How Much Do You Know About SFP Transceivers

SFP transceiver is a hot-pluggable fiber transceiver, of which the SFP stands for Small Form-factor Pluggable. The mechanical, electronic, and optical design and gratifaction derive from a Multi-source Agreement (MSA) within the fiber telecom industry. It is a pluggable form of SFF. SFP may be the interface between a network device mother board and a fiber optic or copper network cable.

Where is a SFP transceiver used?

SFP transceiver is able to support most of the fiber networking standards for example Gigabit Ethernet, Fiber Channel, SONET, along with a quantity of other communications standards. As a compact and hot-pluggable optical transceiver, it is utilized in optical communications for telecommunication and data communication applications. It connects a switch, router, or any other network devices to a fiber cabling plant. SFP transceivers can be found in Metro Access Network, Metro Core Network, Wide Area Networks (WANs), etc.

What types will the SFP transceiver have?

SFP transceiver has an immense variation available, each with different transmitters or receivers. This enables the user to configure and customize the transceiver to get the proper optical reach with either a multimode fiber (multi mode SFP) or single-mode fiber type.

The SFP module commonly is available in four categories which are SX (850nm), LX (1310nm), ZX (1550nm) and DWDM (DWDM wavelengths). All of them have an interface of a copper cable which permits a mother board to speak via UTP (unshielded twisted-pair) network cable. Click here for a good example of 10G SR SFP+ 850nm. There also exist a CWDM and single-mode bi-directional fiber optic cables which are 1310/1490nm upstream and downstream.

Tips: FYI, the industry has developed enhancements to the SFP MSA, known as SFP Plus (SFP+), that is designed for higher data rates, lower cost and better thermal performance. By using SFP+ transceivers, data rate at 10 Gbps could be achievable, including the 8 Gigabit Fiber Channel. When compared with XENPAK or XFP type of modules that have all of their circuitry inside, an SFP+ module leaves some of its circuitry to be implemented on the host board.

What benefits will the SFP transceiver have?

Firstly, SFP transceiver is pluggable that makes it easy to alter the optical interface in the last step of card manufacturing. It’s also easy to accommodate different connector interfaces or a mix of SX and LX SFP.

Practically available, the SFP transceiver has the capability transfer rates as high as 4.25 Gbps. XFP, a form factor that is virtually identical to the SFP type, increases this amount by nearly three times, at 10 Gbps. The SFP transceiver is specified making compatible through the MSA between manufacturers, to ensure that different users who may use equipment from various manufacturers and providers can function effectively and smoothly without having to worry about errors and inconveniences.

Digital optical monitoring (DOM) or digital diagnostics monitoring (DDM) functions are based on the modern optical SFP transceiver according to the industry specifications of the SFF-8472 MSA. The consumer has the ability to constantly monitor real-time parameters of the SFP, for example optical input/outp power, supply voltage and laser bias current due to this feature.

A SFP cage is surface mounted to the PCB board to simply accept the transceiver. This not just provides easy replacement and reconfiguration, but additionally eliminates extra manufacturing steps and reduces cost. Because the optical component is taken away from soldering process, SFP transceivers have high optical reliability and permits the use of higher soldering temperatures.

SFP transceiver is a very popular format that’s recommended by a large number of fiber optic component providers. These businesses carry SFP transceivers for those Cisco devices along with transceiver modules for many other manufacturers. So, if you want technology solutions for the networking applications, at this point you know what to consider. Here is a nice web store you can purchase Cisco SFP modules.

Brocade Compatible Qualified Optic Transceivers

Brocade offers a unique set of high-performance, reliable, and cost-effective optical transceivers that help enterprises and service providers meet the challenges of diverse network topologies. To ensure maximum quality, Brocade selects and tests the most reliable, highest-performing optical transceivers on the market, and then warrants their availability, capacity, and performance in Brocade products.

Extensive performance and reliability testing reflects an ongoing commitment to quality. Brocade tests transceivers using the industry’s most advanced tools and instruments to help ensure that they provide the right mix of functionality and performance when used in conjunction with Brocade products. The speed, capacity, reliability, and low cost of ownership that Brocade is known for is also provided in all optical components. By using Brocade-qualified components, organizations can be assured that their warranty and service requirements will be met and that their Brocade products will continually provide the uptime, performance, and reliability required by today’s leading enterprise service providers.

