Category: Fiber Transceivers

Optical transceivers, Active Optic Cables, data center switches, and cable management in data centers.

Talk About 2.5G And 5G

Network technology is developing rapidly. To keep up with the trend, data centers are required to upgrade constantly, from 10G to 40G, 40G to 100G and even 100G to 400G. However, for some small business data centers with 1G infrastructures, directly migrating from 1G to 10G is a little fast. Is there any slower Ethernet standards to fill the gap between 1G Ethernet and 10G Ethernet speeds? The answer is Yes—2.5 Ethernet and 5G Ethernet. This article will talk about 2.5G and 5G.
Overview of 2.5G And 5G
The physical (PHY) layer transmission technology of IEEE 802.3bz is based on 10GBASE-T, but operates at a lower signaling rate. By reducing the original signal rate to  1/4 or  1/2, the transfer rate drops to 2.5 or 5 Gbit/s, respectively. The spectral bandwidth of the signal is reduced accordingly, lowering the requirements on the cabling, so that 2.5GBASE-T and 5GBASE-T can be deployed at a cable length of 100 meters on unshielded Cat5e cable and Cat6 cable, respectively. The following figure shows the comparison of twisted pair based Ethernet technologies.
Cons And Pros of 2.5G/5G Ethernet Standards
As 2.5G and 5G Ethernet standards came out after 10G Ethernet standard, there are mixed reviews for them. This part will focus on cons and pros of 2.5G/5G Ethernet standards.
Cons of 2.5G And 5G
When 2.5G Ethernet and 5G Ethernet standards came out, many people didn’t think much of them. They commented that:
5GBase-T and 5GBase-T are more going to be used for wifi rollouts. And they are pretty much strictly for enterprise wireless deployments.
10GbE is getting pretty cheap. Lots of new desktop motherboards now have 10G NICs inside them and the premium seems to be less than $100 too, which isn’t too bad. What’s missing is a bunch of 10G home switches and routers.
As for the availability, the 10G has 2 models out while the 2.5G and 5G are both “coming soon”. Due to the economies of scale and the penetration, 10G already has IMO. While 2.5G and 5G will never be widely adopted or supported.
There are not that many chip sets that support 2.5G Ethernet and 5G Ethernet yet as they really only got finalized. Also, most cards that support them right now also support 10Gbe.
Pros of 2.5G And 5G
What exists is reasonable. One estimate is that there are 70 billion meters of Cat5e and Cat6 cabling have been sold between 2003 and 2014. With such a significant amount of existing infrastructure at stake, it’s hardly surprising that most enterprises want to extend the existing cabling, component and equipment investments in the standard Ethernet wireless closet. Therefore, it is not difficult to find that 2.5G Ethernet and 5G Ethernet standards have their advantages.
Cat5 and Cat6 cabling can’t support 10G Ethernet up to 100 meters, but they will be able to support the emerging 2.5Gbps and 5Gbps standards, thereby preserving the value of the existing copper cable plant.
Adopting new 2.5G and 5G can satisfy the need of increasing data rates of wireless networking. The new 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard increases wireless bandwidth, supporting Ethernet speeds of 1.7 Gbps to 2.5 Gbps. With the coming of the next generation of wireless networking, 802.11ac Wi-Fi Wave 2, wireless network speeds could increase to as high as 6.8 Gbps.
Besides the need from the Wi-Fi industry, a 2.5G/5G version will also aid in other applications such as enterprise infrastructure, cellular Wi-Fi offloads, small cells, security cameras, multiple industrial uses and PoE technology.
These two new Ethernet standards have plenty of attributes to ensure success, such as ease of use, backward compatibility, faster speeds without requiring a cable upgrade, incremental speed upgrades, multi-vendor interoperability, not to mention optimized cost and performance.
Conclusion
From the above content, we can conclude that 2.5G/5G Ethernet standards have both pros and cons. For those who want to upgrade cabling system to 10G, 2.5G/5G is not useful. While for small business and home network, 2.5G/5G is a cost-effective solution. No matter what your cable plant is, choosing a suitable migration path is the most important thing. fiber-mart.COM can provides high quality components for your cable plant, such as Cat5e cable, Cat6 cable, wireless access point and PoE switch. For more details, you can visit our site.

