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WHICH FIBER PATCH CORD SHOULD BE USED FOR DIFFERENT TRANSEIVER TYPES?

Fiber Optic Networks have many features, ready to fulfill every customer’s needs for bandwidth, stability, reliability and most important cost-effective network architecture. There are many manufacturers that are offering their products on the market. Fortunately, most of their products are compatible between them, meaning we can mix and match different products from different manufacturers. However choosing the correct equipment for a specific network design is not a simple task. We must be really good prepared and we must know the properties of every single component of the fiber optic network in order to achieve a stable network architecture with possibility for future upgrades.

One of the key aspects to focus on when designing and deploying a fiber optic network is the connection between the main transmission components, the optical transceiver and the optical fiber cable. The fiber optic transceiver is a type of self-contained, hot swappable component that has the capability to convert electrical input into optical signal and vice versa, and with the help of lasers transmit these optical signals (optical light) down the optical cable. They are a key component for the fiber optic network and its performance. They are inserted in devices like servers, storages, switches and routers in a dedicated port on the device itself. There are many Form-Factors of transceivers with various properties, however the most commonly used are SFP+, QSFP and QSFP28 transceivers. The SFP+ transceivers are Small Form-Factor transceivers capable for speeds up to 16 GB/s and up to 80 kilometers, depending on the fiber type. The QSFP and QSFP28 transceivers are Quad Small Form-Factor transceivers capable for speeds up to 40 GB/s and 100 GB/s. QSFP has a range of up to 40 kilometers and QSFP28 has a range of up to 10 kilometers on Single-mode fibers.

When it comes to fiber optic cables, or fiber optic patch cords, they are composed of a fiber optic cable with a fiber optic connector ending on each end. According to the application they would be used for, they can be divided in several categories:

Multi-mode or Single-mode

Simplex or Duplex

According their connectors

When buying an optical cable we must know the distance they would be used for because this is the deciding factor when choosing Multi-mode of Single-mode fibers. Multi-mode fibers can come in four different modes, OM1, OM2, OM3 and OM4 and each of these four modes have different reach capabilities. However Multi-mode fibers are used for short reach because of their bigger core which transmits wider wavelength. Single-mode fibers are used for long reach distances because they transmit a narrower optical light via their smaller, around 9 micrometers, core. Simplex and duplex option explains the number of fiber cores consisted in a fiber optic cable. As the name suggests, simplex consists of one fiber core, while duplex consists of two fiber optic cores. According to their connectors there are many different types of cables. The most common used are cables with duplex LC connectors and the MPO/MTP trunk and breakout fiber optic cable solution. There are also cables with SC, ST, FC, E2000 and other connectors.

When choosing the correct patch cords it’s important to know the compatibility with the transceivers. Their compatibility could be found in their datasheets. When choosing cables with appropriate connectors we should keep in mind that the MPO/MTP connector solutions are the future of optical networking because they can support speeds up to 100 GB/s and they provide a solid ground for future network upgrades. Today for 40 GB/s a 12-fiber MPO/MTP connector is used because only 8 fibers are needed for successful connection, four used for transmitting, four used for receiving and four are left unused. For 100 GB/s solutions the use of 24-fiber MPO/MTP connectors is a must. These MPO/MTP connectors provide a seamless upgrade to 40 GB/s and 100 GB/s solutions. The MPO/MTP connectors are generally used with various QSFP type of transceivers, especially with QSFP28 because QSFP28 transceivers support bandwidth bigger than 40 GB/s, up to 100 GB/s.

The LC connector stands for Lucent Connector because it was firstly designed by Lucent Technologies. This connector has a body build similar to RJ jack style. These connectors are generally used in telecom rooms and network closets of a given organization. They are most commonly used for reach up to 10 kilometers on Single-mode fibers and with SFP+ transceivers.

Today many leading IT managers are searching for a cost-effective solution while not thinking about the future. Even though it’s more expensive to purchase, the MPO/MTP solution provides a seamless upgrade to new technologies and greater money savings on a long run. Also because of the way they are functioning they consume less space and make the whole maintenance process less complex.

