G/lane VCSEL (SR1, SR4, VR)106.25 GBd PAM4QSFP112, OSFP 800G
2024802.3df800GBASE-DR8/SR8/VR8, -DR4 (200G/lane optical)8 × 100G electrical800G in OSFP / QSFP-DD800
~2026802.3dj200G/lane electrical and optical; 800GBASE-DR2, 1.6TBASE-DR8212.5 GBd PAM41.6T OSFP-XD, OSFP

MSA interfaces (CWDM4, PSM4, ZR…) filled the gaps between these: Optical interface MSAs.

How speeds are built from lanes

SpeedElectrical lanes (host ↔ module)Optical lanes (typical)Module
10G1 × 10G (XFI/SFI)1 × 10GSFP+
25G1 × 25G (25GAUI)1 × 25GSFP28
40G4 × 10G (XLAUI/XLPPI)4 × 10G (SR4, LR4)QSFP+
50G1 × 50G PAM4 or 2 × 25G1 × 50G PAM4SFP56
100G4 × 25G (CAUI-4)4 × 25G (SR4, LR4, CWDM4, PSM4)QSFP28
100G2 × 50G (100GAUI-2) or 1 × 100G (100GAUI-1)1 × 100G PAM4 (DR, FR1, LR1)QSFP28/QSFP56/QSFP112, SFP112
200G4 × 50G (200GAUI-4) or 8 × 25G4 × 50G (FR4, SR4, DR4)QSFP56
400G8 × 50G (400GAUI-8) or 4 × 100G (400GAUI-4)4 × 100G (DR4, FR4, LR4) or 8 × 50G (SR8, FR8)QSFP-DD, OSFP
800G8 × 100G (800GAUI-8)8 × 100G (DR8, 2×FR4) or 4 × 200G (DR4)OSFP, QSFP-DD800
1.6T8 × 200G8 × 200G (DR8)OSFP-XD, OSFP

When electrical and optical lane counts differ, a gearbox in the module's DSP converts between them — 400GAUI-8 to DR4 is the classic case (Modulation & DSP). When they match (4 × 25G CAUI-4 to SR4), the module is a simple retimer or even unretimed.

Electrical interface names

NameLanes × rateUsed with
XAUI4 × 3.125 GBd (8B/10B)XENPAK, X2, early 10G
XFI / SFI1 × 10.3125 GBdXFP / SFP+
25GAUI1 × 25.78 GBdSFP28
XLAUI / XLPPI4 × 10.3125QSFP+ (retimed / parallel physical interface)
CAUI-10 / CAUI-410 × 10.3125 / 4 × 25.78CFP / QSFP28, CFP4
50GAUI-2 / 50GAUI-12 × 25.78 / 1 × 26.5625 GBd PAM4SFP56
100GAUI-4 / -2 / -14 × 25.78 / 2 × 26.56 PAM4 / 1 × 53.125 PAM4QSFP28 → QSFP112
200GAUI-8 / -4 / -28 × 25.78 / 4 × 26.56 PAM4 / 2 × 53.125 PAM4QSFP56 → QSFP112
400GAUI-16 / -8 / -416 × 25.78 / 8 × 26.56 PAM4 / 4 × 53.125 PAM4CFP8 → QSFP-DD/OSFP
800GAUI-88 × 53.125 GBd PAM4OSFP, QSFP-DD800

The GBd figures include FEC and 64B/66B overhead: 25.78 GBd carries 25 Gb/s of payload, 53.125 GBd PAM4 carries 100 Gb/s. These names appear in CMIS application descriptors as the host-interface half (SFF-8024).

What must match

  1. Lane rate and count on the electrical side — a 4 × 25G port cannot drive a 2 × 50G module even if both say "100G".
  2. Modulation — NRZ lanes and PAM4 lanes are different physical layers.
  3. FEC — RS(528) for 25G NRZ lanes, RS(544) for all PAM4; mandatory or optional per PMD (FEC & link training).
  4. Encoding — 8B/10B (1G) vs 64B/66B (10G+); a dual-rate module switches both.
  5. Optical PMD at both ends — the wavelength, fibre and reach in Optical interfaces and the PMD reference.

The module declares all of this in its identity — nominal rate, encoding, compliance or application codes — and the host refuses combinations it cannot drive (Speed & rate).

In CodingBox

The Check transceiver screen shows the nominal lane rate, encoding and, for CMIS modules, the host-interface IDs of each application, so you can see at a glance whether a module is 4 × 25G or 2 × 50G before it meets a port.

The 1.6T form factors that carry 802.3dj lanes: OSFP224 (8 × 200G) and OSFP-XD (16 × 100G).

The host-side names of these lane bundles — CAUI-4, 400GAUI-8, 800GAUI-8 — with C2M compliance points, OIF CEI mapping and electrical-to-optical lane conversion: XGMII, XAUI and the AUI family.


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