PoE Switch vs. PoE Injector: Which One to Choose?

Network has become an essential part of our daily life. To make life easier, there are various types of network devices on the market, such as such as IP phone, wireless access point and IP camera. Each of them not only has to get access to the network through the Ethernet cable, but also needs power supply via power cord. When the number of devices is a little more, the cabling will be complicated. How to solve this problem? Recently, PoE (Power over Ethernet) technology is popular, which can transmit both power and data through an Ethernet cable at the same time. When it comes to PoE, there are two hot devices: PoE switch and PoE injector. And people often ask: PoE switch vs. PoE injector: which one to choose? This article will make a comparison between them and help you make the choice.
PoE Switch vs. PoE Injector: What is PoE Switch?
PoE switch is a network switch that has Power over Ethernet injection built-in. When connected with other network devices, PoE switch will detect whether they are PoE-compatible and enable power automatically. Therefore, it is a simple solution to add PoE to your network by using PoE switch. In addition, there is PoE+ switch available on the market. PoE switch utilizes the original PoE standard, IEEE 802.3af, which provides up to 15.4W of DC power to each device. While PoE+ switch use the latest PoE+ standard, IEEE 802.3at, also known as PoE class 4, which provides up to 30W of power to each device. That’s to say PoE+ switch can provide almost twice as much power as PoE switch. The following figure shows a 8-port PoE switch which is popular among many users.
PoE Switch vs. PoE Injector: What is PoE Injector?
PoE injector is used to add PoE capability to regular non-PoE network links. The following figure shows the application of PoE injector. Both PoE injector and non-PoE Ethernet switch are powered on. Then they are connected by an Ethernet cable. By doing this, the PoE-compatible IP phone, wireless access point and IP camera can work through one Ethernet cable respectively connected to PoE injector. In network deployment, PoE injector can provide a versatile solution when fewer PoE ports are required.
PoE Switch vs. PoE Injector: Which One to Choose?
PoE switch is all-in-one box with no additional appliance and the ports on it can be used to manage both network and power. While PoE injector can be added onto existing networks with no need to change the switch and is easy to mount anywhere. As for which one to choose, it really depends on the specific requirement. For example:
If you only have a few things to power, then PoE injectors are good. The cost is lower when compared to a PoE switch.
If the PoE goes out in a PoE switch, all PoE has the chance of going out. But if a PoE injector goes out, it only affects one device.
If you do have to replace a PoE injector, you can just replace the bad injector without any production downtime anywhere else in the network.
Conclusion
Both PoE switch and PoE injector utilize PoE technology which makes network deployment even simpler and have their own advantages. It is important to figure out what you need before you make a choice between them. What’s more, please ensure your device supports PoE before connecting into a PoE-enabled network. PoE Switch Vs. PoE Injector, hope this article is helpful for you.