WHAT KIND OF FIBER POLISH BE USED

When a connector is mounted on the fiber end, some loss of power will be experienced. Some of the light would be reflected back to the fiber towards the source that generated that light signal. These reflected back signals into the fiber are called Optical Return Loss (ORL). The ORL can harm the laser source can also interrupt the transmission signal. Usually the fiber connectors have different polishing types, the different polishing have different ORL levels. There are four polishing types available, each having its own ORL levels and characteristic. The polishing types are: 1. Flat surface, 2. Physical Contact (PC), 3. Ultra Physical Contact (UPC) and 4. Angled Physical Contact (APC). Each connector is evolved from one into another, let’s discuss each on detail.

Flat Fiber Connector

Originally the fiber connectors are flat surface connectors. A small gap between the two fiber faces is left when two faces of flat fibers are coupled. These flat fiber connectors are not appropriate for single mode fiber with a 9µm core size, therefore it is vital to advance into Physical Contact (PC) connectors. ORL values in this type of connectors is around -35dB.

Physical Contact (PC) Fiber Connector

Physical Contact connector is polished with a minor spherical design, this allow to decrease the general size of the end face. The spherical design helps to overcome the air gap issue experienced in flat connectors. The spherical design results in overall lower ORL, as a reduced amount of light being sent back into the fiber and also to the light source. ORL values in this type of connectors is around -45dB. But still some of the light manages to reflect back towards the source.

Ultra Physical Contact (UPC) Fiber Connector

To overcome the issue faced in physical contact connectors, the convex end face is made by extending the polishing methods on PC connectors, resulting an even finer connector that is called Ultra Physical Contact (UPC) connector. The UPC have even lower ORL as compare to PC connectors. ORL values in this type of connectors is upto -55dB. UPC fiber connector can be used with single-mode fiber as well as multimode fiber. Usually the blue color UPC connector is used for single-mode fiber and beige color UPC connector is used for multimode fiber. UPC allows more consistent signals in digital TV and telephony systems.

Previously discussed PC and UPC connectors have a low insertion loss, but ORL really depends on the surface finish of the fiber. When the connectors are repeatedly coupled and decoupled, the ORL will start to degrade. So it is essential for a connector with low back reflection and it could endure repeated coupling and decoupling without ORL degradation.

Angled Physical Contact (APC) Fiber Connector

The end faces of Angled Physical Contact (APC) connectors have curved edges but are angled at 8 degree of an industry standard. This allows even closer connection with a much smaller gap between two. The combination of angled connector with smaller gap, allows any reflected light that is reflected back into the fiber is in fact reflected into the fiber cladding. That is because of the 8 degree angled face. ORL values in this type of connectors is less then -65dB. This to be noted that these types of fiber connector can only be used with single-mode fiber. 

It’s vibrant from above discussion that all types of connectors play important role and are available in market. It seems difficult to conclude that which connector is best to use. The specific application requirement chooses which one to use. For application like high accuracy optical signals APC connectors may be selected, on other hand less complex systems will work fairly well using UPC or even FC connectors.

 WHAT IS SFP+ OR A SFP TRANSCEIVER

SFP stands for small form-factor pluggable it is a compact hot pluggable transceiver used for both telecom and the data applications. LC connectors are used to connect fibers to SFPs. SFP module has two sides, first side known as transmitter it has laser for transmitting and other side known as receiver side has a photo detector. So basically SFP is a transceiver module since it has transmitter and the receiver in a single unit.

SFPs are not standardized by any single body, but relatively are specified by a multi source agreement also called MSA. It is an agreement between several manufacturers to make products which are compatible among different vendors. SFP designed based on the bigger gigabit interface converter (GBIC) interface, but it has a much smaller size in order to increased port density, that is why SFP is also called mini- GBIC.

SFP modules are used in all types of network applications like data networks, telecommunication networks, SAN as well as SONED/SDH.

