Patent ID: 8165471

Claim:
A form factor adapter module comprising: a small form factor (SFF) host connector configured to receive a small form factor pluggable (SFP or SFP+) module and to transmit and receive data according to a Serial Gigabit Media Independent Interface (SGMII) or Serializer-deserializer Framer Interface (SFI) protocol; an X2 or XENPAK edge finger connector configured to mate with an X2 or XENPAK edge finger socket and to transmit and receive data according to a Ten Gigabit Ethernet Attachment Unit Interface (XAUI) protocol; a serial to XAUI transceiver coupled to both the SFF host connector and the X2 or XENPAK edge finger connector, the serial to XAUI transceiver being configured to convert data between the SGMII or SFI protocol and the XAUI protocol; a power distributor coupled to the X2 or XENPAK edge finger connector and the serial to XAUI transceiver, the power distributor being configured to receive power from the X2 or XENPAK edge finger connector and provide power to the serial to XAUI transceiver; and a hot swappable current controller coupled to the power distributor and the SFF host connector, the hot swappable current controller being configured to receive power from the power distributor and control current levels flowing from the SFF host connector.