Home Network Switch Buying Guide

Today, almost every home has built a home network which requires some basic hardware. The first important hardware for your home network is a data switch. It allows you to connect several computers and some other networking devices like printers, IP cameras together. Since there are so many data switches like 12 or 24 port switch on the market, which one is the right for your actual needs? Here focus on home network switch buying guide to help you find the best home network switch.
Benefits of Using Home Network Switch
For home use, one of the main advantages of using a data switch is that Ethernet connections will become much faster and more reliable, due to the higher bandwidth it can provide. As such, it’s perfect for things like gaming or transferring network files, and other real time application will perform better through the home network switch. For example, if there are several users in your home, then you can use the switch to share an Internet connection to all the users and all the connected devices at the same time.
Meanwhile, you can use the network switch to build a home LAN. Then you can share any type of files maybe a music folder across your home network. Instead of transferring files on the Internet, other members of your home network can access the songs in the folder through the home network switch. This helps to simplify the transmission flow.
In addition, you can add a guest VLAN to manage the guest’s access permission and ensure the Internet security.
Specifications Should be Considered Before Buying
Before you decide to buy a network switch for your network, here are some specifications you should pay attention to.
Speed
Network speed is always the most important performance that people concern most. Currently, the network switches are capable of handling 10,100 even 1000 Mbps transfer data, which is sufficient for home use. Therefore, choose the switch that can provide appropriate speed that you need.
Ports
The port number means how many networking devices can be connected to the switch. Network switches with 8 ports, 12 ports, 24 ports and 48 ports are available on the market. So select a switch with enough ports for your devices. If you’ll add more devices in the future, then choose a switch which will offer you extra room to grow.
Price
Price is always an important factor when buying anything. There are different types of switches on the market, such as the managed switch, unmanaged switch and Gigabit PoE switch, and their prices vary greatly. So you can establish a budget for your switch, thus you can narrow the buying scope and make a final decision.
Recommendations for Home Network Switch
Network switches with 24 ports are excellent for home use. Considering future upgrade, speed and ease of use, we choose fiber-mart S2800-24T4F as the best Ethernet switch for home networking. And we also recommend fiber-mart S1600-24T4F switch as an excellent budget option.
fiber-mart S3900-24T4F Switch
S3900-24T4F switch is a great option for home use and small business. It includes 24 10/100/1000BASE-T RJ45 copper ports and 4 1G SFP/RJ45 combo ports. The switch provides high performance with a packet forwarding rate up to 96Mpps. It supports multiple functions like VLAN, flash memory, etc. to make it easy for your network management. Besides, it adopts the fanless design and therefore it will not generate any noise, which is welcome in both homes and offices.
fiber-mart S1600-24T4F Switch
This is a Gigabit PoE+ switch features 24 10/100/1000BASE-T RJ45 Ethernet ports, 1 console port, 2 combo ports and 2 Gigabit SFP ports. The max power consumption of this switch is 600W. And another highlight of this switch is that it’s designed with green energy saving technology. Therefore it can save energy without sacrificing performance by sensing whether the ports are idle or not, and then power down the idle ports. It’s a great, standard switch with the plug-and-play design.
Conclusion
As described above, we know how to buy a home network switch. We can select one based on the speed, ports and budget. Using a network switch can help us optimize our home network. fiber-mart.COM is ready to help you purchase your new data switch. Feel like you need a direction, don’t hesitate to contact us via sales@fiber-mart.com.