Optics Family Features

The Brocade optics family includes several offerings designed to meet the performance and scalability requirements of service provider and enterprise environments. The new 100 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) CFP optics deliver even greater performance capacity to support cloud services for these environments. Today we discuss Brocade SFP and Brocade SFP+ Transceivers first.

1 GbE Optics

• 1 GbE transceivers support link lengths from 300 m to 100 km
• Both SMF and MMF fiber types
• Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplexing (CWDM) support for distances of 80 km to 100 km
• RoHS 5 and 6 compliant
• For core routers and security applications

10 GbE Optics

• 10 GbE transmissions support link lengths of 26 m to 80 km
• Protocol independent
• Less than one-third the power and size of MSA optic
• Hot swappable
• Digital Optical Monitoring (DOM) support
• RoHS 5 and 6 compliant
• Application delivery and acceleration
• High-Performance Computing (HPC) interconnects
• Service provider traffic management
  

1 GbE Brocade SFP Transceivers

• E1MG-LX-OM, 1000BASE-LX SFP optic, SMF 10km, LC connector, optical monitoring capable. For distances up to 10 km.
• E1MG-LX-OM-T, 1000BASE-LX SFP optic, SMF 10km, LC connector, optical monitoring capable, industrial temperature.
• E1MG-SX-OM, 1000BASE-SX SFP optic, MMF 550m, LC connector, optical monitoring capable.
• E1MG-SX-OM-T, 1000BASE-SX SFP optic, MMF, LC connector, optical monitoring capable, industrial temperature.
• E1MG-TX, XBR-000190 1000BASE-T SFP copper, RJ-45 connector.

10 GbE Brocade SFP+ Transceivers

• 10G-SFPP-SR 10GBASE-SR, SFP+ optic (LC) 850nm, for up to 300m over MMF.
• 10G-SFPP-USR 10 GbE Ultra-Short Reach (USR), SFP+ optic (LC), target range 100 m over MMF.
• 10G-SFPP-LR 10GBASE-LR, SFP+ optic (LC), for up to 10 km over SMF.
• 10G-SFPP-ER 10GBASE-ER, SFP+ optic (LC), for up to 40 km over SMF.
• 10G-SFPP-ZR 10GBASE-ZR, SFP+ optic (LC), for up to 80 km over SMF.
• 10G-SFPP-ZRD-T 10 GbE tunable DWDM SFP+ optic (LC), for up to 80 km over SMF.
• 10G-SFPP-LRM 10GBASE-LRM, SFP+ optic (LC), 220 m over OM1/OM2/OM3 MMF.

Fiberstore is a professional OEM manufacturer and supplier of optical networking solutions. They can supply 100% compatible Brocade SFP and SFP+ transceivers. According to your requirements, Fiberstore welcome any inquiry for customized fiber optical transceiver.

Specifications of Linksys MFELX1 and Compatible MFELX1

Linksys Company Info from Wikipedia

Linksys is a company selling data networking hardware products mainly to home users and small businesses. Its products include wired and wireless routers, Ethernet switches, VoIP equipment, wireless internet video cameras, audio visual products and network storage systems.

The Linksys company was founded in 1988. It is currently owned by Belkin, who bought it from Cisco, its owners from March 2003 to March 2013. Its products were branded as Linksys by Cisco when it was part of Cisco. Today we discuss Linksys MFELX1 - The 100BASE-FX MiniGBIC SFP Transceiver.

MiniGBIC expansion module For fiber optic networking

The MFELX1 is an easy-to-install miniGBIC (SFP) transceiver module that provides a simple way to add 100BASE-LX functionality to your Linksys switch. The module operates at a wavelength of 1310 nanometer and supports single-mode fiber optic cabling. In a typical operating environment, it can achieve distances up to 10 km depending on the total attenuation in the fiber plant.

100BASE-LX is mainly used in metro area networks (MAN) or in large campus networks needing 100 Mbps connectivity between sites. The MFELX1 can be used with wide variety Linksys switches to create solutions that meet the needs for a broad range of customers.

The MFELX1 is a part of the Linksys family of miniGBIC transceiver modules. For other options, see the MFEFX1, MGBSX1, MGBLH1 and MGBTX1.

