Category: Fiber Transceivers

Light is everywhere, this is not exaggerated. In the early days of human development, humans have begun to use light to transmit information. There are many examples.

Gesturing is a form of visual communication that cannot be performed in the dark. During the day, the sun serves as the light source for this transmission system. The solar radiation carries the information of the sender to the receiver, the movement of the hand modulates the light waves, and the human eye acts as a detector. In addition, beacon towers that existed more than 3,000 years ago can still be regarded as the original form of optical communication. The emergence of the telescope has greatly extended the distance of this type of visual optical communication.

One day in 1870, British physicist Tyndall went to the lecture hall of the Royal Society to talk about the principle of total reflection of light. He did a simple experiment: drill a hole in a wooden bucket filled with water, and then use a lamp to pull Water illuminates. The results surprised the audience. People saw that the shining water flowed out of the small holes in the bucket, the water flow was curved, and the light followed it, and the light was captured by the curved water.

These phenomena attracted Ding Daer’s attention. After his research, he found that this is the effect of total reflection, that is, when the light is incident from the water to the air, when the incident angle is greater than a certain angle, the refracted light disappears, and all the light is reflected back into the water. On the surface, light seems to bend in the current. In fact, in a curved stream of water, light still travels in a straight line, but multiple total reflections occur on the inner surface, and the light propagates forward after multiple total reflections.

Later, people created a kind of glass fiber with high transparency and thickness like spider silk. When the light enters the glass fiber at an appropriate angle, the light advances along the curved glass fiber. Because this fiber can be used to transmit light, it is called an optical fiber.

Fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) fiber optic cabling is generally divided into the trunk part, distribution part, the introduction part, and access part from the base station to the user.

In general, the fiber cable link system will be more secure if the fewer fiber cable segments make out from a fiber cable link. So why is the FTTH cable route divided into so many cable segments?

01

If the fiber link from the base station to the user passes through only one fiber cable segment (not counting the jump optical fiber), that is, each user has a direct cable to the board, What is the problem?

There are two main problems here. (1) The number of fiber optic cables connected to the base station is large, and the number of incoming fiber optic cables that can be tolerated by one base station is limited; (2) The distance for laying the fiber optical cable during installation is long, which is not convenient for installation. Limited by the above two aspects, such a base station can only allow dozens of users to access, and of course, there is no application set.

02

In order to solve the above problems, we made 2 improvements.

(1) The fiber optical cable is out of the way with a large-core fiber optical cable, and then the fiber cable splice closure is divided into a plurality of small-core optical cables. It should be noted that if a fiber optic cable has too many branch points, it will affect the life and transmission indicators of the cable.

(2) Set the fiber distribution box at the location where the user is concentrated, as the branch point between the project and the loading. When the user puts the device, it is only necessary to put a small cable from the fiber distribution box to the user.

It is estimated that there are 10 fiber optical cables in one office, 6 to 12 fiber distribution boxes in each optical cable, and 8 users in each fiber distribution box. The number of service users in one office is 480 to 960. At this point, the fiber optic cable line from the office to the user has become two cable segments: Base station – distribution box, distribution box- user. Since the connection relationship of the optical fiber is fixed at the optical cable splice closure, and the attenuation is small, the cable splice closure is generally not used as the starting point of the segment.

Compared with Figure 1, the number of service users in the office has increased several times, but the capacity is still too small. In addition, the user’s development is dynamic. If a location needs to add a fiber distribution box, it needs to be re-laying fiber cables from the base station.

03

As can be seen from the comparison of reducing the number of outgoing optical cables and facilitating the loading, the capacity of the lifting station can be realized by adding branch points on the optical cable. There are two types of fiber optic cable branch points: fiber cable distribution box and fiber optical splice closure.

Through the optical cable distribution, one optical cable can be divided into multiple optical cables, and the number of different branches can be mainly limited by the laying conditions of the optical cable; the connection relationship between the optical cables is flexible. But it will increase the loss of active connections and make core management more difficult.

The number of cables that can be branched through the fiber spice closure is small, generally no more than 6 (1 into 5). There are generally cables left on both sides of the fiber splice box. If there are more cables in a splice closure box, the cable will appear messy and unsightly. Therefore, in general, the number of fiber splice closure to divergent fiber cables will be controlled within 4 (1 into 3).

By adding a fiber cable distribution box , the number of service users in a distribution box is 480 to 960, and the number of service users in one transfer box is 8 to 12, and 6 to 12 fiber feeders are placed in each of the fiber-optic cables.