Fiber Optic Transceivers for 5G Networking Equipment

5G rollouts are on the horizon, with major telecom companies set to rollout limited network access in the US and Europe. Most folks pay attention to the wireless requirements in these networks, but local antennas will still need to be connected to the telephone network and the Internet with high bandwidth optical fibers or wireless backhaul connections.
All this requires fiber optic transceivers to support fiber networking equipment. Choosing the right transceiver for fiber networks depends on multiple factors, although in 5G the principal factors to consider are bandwidth, data rate, conversion loss, and fiber type. Before you can choose the correct fiber transceiver, the first step is to determine what type of fiber the network is using, or what type of fiber cable the application will require to achieve optimal speed and bandwidth.
Which Type of Fiber are You Using?
There are two main types of fiber cable, each of which is appropriate for different applications and will require different transceivers:
Multimode Fiber (MMF): this type of fiber can be used to transmit multiple channels simultaneously. Greater mode density leads to greater modal dispersion that accumulates over the distance of the fiber, thus these fibers are best used for short-run links, such as in MAN and LAN networks.
Single-mode Fiber (SMF): This fiber is designed for longer distances and will provide faster data transmission rates in a single channel with the correct transceivers. These fibers are often bundled in a single cable for massive data transmission over long distances.
Within SMF and MMF classes of fiber, there are different fiber types that provide different data rates and are rated for use over different distances under TIA/EIA standards for fiber optics. Your optical power budget will also determine the limit transceiver you can use for a given link length, and your output on the transmitting side may need to increase the output from your transmitting transceiver to compensate losses in a link.
Clearly, there are several important systems design points to consider, but the first important points to consider in a real network are link length and required data rate. Newer portions of fiber to support upcoming 5G rollouts require multi-Gbps data transmission over long distances to support connections between base stations and cell towers, and to provide fiber-to-the-home and fiber-to-the-premises.
Some municipalities are already installing dark fiber that is capable of up to 40 or 100 Gbps, and networking equipment to support these dark fiber networks will need to include transceivers to support these data rates. Ideal link lengths can range anywhere from hundreds of meters (MMF will be used here) up to be dozens of kilometers (SMF will be used here) in order to support existing cellular infrastructure. If you’re working with SMF fiber over long distances, expect to drop bundles of fiber and deploy scalable networking equipment that includes swappable transceivers with standard form factors. QSFP+ or CFP will be the dominant form factors, especially CFP as it already supports 40 and 100 Gbps systems.
Finisar FTL4C1QM1C
The Finisar FTL4C1QM1C fiber optic transceiver has QSFP+ form factor that supports 39.8 to 44.6 Gbps data rates with low power dissipation (<3.5 W). This transceiver is hot-swappable and supports up to 10 km links over SMF. This transceiver also provides a number of built-in digital diagnostic functions, including transmit and receiver power monitoring.
Finisar FTLC9558REPM
The Finisar FTLC9558REPM fiber optic transceiver is one option for 100 m links over at 103.1 Gbps over MMF. Just like the previous product, this transceiver module is hot-swappable and runs at low power (<2.5 W). Data is transferred in 4 lanes at 25 Gbps with a VCSEL-based transmitter at 850 nm, while the receive side operates with a 4x25G electrical interface over I2C:
They are compliant with the QSFP28 MSA and IEEE 802.3bm 100GBASE-SR4 and CAUI-4. Digital diagnostics functions are available via the I2C interface, as specified by the QSFP28 MSA and Finisar Application Note AN-2141. The optical transceiver is compliant per the RoHS Directive 2011/65/EU. See Finisar Application Note AN-2038 for more details.
Avago AFBR-79EQDZ
The Avago AFBR-79EQDZ 40 Gbps transceiver can be used in up to 100 m links with OM3 MMF, or in 150 m links using OM4 MMF (both fiber types operate at 850 nm). Note that each lane operates at 10.3125 Gbps. It also supports 10GBase-SR modules in compliance with the IEEE 802.3ae standard, as long as the 10G receiver can sustain 2.4 dBm maximum input optical power. The optical interface on the transmit and receive sides both use standard optics for high speed fiber:
The optical transmitter portion…incorporates a 4-channel VCSEL (Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser) array, a 4-channel input buffer and laser driver, diagnostic monitors, control and bias blocks. The optical receiver portion…incorporates a 4-channel PIN photodiode array, a 4-channel TIA array, a 4 channel output buffer, diagnostic monitors, and control and bias blocks.
Note that, in some cases, you can get away with using an SMF with a fiber optic transceiver designed for MMF as the core in an SMF fiber is about 20% the value required in the receiver. This provides easy coupling and the fiber will be insensitive to alignment, but this is not recommended and many not work over longer distances. In the ideal case, you should choose a transceiver that will support the data rates and fiber type you are using in your particular application.
Telecommunications systems aren’t the only application where fiber will see greater use. The insensitivity of fiber to EMI and ESD, as well as the low weight of fiber compared to copper, makes fiber ideal for use in aerospace applications and other environments where noise is a problem. If you’re looking for a fiber transceiver for your next telecommunications system or other specialized application, you can find the components you need on fiber-mart.com.