Specifications

• Model: MFELX1
• Standards: SFP MSA, ITU-T G.957 and G.958, FDA 21CFR 1040.10,11 and IEC 60825-1,2
• Connector Type: Duplex LC
• Wavelength Typical (Tx): 1310 nm
• Wavelength Range (Tx): 1261 nm (min) to 1360 nm (max)
• Wavelength Range (Rx): 1260 nm (min) to 1580 nm (max)

Performance

• Average Output Power -15 dBm (min), -8 dBm (max)
• Extinction Ratio (Tx) 8.2 dB (min)
• Receiver Sensitivity -34 dBm (min)
• Receiver Overload -5 dBm (max)

Linksys MFELX1 Compatible 100BASE-LX SFP Transceiver Module

About Fiberstore

Fiberstore is a fiber optics manufacture, and sells a broad portfolio of optical communication products, including passive optical network, or PON, subsystems, optical transceivers used in the enterprise, access, and metropolitan segments of the market, as well as other optical components, modules, and subsystems.

MFELX1 100BASE-LX SFP 1310nm 15km SMF LC transceiver are high performance, cost effective modules supporting dual data-rate of 1.25Gbps/1.0625Gbps and 550m transmission distance with MMF. This transceiver offers the same function with Linksys MFELX1 and it is fully compatible with Linksys SFP devices.

Specifications

• Manufacturer: Fiberstore
• Product Type: SFP transceiver module
• Data Rate: 100Base
• Wavelength: 1310nm
• Transfer Distance: 15km
• Connector Type: LC Duplex
• Cable Type: Single-Mode Fiber (SMF)

Warranty

• 30-day money back guarantee
• All of our transceivers come with a lifetime advance replacement warranty

Labeling

• Fiberstore Labels as default
• Generic Labels
• Specific Labels as Request
• No Labels

Save Cost By Buying From Original Manufacturer Fiberstore Directly

Fiberstore is an professional manufacturer & supplier of fiber optic transceivers. All of our Linksys MFELX1 transceivers are tested in-house prior to shipping to guarantee that they will arrive in perfect physical and working condition. We guarantee Linksys MFELX1 transceivers to work in your system and all of our Linksys MFELX1 transceivers come with a lifetime advance replacement warranty.

Related Article

Easy-to-install Mini-GBIC SFP Transceiver Quick Start Guide

Netgear GBIC SFP Modules Installation Guide

Netgear SFP Transceivers AGM731F and AGM732

Netgear AGM731F 1000BASE-SX SFP module provides full-duplex 1000 Mbps Ethernet operation in each direction for NETGEAR managed switches with MMF duplex LC connector Interface.

This transceiver is hot pluggable 3.3V Small-Form-Factor transceiver module designed expressly for high-speed communication applications that require rates of up to 1.25Gbit/sec. It is compliant with the Gigabit Ethernet standards, as well as the SFP Multisource Agreement (MSA). It provides with the LC receptacle that is compatible with the industry standard LC connector. The transceiver is also compatible with industry standard RFT connector and cage. The post-amplifier of the transceiver also includes a LOS (Loss Of Signal) circuit that provides a TTL logic-high output when an unusable optical signal level is detected. The transceiver is a Class 1 eye safety product. The optical power levels, under normal operation, are at eye safe level.

Netgear AGM732F 1000BASE-LX SFP module supports dual data-rate of 1.25Gbps/1.0625Gbps and 10km transmission distance with SMF hot-pluggable SFP footprint duplex LC connector Interface.

The AGM732F is hot pluggable 3.3V Small-Form-Factor transceiver module designed expressly for high-speed communication applications that require rates of up to 1.25Gbit/sec. It is compliant with the Gigabit Ethernet standards, as well as the SFP Multisource Agreement (MSA). The AGM732F transceivers provide with the LC receptacle that is compatible with the industry standard LC connector. The transceiver is also compatible with industry standard RFT connector and cage. The post-amplifier of the AGM732F also includes a LOS (Loss Of Signal) circuit that provides a TTL logic-high output when an unusable optical signal level is detected. The AGM732F transceiver is a Class 1 eye safety product. The optical power levels, under normal operation, are at eye safe level.

