Patent ID: 8340123

Claim:
A multi-channel transceiver module card comprising: a connector coupled to a plurality of first lanes, wherein the connector is configured to couple to a networking device when the multi-channel transceiver module card is inserted into a network port of the networking device, and wherein each one of the first lanes transports a respective one of a plurality of independent channels of network traffic at one data rate, wherein electrical characteristics of the first lanes conform to predetermined electrical characteristics included in a first chip-to-chip interface standard for a first Ethernet standard for a throughput data rate of a multiplicative product of the one data rate and the number of the independent channels; a plurality of transceiver modules, wherein each one of the transceiver modules is coupled to a respective one of a plurality of second lanes, wherein each one of the second lanes conforms to predetermined electrical characteristics of a second chip-to-chip interface standard for a second Ethernet standard for a throughput data rate of the one data rate, and wherein each one of the transceiver modules is configured to convert signals on the respective one of the second lanes to and from signals on a cabling; and a signal converter, wherein the signal converter is coupled to the first lanes and the second lanes, and wherein the signal converter is configured to convert between signals on the first lanes coupled to the connector of the multi-channel transceiver module card and signals on the second lanes, wherein the electrical characteristics of each one of the first lanes coupled to the connector of the multi-channel transceiver module card conform to the first chip-to-chip interface standard but not to the second chip-to-chip interface standard even though a data format of the signals on the first lanes conforms to the second chip-to-chip interface standard instead of to the first chip-to-chip interface standard.