Typical SFP modules can be classified based on the working wavelengths and its working distance so let’s take a look at the list here:

For multimode fibers the SFP modules called SX (short reach) module, it use 850 nanometer wavelength. The distance that SX modules support depend on the network speed, for 1.25 gigabit per second speed the distance achieved is about 550 meters, whereas for 125 gigabit per second speed it supports up to 150 meters

For single mode fiber side there are lots of choices, following are the most common types:

For single-mode fibers the SFP modules called LX (long reach) module use 1310 nanometer wavelength laser and supports up to 10 kilometer. EX module use 1310 nanometer wavelength laser and supports up to 40 kilometer. ZX module use 1550 nanometer wavelength laser and supports up to 80 kilometer. EZX module use 1550 nanometer wavelength laser and supports up to 160 kilometer. CWDM and DWDM SFP transceivers are also used at different wavelengths for reaching several maximum distances. Also there are Gigabit Ethernet UTP copper cable modules available.

As mentioned earlier SFP module supports speed up to 4.25 gigabit per second and an enhanced version which is called SFP+ supports more than 10 gigabit per second and SFP+ is becoming more popular on 10 gigabit ethernet.

The enhanced small form-factor pluggable (SFP+) is an improved kind of the SFP that supports data rate up to 16 gigabit per second. SFP+ supports 8 gigabit per second Fibre Channel, 10 Gigabit Ethernet and Optical Transport Network standard OTU2.

10 gigabit per second or commonly called SFP+ modules, are precisely the same sizes as regular SFPs, permitting the equipment producer to re-use present physical designs for 24 and 48 port switches and modular line cards.

The advantages of using SFP or SFP+ is, these both transceivers are typically the size of an RJ-45 ethernet port. As compared to GBIC, XENPAK or XFP modules SFP and SFP+ uses small area and standardized size of connectors. SFP sockets are commonly found in Ethernet switches, routers, firewalls and Optical Line Terminal commonly called OLT.

Recent optical SFP transceivers also support Standard digital diagnostics monitoring (DDM). This feature is commonly known as digital optical monitoring (DOM). DOM capable SFP modules give end user the ability to observer parameters of the transceiver, such as transmitted optical power, received optical power, transceiver supply voltage, laser bias current, as well as temperature of SFP in real time. This feature is commonly applied for monitoring on switches, routers and optical equipment via SNMP.

Since these SFPs are specified by a multi source agreement, which permits compatibility among different vendors. So a single SFP purchased can be used from Cisco switch to Juniper Router and from HP server to Huawei OLT. Also SFP modules are hot pluggable, so unlike other network components/cards there is no need to power off the device when inserting the SFP.

Why we need Bend insensitive fiber patch cord?

Fiber patch cord is seeing broad adoption in applications spanning telecommunication and data communication. With numerous business and enterprise reaping great benefits from it, fiber patch cord represents by far the most sufficient and prevalent bandwidth feeder. As those gigabit-capable networks proliferate, the fueling capacity and speed quest further drive fiber patch cord deployment. When facing various fiber patch cord types on the market, how can we make a valid choice? Some basic understanding of the fiber patch cord would be helpful.

What Is Fiber Patch Cord?

Fiber patch cord, often called fiber patch cable, fiber jumper, or fiber patch lead, is a length of fiber cable that terminated with fiber optic connectors (LC, SC, MTRJ, ST and etc.) at each end. The connectors allow fiber optic patch cord to be rapidly connected to an optical switch or other telecommunications/computer device. Fiber jumper is a key player for indoor use, like in server rooms or in data centers. Featuring excellent reliability, superior adaptability, and improved security, fiber patch cord has ranked the best choice for applications where conventional copper cables fail to reach.

What Are Fiber Patch Cord Types and How to Choose?

Fiber optic patch cords in the market now have various types. We mainly divide them into common fiber patch cord types and special patch cord types in this explanation.

Common Types of Fiber Patch Cords

Based on different specifications and standards, the common fiber patch cords can be categorified from the perspective of fiber cable mode, transmission mode, jacket type, connector type, and polishing type.

Fiber Cable Mode: Single Mode or Multimode

The mode of fiber patch cables indicates how light beams travel within the fiber. There are two fiber cable modes: single mode and multimode.