Install AGM731F and AGM732F SFP Module

The switch automatically detects the module, so you can simply plug it into an available module slot. Plugging in an SFP module disables the associated RJ-45 port.

The module can be inserted or removed while the switch is operational.

Tips: Because invisible laser radiation might be emitted from the aperture of the port when no fiber cable is connected, avoid exposure to laser radiation and do not stare into open apertures.

Netgear AGM731F

Netgear AGM732F

Install a Module
Insert the module firmly into the slot that supports the SFP interface. You should hear a click when the module is firmly seated.

Remove a Module
Release the module latch by pulling down the handle bar across the module, and pull the module out of the module slot.

Standards	IEEE 802.3z AGM731F 1000Base -SX AGM732F 1000Base-LX
Connectors	AGM731F: SC for 62.5 um or 50 um cable AGM732F: LC for 9 um cable
Operating temperature	32 to104º F (0 to 40ºC)
Storage temperature	14 to158 ºF (–10 to 70ºC)
Operating relative humidity	10 to 90% non-condensing
Operating altitude	AGM731F: up to 3 Km (10 K ft) AGM732F: up to 10 Km (32.8 K ft)
Operating distance	AGM731F: 550 m AGM732F: 10Km
Power consumption	500 mW
MTBF	AGM731F: >10 years AGM732F: >10 years
Safety certification	UL 1950, CSA 22.2 No.60 950
Environmental compliance	RoHS

FEATURES

• Compliant with SFP Transceiver MSA specification
• Compliant with Specifications for IEEE 802.3z/Gigabit Ethernet
• Compliant with the 1.0625GBd Fiber Channel FC-PI 100-M5-SN-I Rev.13
• Compliant with Industry Standard RFT Electrical Connector and Cage
• Single + 3.3V Power Supply and TTL Logic Interface
• EEPROM with Serial ID Functionality
• Laser Class 1 Product which comply with the requirements of IEC 60825-1 and IEC 60825-2
• Duplex LC Connector interface

Applications

• Gigabit Ethernet
• Fibre channel
• Switch to Switch interface
• Switched backplane applications
• File server interface

Using Fiber Optic Transceiver to Achieve Long Distance Transmission

Recently we met a big project that involved the network channel installation about digital optical transmission equipment, in fact, it is not so complex as the organization network ways, just we can use with SDH and downward access with switches over backbone line, but because of the SDH equipment covers all the site in the progress of construction, so it need to be solved for long distance network connections by another way. Fortunately, we have much experiences in using fiber optic transceiver, this page we will introduce the application of fiber optic transceiver in the network construction progress which combines with this experience.

1. Multimode fiber optic transceiver and multimode fiber optic cables

Fiber optic transceiver is an ethernet transmission device that can exchange the light signal and electrical signal, fiber optic cables that can transfer data over network can be divided into multimode fiber optic cables and single-mode fiber optic cables, fiber core diameter of multimode fiber cable is 50~62.5 μm，and the single-mode fiber cable core diameter is 8.3 μm. In fact, these data are not intuitive for us, we can judge it only by colors, the multimode fiber pigtail's color is orange and the single-mode fiber cable is yellow. From the network applications, because of multimode fiber optic cable can transmit for not tool long distance, it just can be used between the buildings, but because of the price is relatively cheap, so there are still some people like to use it. HP J4858C SFP transceiver in figure 1.

Figure 1. HP J4858C SFP 850nm 550m Multimode Optical Transceiver

2. Single-mode fiber optic transceiver series

With the development of technology, this phenomenon that single mode fiber cables applied into the long distance network installation is more and more popular, nowadays many customers use fiber optic transceiver directly, just we call it FTTH (fiber to the home), and these different types of fiber optic transceivers we will introduce to you all based on single mode fiber cables. HP transceiver JD119B Single-Mode SFP in figure 2.

Figure 2. HP JD119B X120 1310nm 10km Single-Mode Optical Transceiver

Dual Fiber Single Network Port

The dual fiber single network port fiber optic transceiver just use two fibers, a fiber is used to receive and another is used to transmit. A group of fiber optic transceivers can achieve the exchange of electrical signal and light signal. The network device may a switch, also may a server, well, we can see the fiber optic transceiver as PC, which connected with the switch is straight through cable, and with the server is cross cable. With the development of technology, the fiber optic transceiver ports have been generally made adaptive mode (automatic matching cross-line and direct line), it also bring conveniences to the projects.