4 ADVANTAGES OF DIRECT ATTACH CABLING (DAC)

Today’s networks require higher performance from the network cabling, as well as cost effective connectivity. Direct attach copper and fiber cables provide both of these with their factory terminated performance and reduction in costs associated with field terminations. Let’s begin with the types of direct attach cables on the market today, advantages and disadvantages to each, and which cables are best for various applications.
What is a high speed direct attach cable?
A high speed direct attach cable is a type of factory terminated cable assembly used in data centers for point-to-point connections of active network equipment. These cable assemblies consist of fixed lengths of shielded copper coaxial or fiber optic cable with pluggable transceivers factory terminated on either end. Direct attach cables are available in popular transceiver form factors, including SFP, SFP+ and QSFP . You will typically find high speed interconnect cables in data centers, storage area networks and high performance computing centers (HPC) due to the requirement for high bandwidth, connection density and low latency.
There are three common types of direct attach cables:
Passive DAC – Direct Attach Copper
Active DAC – Active Direct Attach Copper
AOC – Active Optical Cable
Passive DACs
DACs are the most basic form of direct attach cabling. DACs are constructed using shielded twin-axial copper cable in varying gauges from 24 to 30AWG. The length of the cable affects the signal attenuation which requires a specific gauge for the conductors. Longer cables require larger gauges in order to reduce the signal transmission loss through the cables.
DACs are passive assemblies since they do not amplify or condition the signal in any way. Instead, signals are passed through and regenerated by the host network equipment. The length limit for passive DACs (without amplification) is 7m.
Although DACs are passive, the connectors in DACs do contain an “Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory”, or EEPROM, that is used to store and provide information to host network equipment such as manufacturer name, serial number, part number, and date of manufacture. Technically, this EEPROM does consume a very small amount of power, around 0.15 W.
Active DACs
Active DACs, or Active Copper Cables (ACCs), are similar in construction to passive DACs but contain a microprocessor and other circuitry in the transceiver connectors to extend signal reach. The distance limit of an ACC is about 15m, which is a 2x improvement over a passive DACs limit. Also, the additional circuitry of the ACC does increase its power consumption to around 0.5-1.0 W, on average.
AOCs – Active Optical Cable
AOCs are similar to the active DACs in that they consist of a duplex fiber optic cable terminated with pluggable transceiver connectors on either end. The cable used in an AOC is either multi-mode or single-mode optical fiber which provides advantages over DACs or DCCs, such as longer transmission distances, isolation from signal interference and crosstalk and higher signal transmission capacities (bandwidths). The connectors in AOCs are actually optical transceivers making them a bit more complex and expensive than passive or active DACs. The optical fiber and technology used in AOCs give them a reach of up to 100m or more. Of the three types of direct attach cables, AOCs consume the most power at around 1-2W.
When considering the use of direct attach cabling for a particular cabling infrastructure application, one must weigh the advantages and disadvantages. The following list below highlights some of the advantages and disadvantages of using direct attach cabling over discreet transceivers attached with field-connected structured cabling.
Advantages
• Lower Price – Direct attach cables are less costly than using discreet transceivers with field-connected structure cabling, because the interconnection is simplified. There aren’t as many connectors, adapters, patch panels, and other infrastructure elements along the path of communication channel.
• Lower Power Consumption – Particularly with passive DAC cables, power consumption is less when compared to the use of transceivers because they are “self contained” components and not bound by transmission specifications as transceivers. For example, transceivers designed to work with copper twisted pair structured cabling must have a maximum reach of 100m whereas an active DAC only needs to reach a maximum of 15m. As a result, the required internal circuitry and signal power can be simplified and reduced.
• Plug and Play Simplicity – DACs and AOCs are only one component to manage rather than multiple components that must be interconnected together. In addition, the installer does not have to be concerned with cleaning and inspecting optical fibers in the field before plugging the cables into the transceivers.
• Factory Terminated Performance – DACs and AOCs are terminated and 100% tested at the factory. This provides consistent and expected transmission performance levels for the channel.
Disadvantages
• Reduced Cable Flexibility – Passive and active copper DACs have a larger bend radius and weight than traditional structured cabling or AOCs, which can sometimes place additional demands on the cable management and airflow management within a rack or cabinet.
• Reduced Modularity – Structured cabling provides improved modularity through the use of patch panels and other components to make moves, adds and changes quicker and easier. DACs and AOCs are point-to-point cabling that require some additional labor since they need to be completely pulled out of racks, cable managers, cable tray, and other infrastructure elements.
• Limited Distance – Transceivers and structured cabling are designed to work together in a universal and cohesive system. Therefore, pluggable transceivers are required to reach 100m or beyond, while DACs and AOCs are not.
Applications for Direct Attach Cables
Direct attach cables can be used in a variety of applications and locations in a data center. In general, this pre-terminated solution is particularly effective for the following applications:
• Top of Rack/Adjacent Rack – Passive or active DACs are ideal for shorter ToR or rack-to-rack runs with cost-conscious budgets. AOCs will certainly work at shorter lengths (typically 5 feet), but the performance/cost trade-off may not be as compelling.
• Middle of Row – Active DACs may be a perfect solution in this application, as long as the runs are less than 15m. AOCs would also make a good solution for MoR deployments.
• End of Row – AOCs are most likely the best option for EoR configurations since the applicability of the active DACs reach their limit at around 15 meters in length.
• Zone-to-Zone – AOCs are the clear solution for longer zone-to-zone runs due to the advantages of using fiber optic cables as mentioned previously.
Conclusions
Direct Attach Cables provide an excellent pre-terminated and factory assembled & tested solution for both copper and fiber optic cabling in data centers. Performance advantages and cost savings can be realized over field installed cabling by avoiding testing and inspection of individual connectors and cabling components in the link.