Single mode fiber patch lead only allows one mode of light to pass along its length with a very thin diameter of 8-10 microns, thus it can carry signals at much higher speeds with lower attenuation. Single mode fiber has two varieties: OS1 and OS2, which are different in construction and application. In Comparison Between OS1 and OS2 SMF Cables, the differences between OS1 and OS2 are illustrated. In general, OS1 and OS2 are both applicable for long-haul transmission but OS2 is more suitable for long-haul transmission by offering better performance with fewer losses.

The core of the multimode fiber patch cord is bigger, typically 50 or 62.5 microns, which enables multiple light modes to be transmitted. It comes in five varieties supporting different transmission rates or distances: 62.5-micron OM1, 50-micron OM2, 50-micron OM3, 50-micron OM4, and 50-micron OM5, which can be differentiated by standard jacket colors. Since multiple light paths travel down the cable, the distance which multimode fiber jumpers can reach is usually short. For short-distance transmission within a building or campus, multimode fiber patch cords are the best-suited type. You can get more information about multimode patch cables in Multimode Fiber Types: OM1 vs OM2 vs OM3 vs OM4 vs OM5.

Number of Fiber Strands: Simplex or Duplex

According to the number of fiber strands, there are simplex and duplex fiber patch cord. As shown in Figure 2, simplex fiber patch cord contains one single strand of fiber with one simplex connector on each end. It can be linked with a pair of BiDi transceiver modules featuring with one port. Whereas duplex fiber patch cord consists of two strands of glass or plastic with one duplex connector (or considered as two simplex connectors). It is often linked with common transceivers or dual fiber BiDi transceivers.

Jacket Type: PVC or LSZH

PVC and LSZH are used to describe the common jacket material of fiber patch cord. Fiber patch cables covered with PVC jacket are flexible at normal installation temperatures. Compared with PVC patch cords, LSZH patch cords are more rigid and less flexible but they contain the flame retardant compound that doesn’t emit toxic fumes if it burns. PVC fiber optic patch cord is usually used for indoor applications such as horizontal runs from the wiring center. While LSZH cable is used in unventilated areas exposed to public, such as subways and tunnels and also used for rooms that are not easy to get out quickly.

Connector Type: LC, SC, ST or Others

There are many connector types used in fiber patch cables such as LC, SC, ST, MTP or MPO listed in this article How Many Fiber Connector Types Do You Know? Aside from these connectors, there is a latest connector design called MDC connector, which enables the highest achievable connector density by delivering a 3X advantage over a standard LC connector. The different connector types are to plug into different interfaces, so you’d better affirm the interface type of the devices you are using the first time.

If divided by the criteria whether the connector on each side is the same, they can be divided into same-connector type fiber patch cord and hybrid fiber patch cord. Fiber patch cords that have the same type of connector on both ends includes LC to LC fiber patch cord, SC to SC fiber patch cord and etc. While hybrid fiber patch cord has different connectors on each end, like fiber patch cord LC to SC. If the port type of devices on both sides are the same, you can choose the same-connector type fiber patch cord, or you need choose the hybrid one.

Polishing Type: PC, UPC or APC

Fiber optic connectors are designed and polished to different shapes to minimize back reflection, which is particularly important in single mode applications. According to this connector polish types, there are PC, UPC, and APC fiber patch cords. This post PC vs UPC vs APC Connector: Selecting the Right Fiber Connector Type presents the difference of PC, UPC, and APC. Nowadays PC polish type has been replaced by UPC type. Whether you choose UPC or APC depends on your actual application. Since APC provides less insertion loss than UPC, the APC fiber patch cables are more applicable for high bandwidth applications and long-distance links, such as FTTx, passive optical network (PON) and wavelength division multiplex (WDM). Whereas UPC fiber patch cords apply to optical systems that are less sensitive to insertion loss such as digital TV and telephony.

Special Types of Fiber Patch Cords

Fiber patch cord is evolving to keep pace with the ever-increasing bandwidth needs. Some specially designed fiber patch cables emerge to fit different application needs. Knowing the available options would save us significant time and money. Here are some special fiber optic patch cords for use in certain circumstances.