Single Fiber Single Network Port

With the continuous development of business, we are faced with an unavoidable problem that the shortage of fiber resources. Some companies want to connect the network but there is only a fiber, it is time to use the single mode fiber optic transceiver, it means that receive and transmit signal over a fiber, this product use WDM technology, related product: passive cwdm mux (shown as the figure). The wavelength usually are 1310nm and 1550 nm, and the 1310 nm stands for transmission, and the 1550 nm stands for receiving.

Single Fiber Dual Ethernet Port

With the development of business, some units put forward higher requirements, for example, we organized network for one bank, he asked us to provide two Ethernet lines to separate from. it needs mature and safe fiber optic transceiver device technology, in order to simply the cost of fiber optic devices and achieve the networks over one fiber, we try our best to save the fiber sources. Our solution is that using 10/100 m adaptive port devices, access into the Ethernet link which can reach 60 km, also keep it to support network management functions.

3. Gigabit fiber optic transceivers and integrated optical interface switches

The advantages of using fiber optic transceiver to connect the network, not only stable, but also it has fast speed, 100M full duplex and even 1000M duplex. For example, there is a Engineering machinery manufacturing enterprise, they use the 100M link to network at the beginning, but due to the requirements of the developments of business, we need to provide higher speed to them, fortunately, the progress of the technology provide good products for us, just gigabit fiber cable, from the appearances of fiber cable, it has no differences with 100M fiber transceivers. Yeah, the fiber optic transceiver we used can be directly plugged into the original power supply unit box, which just needs to change the fiber optic transceiver and then upgrade the bandwidth from Fast to Ethernet. Otherwise, we found that the education industry prefer to use an integrated gigabit fiber interface on the switches.

Article Source: Fiber Optical Networking

Fiberstore SFP+ DAC Cable Solution

SFP+ Direct Attach

Also known as Direct Attach (DA), Direct Attach Copper (DAC), 10GSFP+Cu, 10GBASE-CR, 10GBASE-CX1, SFP+, or 10GbE Cu SFP cables. Direct Attach uses a passive twinax cable assembly and connects directly into an SFP+ housing. SFP+ Direct Attach has a fixed-length cable, typically 1 to 7 m (passive cables) or up to 15 m (active cables) in length, and, like 10GBASE-CX4, is low-power, low-cost and low-latency with the added benefits of using less bulky cables and of having the small form factor of SFP+. SFP+ Direct Attach today is tremendously popular, with more ports installed than 10GBASE-SR.

SFP+ Direct Attach Copper (10GSFP+Cu)

SFP+ direct attached Twinax copper is a copper 10 Gigabit Ethernet cable which comes in either an active or passive Twinax (twinaxial) cable assembly and connects directly into an SFP+ housing. The active Twinax cable has active electronic components in the SFP+ housing to improve the signal quality; the passive Twinax cable is just a straight "wire" and has no active components. Generally Twinax cables less than 5 meters in length are passive and greater than 5 meters in length are active, but this is a general rule of thumb and will vary from vendor to vendor. SFP+ Direct Attach Copper (DAC) is expected to be the optimum solution for 10G Ethernet reaches up to 10 m.

One of major applications includes Cisco, Juniper, Brocade and others' network hardware with SFP+ interfaces. This kind of connection has the capacity to transmit at 10 Gigabits/second full duplex speed over 5 meter distances. Moreover, this setup offers 15 to 25 times lower transceiver latency than current 10GBASE-T Cat 6/Cat 6a/Cat 7 cabling systems: 0.1 μs for Twinax with SFP+ versus 1.5 to 2.5 μs for current 10GBASE-T specification. The power draw of Twinax with SFP+ is around 0.1 watts, which is much better than 4-8 watts for 10GBASE-T.

As always with cabling one of the consideration points is bit error ratio or BER for short. Twinax copper cabling has BER better than 10-18 according to Cisco, and therefore is acceptable for applications in critical environments.

AWG cable size	Sustained bend radius
24	1.5 inches (38 mm)
26	1.3 inches (33 mm)
28	1.0 inch (25 mm)
30	0.9 inches (23 mm)

Cables must not be bent below their minimum bend radius, which is depending on cable size expressed in AWG. The table on the right summarizes minimum values typically admitted for SFP+ sustained bend radiuses.