10G and 25G DWDM Optical Transceivers for 5G Wireless Fronthaul

Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, March 1, 2019 — fiber-mart Solutions announces 10Gbps and 25Gbps DWDM optical transceivers for the O-band and C-band, respectively. These Industrial-Temperature rated (IT) transceivers, together with the previously released 25G LWDM optical transceiver, increase network operators’ options for leveraging wavelength multiplexing and economically deploy new wavelengths on existing fiber plant and serve added 5G radio heads with minimal changes to the optical architecture.
5G wireless services are expected to be up to 20 times faster than what’s possible with current 4G technology. In addition to human users, a multitude of devices, commonly referred to as the Internet of Things (IoT), are expected to connect via 5G increasing the bandwidth demand even further. The much higher capacity supported by 5G poses significant challenges for the industry in terms of physical implementation and cost, including the delivery of the higher bandwidth to the antennas. While eCPRI was developed to improve the spectral efficiency, operators are still left with significant challenges delivering much higher capacities.
Early 5G mass deployments, such as those currently taking place in South Korea, are leveraging the existing fiber plant by increasing the information density in select bands of the optical fiber spectrum. fiber-mart Solutions’ growing portfolio of 10Gbps and 25Gbps offers higher spectral efficiencies with DWDM transceivers in the O-band in addition to the more conventional use of DWDM in the C-band. These products not only increase the information density in a band, such as the O-band for example, but also offers an elegant migration path by leaving connections in other spectral bands of the same fiber unaffected.
“fiber-mart Solutions’ rapidly growing portfolio of 10Gbps and 25Gbps WDM transceivers helps Samsung provide more creative optical solutions for the 5G wireless fronthaul network”, said Mr. Seo, Director of Development at Samsung, adding “These new transceivers allow us to better tailor 5G network architectures to our customers’ specific situations and more efficiently utilize existing fiber plant, which saves our customers money”.
“We are keenly aware of the network operators’ urgent need for higher capacities in the fronthaul network while minimizing capital investments”, said Per Hansen, VP of Marketing and Sales at fiber-mart Solutions, and continued “fiber-mart Solutions is diligently continuing the development of new optical transceivers that will offer higher capacities with appropriate link budgets and reaches for the existing fiber plant while meeting the typical requirements for fronthaul networks.”
Visit fiber-mart Solutions at OFC, Booth 2029, in San Diego, CA, USA, from March 5 to 7, 2019 to learn more about its extensive portfolio of optical transceivers for next generation access networks as well as Smart SFP technology. Demos of both technologies will be shown at the booth.
About fiber-mart Solutions
fiber-mart Solutions is a global technology leader in optical transceivers for both wireless and wireline markets. For more than 15 years, fiber-mart Solutions has provided innovative, intelligent and green solutions to empower faster and richer communication, delivering the greatest satisfaction to its customers. fiber-mart Solutions is headquartered in Gwangju, South Korea, and has R&D centers in USA, the Netherlands as well as business centers worldwide. For more information, please visit http://www.fiber-mart.com.