Armored Fiber Patch Cord

Armored fiber patch cord retains all the features of the common fiber patch cord. The main difference between armored fiber patch cable and common fiber patch cord is that armored fiber jumpers are designed with a stainless armored tube inside the jacket and outside the optical fiber as you can see in figure 4. This design enables armored fiber patch cords strong enough to be anti-rodent and resist the steps by an adult. Strong as it is, the armored fiber patch cord is actually as flexible as standard fiber optic patch cord and can be bent randomly.

Bend Insensitive Fiber Patch Cord

Bend insensitive fiber patch cable is highly resistant to bend related damage and loss. It has a small cable bending radius and prevents additional bend losses by innovative core design and enhanced low macro-bending sensitivity. Bend insensitive fiber patch cord is made to support data center and FTTH applications, and high-density cabling that has to wrap and take tight corners. Click to see why you need bend insensitive fiber patch cables.

Mode Conditioning Fiber Patch Cord

This special fiber patch cord is a duplex multimode patch cable that has a small length of single mode fiber at the start of the transmission length. It is designed to solve the technical issue involved in using single mode equipment on the existing multimode cable plant. Mode conditioning fiber patch cord aims to drive the distance of installed fiber plant beyond its original intended applications, as well as to improve data signal quality. For more information about using tips of mode conditioning patch cord in typical cases, please refer to Mode Conditioning Patch Cord Utilized in 1/10 Gigabit Ethernet Applications.

Low Insertion Loss Fiber Patch Cord

The low insertion loss fiber patch cords adopting LL technology feature lower connector insertion loss compared with the common fiber patch cords, though it bears many similarities with common patch cable judged only by appearance. For example, the industry-standard insertion loss of common fiber connector is 0.75dB, but for low loss fiber patch cord, it can be 0.2dB or lower. This type of fiber patch cords is often used for applications where the amount of attenuation loss is a crucial element. With reduced attenuation, they are able to expand the network’s reach for long-haul applications.

Uniboot Fiber Patch Cord

Terminated with specially designed LC uniboot connectors, uniboot fiber patch cable integrates two fibers in a single cable, thus delivering significantly more advantages in high-density cabling environments. It cuts down the cable count up to 50% compared with the standard LC cables and represents the best fit for places where space is a concern, which is the main advantage of it.

Conclusion

Fiber patch cord has helped many people to achieve larger bandwidths and greater speeds, and the benefit of which is stretching across a wide range of constructions. From the introduction of the fiber patch cable types and their applications above, you may get some illustration on which fiber jumpers to be chosen. The parameters of common fiber patch cables such as fiber cable mode and connector types are the key elements that matter a lot. If your cabling environment is rather demanding, the special fiber patch cord mentioned above will fit your needs. Seeking help from a professional is always the best choice to avoid losses when you find it hard to make a decision.

Important Things You Should Know About Patch Panel

Achieving efficient cable management is the dream of every IT technician, and this is where a patch panel comes in handy. A Cat6 patch panel realizes the connection, scheduling, and allocation of cable links. Through this article, you will get a thorough understanding of the patch panels.

How does the patch panel work?

Patch panels are also dubbed as patch bays and jack fields. A patch panel is a network component that connects incoming and outgoing LAN lines or other electronic, communication, and electrical systems. If you are mulling over setting up a wired network with several wall ports, patch panels can offer you neat, simple, and easy to manage solutions. Based on ports, these are the most frequently used patch panels:

12 Port Patch Panel

24 Port Patch Panel

48 Port Patch Panel

When you deploy a Cat6 patch panel, it bundles multiple ports together and connects outgoing and incoming lines. If you have deployed a patch panel in your networks and want to arrange circuits, all you need to do is to plug or unplug the concerned patch cord.

The Importance of Patch Panel In Your Network

Usually, patch panels are connected to the network racks, either below or above switches. To quickly connect ethernet cables, a Cat6a patch panel comes with ports. They come in multiple configurations and sizes, and you can customize a Cat6a patch panel for different networks.

