Various electronic devices may benefit from appropriate power conservation techniques and tools. For example, low power techniques may benefit small form-factor pluggable applications. An apparatus can include a packet parsing functionality that includes a first order shallow packet parser configured to operate at line rate and a second order deep packet parser configured to operate only on received filtered packets and received packets destined for a management and/or central processing port. The apparatus can also include a microprocessor configured to manage the apparatus and configured to operate at a low duty cycle. The apparatus can further include a packet generator configured to be active only when generating certain packets of interest. The packet parsing function, the microprocessor, and the packet generator can be configured to provide data from a host port of a small form-factor pluggable device toward an optical port of the small form-factor pluggable device.