This SFP+ Twinax DAC is also referred to as "10GBASE-CR" by some manufacturers, even though there is no IEEE or other standard with that name.

Cisco SFP+ Twinax Copper Cables

Cisco SFP+ Copper Twinax (Figure 1) direct-attach cables are suitable for very short distances and offer a cost-effective way to connect within racks and across adjacent racks. Cisco offers passive Twinax cables in lengths of 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 5, 7 and 10 meters, and active Twinax cables in lengths of 7 and 10 meters.

Figure 1. Cisco direct attach passive SFP+ cables

Cisco SFP+ Active Optical Cables

Cisco SFP+ Active Optical Cables (Figure 2) are direct-attach fiber assemblies with SFP+ connectors. They are suitable for very short distances and offer a cost-effective way to connect within racks and across adjacent racks. Cisco offers Active Optical Cables in lengths of 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, and 10 meters.

Figure 2. Cisco active optical SFP+ cables

Platform Support

Cisco SFP+ modules are supported on a wide range of Cisco switches and routers^*:

Catalyst 4500 and 4500-X Series Switches CRS Router MDS 9000 ME 4500 ME 4900NCS 6000 Series Router Nexus 2000, 3000, and 4000 Series Switches Nexus 9000 and 9500 (modular) Series Switches RF Gateway Series SCE 8000 Shared Port Adapter (SPA) Unified Computing System (UCS) Switches

7600 Series Router ASR 901 ASR 903 ASR 1000 Series Router ASR 9000 Series Router ASR 9000v Series Router Catalyst 2350 and 2360 Series Switches Catalyst 2960-S, 2960-X, and 2960-XR Series Switches Catalyst 3100 Blade Switches Catalyst 3560, 3560-E, and 3560-X Series Switches Catalyst 3750, 3750-E, and 3750-X Series Switches Catalyst 3850 Series Switches

Ordering Information

SFP+ Passive and Active Copper Cable Assembly, 10G

Part No.	Data Rate	Length	Wire AWG	Connector Type	Temp. Range
Cisco SFP-H10GB-CU1M	Up to 10.5G	1m	30	Passive Copper	0-70℃
Cisco SFP-H10GB-CU1-5M	Up to 10.5G	1.5m	30	Passive Copper	0-70℃
Cisco SFP-H10GB-CU2M	Up to 10.5G	2m	30	Passive Copper	0-70℃
Cisco SFP-H10GB-CU2-5M	Up to 10.5G	2.5m	30	Passive Copper	0-70℃
Cisco SFP-H10GB-CU3M	Up to 10.5G	3m	30	Passive Copper	0-70℃
Cisco SFP-H10GB-CU5M	Up to 10.5G	5m	24	Passive Copper	0-70℃
Cisco SFP-H10GB-CU7M	Up to 10.5G	7m	30	Active Copper	0-70℃
Cisco SFP-H10GB-CU10M	Up to 10.5G	10m	28	Active Copper	0-70℃

SFP+ Active Optical Cable Assembly, 10G

Part No.	Data Rate	Length	Wire AWG	Connector Type	Temp. Range
SFP-10G-AOC1M	Up to 10.5G	1m	Fiber	SFP+ AOC	0-70℃
SFP-10G-AOC2M	Up to 10.5G	2m	Fiber	SFP+ AOC	0-70℃
SFP-10G-AOC3M	Up to 10.5G	3m	Fiber	SFP+ AOC	0-70℃
SFP-10G-AOC5M	Up to 10.5G	5m	Fiber	SFP+ AOC	0-70℃
SFP-10G-AOC7M	Up to 10.5G	7m	Fiber	SFP+ AOC	0-70℃
SFP-10G-AOC10M	Up to 10.5G	10m	Fiber	SFP+ AOC	0-70℃

Notes

Direct Attach Copper (DAC) Cable is widely used in storage, data center, and high-performance computing connectivity. The DAC cables are widely-used to connect one mobility access switch with another when forming a stack. Fiberstore supplies different kinds of high-speed interconnect DAC cable assemblies including 10G SFP+ Cables, 40G QSFP+ Cables, and 120G CXP Cables. Fiberstore offers customized service for cable length.

References:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twinaxial_cabling
• DAC Cable

Optical Transceivers for 10 Gigabit Ethernet

Introduction

As 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) is introduced into networks the physical limitations and properties of optical fiber introduce new challenges for a network designer. Due to the increased data rate, fiber effects, such as dispersion (intermodal, chromatic or polarization), become a factor in the achievable distances of 10GbE links. This leaves the network designer with new decisions and trade-offs that he/she must understand and overcome.This paper provides an introduction to the world of optical fiber and covers the unique network design issues that 10GbE introduces into an optical fiber network.

In multimode fiber, the time it takes for light to travel through a fiber is different for each mode resulting in a spreading of the pulse at the output of the fiber referred to as intermodal dispersion. The difference in the time delay between the modes is called Differential Mode Delay (DMD). Intermodal dispersion limits multimode fiber bandwidth. This is significant because a fiber’s bandwidth determines its information carrying capacity, i.e., how far a transmission system can operate at a specified bit error rate.

10 Gigabit Ethernet

The IEEE 802.3ae 10 Gigabit Ethernet specification includes a serial interface referred to as 10GBASE-S (the “S” stands for short wavelength) that is designed for 850 nm transmission on multimode fiber. Table 2 provides the wavelength, modal bandwidth, and operating distance for different types of multimode fiber operating at 10 Gbps. Technical issues relating to the use of laser sources with multimode fibers (discussed in the previous section) has significantly limited the operating range of 10GbE over “FDDI grade” fiber. The “FDDI grade” multimode fiber has a modal bandwidth of 160 MHz*km at 850 nm and a modal bandwidth of 500 MHz*km at 1300 nm.

To address the operating range concern, a new multimode fiber specification had to be created for 10GbE to achieve multimode fiber operating distances of 300 m (as specified in the TIA/EIA-568 and ISO/IEC 11801 cabling standards). This new fiber is referred to by some as “10 Gigabit Ethernet multimode fiber” and is an 850 nm, laser-optimized, 50/125 micron fiber with an effective modal bandwidth of 2000 MHz*km and is detailed in TIA-492AAAC. Its key difference, relative to legacy multimode fibers, are the additional requirements for DMD specified in TIA-492AAAC enabled by a new measurement standard for DMD (TIA FOTP-220). As shown in Table 1, this fiber can achieve 300 m of distance with a 10GBASE-S interface. Many leading optical fiber vendors are actively marketing this new multimode fiber for 10GbE applications.

Description	62.5 micron fiber		50 micron fiber			Unit
Wavelength	850	850	850	850	850	nm
Modal bandwidth (min)	160	200	400	500	2000	Mhz km
Operating range	2-26	2-33	2-66	2-82	2-300	m

There are two major factors which will likely drive use of this new “10GbE multimode fiber”:

1. the popularity of short reach (300 m or less) 10GbE applications and
2. the cost of 10GBASE-S interfaces relative to the others.

Evidence of the popularity of low cost, short distance 850 nm multimode Ethernet applications can be found in the number of 1000BASE-SX ports shipped for 1 Gigabit Ethernet. 1000BASE-SX operates up to 550 meters on multimode fiber and has garnered a large percentage of the total number of 1 GbE switch ports shipped. Ultimately the marketplace will determine the popularity of “10GbE multimode fiber”. The alternative is to use single-mode fiber over a 10GBASE-L or 10GBASE-E interface or the 10GBASE-LX4 interface, which supports both single-mode and multimode fiber over distances of 10 km and 300 m, respectively.

Where to Buy Optical Transceiver

Fiberstore is a professional manufacturer and supplier of optical networking solutions. We can supply 100% compatible fiber optic transceiver modules of many brands, SFP transceiver brand compatible such as, Cisco SFP, Dell SFP, HP SFP transceiver.. with a incredible discount. Especially, you can find a full product line of our New Cisco 10G SFP+ with a good price and enjoy same-day shipping (eg.SFP-10G-SR, SFP-10G-LR and SFP 10G LRM).. According to your requirements, we welcome any inquiry for customized fiber optical transceiver. In addition, a variety of fiber patch cables are also offered with a good price and high quality. Fiberstore will give you a pefect solution for your network transmission.