You can gauge the importance of patch panels from the fact that if something goes wrong with them, the whole network collapses.

As far as the number of ports in the patch panels is concerned, it varies between 12 ports to 96 ports. And when it comes to large networks, you may need hundreds of ports. Besides facilitating smooth networking, these awesome machines also help technicians by offering flexible and convenient routing options.

Copper Patch Panels and Fiber Patch Panels

Patch panels are used in both fiber and copper cabling networks.

First, let’s discuss copper patch panels. 8-pin modular ports are used in the construction on one side, whereas the 110-insulation displacement connector blocks are used on the other side. The wires that are coming into the patch panels are terminated. The 8-pin modular connector is plugged into the ports on the other side to correspond to the terminated wires. It is pertinent here to mention that each pair of wires has an independent port in the copper Cat6a patch panel. On the other hand, fiber patch panels need two ports for each pair.

Shielded vs. Unshielded patch panels

For environments with high EMI interference, you should use a shielded patch panel.

A shielded patch panel comprises a metal panel and snap-in shielded keystone jacks. Shielded patch panels are often used with shielded ethernet cables to ensure better signal transmission performance. Depending on the number of ports, you can categorize the shielded Cat6 patch panel into 12-port, 24-port, and 48-port types.

Those patch panels that come with snap-in unshielded keystone jacks are classified as unshielded patch panels. Just like shielded patch panels, you can classify unshielded patch panels depending on the number of ports, i-e, 12-port unshielded patch panel, 24-port unshielded patch panel, and 48-port unshielded patch panel.

With demand for effective cabling growing at a rapid pace, patch panels are also witnessing more advancements. Here at New York Cables, we make top-quality patch panels that are TIA/EIA verified and RoHS compliant. To ensure optimum performance, we have extensively tested our patch panels in the field and laboratories.

LC Uniboot Fiber Patch Cables for Now and the Future

In the past years,data center technologies and cabling structures have changed a lot ,driven by the growing bandwidth needs. “High density” apparently becomes a keyword of data center. To bring service to market quickly, data center has to install more and more fiber optic cables in given space, which makes cable management a growing problem. More and more new products and technologies have been invented to follow the trend of high density in data centers. It has become an urgent problem for data center managers to find a high density routing method which is easy to manage and save space. Here is a more advantageous high-density fiber routing solution, LC uniboot fiber cable, which is designed to solve the mentioned issues during high-density cabling.

LC Uniboot Fiber Patch Cable VS Standard LC Fiber Patch Cable

Compared with other fiber optic connectors, LC fiber connector has higher density and performance in most environments, making it a more and more popular choice in many applications. This is the termination of the uniboot fiber optic jumper with specially designed LC connectors that have been invented. LC uniboot fiber patch cable, with its unique structure, has The main differences between the LC uniboot patch cable and the standard LC fiber patch cable are noticeable. The following picture shows a LC uniboot patch cable (left) and a standard one (right) separately.

Less Cable Count to Cut Space Requirements

Standard LC duplex patch cables are usually designed with two cables, each of which is enclosed on two different cables, with standard duplex LC connectors on each end. The LC uniboot cable uses only one cable even though it has two fibers.It has a single boot in the duplex LC connector. The two fibers used for duplex transmission are firmly enclosed in a single cable, which can cut down the cable count up to 50% compared to traditional LC duplex fiber patch cords. The space requirement of cabling can be significantly reduced by LC uniboot fiber patch cable.

Easier Polarity Reversal to Increase Efficiency

Polarity changes for LC duplex fiber patch cable is very inconvenient, especially for high-density cable environments such as data centers. For traditional LC duplex patch cable polarity changing, additional tools and fiber cable re-terminating are usually required, which wastes both time and money. Sometimes, mishandling can cause all sorts of faults. LC, uniboot cable, polarity reversal is easier. Usually, without additional tools, polarity can be easily changed through a few simple steps. Currently, there are many different versions of the uniboot jumper LC. TThe polarity reversal of them might be different from each other. Two most commonly used versions of LC uniboot patch cables polarity reversal steps are shown in the following picture..