So how many fiber cable branches can a base station set? With 10 optical cables out of one base station and 3 optical connections per optical cable, 30 optical connections can be set. In this way, the capacity of a base station is about 14400-28800; such a large capacity can basically meet the needs of a large number of field.

The construction of the project will be limited by the construction conditions. For example, if the fiber optical cable network is to cover a residential area, the optical communication is preferably set in the residential area. However, when constructing a backbone optical cable base station, most of the residential properties will not be allowed to be constructed in their communities. When the market department and a certain community negotiated the conditions for engineering construction, the backbone optical cable project has already been completed.

The demand for engineering construction in residential areas, commercial buildings, and other cluster markets in the city are uncertain, and the construction of trunk optical cables must be completed within a certain period of time (generally within 2 to 3 months). In order to solve this contradiction, in the construction of the backbone optical cable, the trunk ONU is placed in a location close to the potential user group, convenient for the cable to be laid, and the installation conditions.

When there are construction conditions in residential quarters, commercial buildings, and other cluster markets, installing distribution ONU and wiring fiber cables from trunk ONU to distribution ONU as shown in Figure 6. Thus, the optical cable line from the base station to the user is divided into the following: the trunk section, the wiring section, the lead-in section, and the home section.

As we all know, fiber optic patch cable plays a vital and significant role to achieve connectivity between optical equipment in telecommunication field. According to different fiber core diameter, there exist two types of fiber patch cords-multimode fiber (MMF) patch cables and single-mode fiber patch cable. In my previous blogs, I have discussed some information about multimode fiber patch cable, including its definition, types and applications. How about single-mode fiber (SMF) patch cable? Do you really know enough about it? Read this article, and you will get a comprehensive understanding of it.

Features of Single-mode Fiber Patch Cable

Single-mode fiber patch cable contains a small core of 9/125 microns which is designed to support only one pathway of light. Instead of simply bouncing the light of the edge of the core, the single-mode patch cable realigns the light toward the center of the core with only a single wavelength of light passing through its core. Like multimode optical cable, single-mode patch cable does exhibit modal dispersion resulting from multiple spatial modes but with narrower modal dispersion. Therefore, single-mode patch cable is better at retaining the fidelity of each light pulse over longer distances than multimode patch cable. Generally, single-mode fiber patch cable is more expensive than multimode patch cable, but it offers better performance and is more cost-efficient in long run transmission. Besides, the color of single-mode fiber patch cable is yellow, while the multimode patch cable is generally orange or aqua. So when you choose a single-mode fiber patch cable, you can easily find the right one from the appearance. Here is a single-mode fiber cable with LC connectors.

Two Single-mode Fiber Patch Cable Types

Like multimode-fiber patch cable with OM1, OM2, OM3 and OM4 types, single-mode fiber patch cable can be categorized into OS1 and OS2. That is, OS1 and OS2 are cabled SMF specifications. OS1 and OS2 are standard single-mode optical cables respectively used with wavelengths of 1310 nm and 1550 nm with a maximum attenuation of 1 dB/km and 0.4 dB/km. Besides these two aspects of differences, the following part will tell the differences between OS1 and OS2 from perspectives of standards and cable construction.

First introduced in the year of 2002, OS1 refers to a very old specification for SMF. The mechanical, optical and environmental characteristics of OS1 are compliant with ITU-T G.652A or ITU-T G.652B standards. Additionally, the low water peak fibers categorized in ITU-T recommendations as G.652C and G.652D also come under OS1 fibers. Thus, OS1 is a general term used to specify single-mode optical cable that comes under the heading of ITU-T G.652. In contrast, OS2 was introduced in 2006. Only ITU-T G.652C and G.652D comes under OS2 fibers which means that OS2 SMF is low water peak fiber only.

Another main differences between OS1 and OS2 SMFs is the cable construction. Typically, OS1 cabling is tight-buffered which is suitable for indoor applications, such as campus or data center, while the OS2 cabling is loose-tubed which is available for outdoor use, like street, underground or burial.

There are many other differences between OS1 and OS2 SFMs, such as performance, transmission distance and cost, etc. The maximum distance of OS1 SMF is 2 km while the transmission distance of OS2 is 5 km and is up to 10 km. The following table shows OS1 and OS2 specification differences.

Conclusion

Single-mode fiber patch cable supports advanced network applications required in data centers, enabling guaranteed performance for Gigabit applications. We have mentioned the features, two SMF types and their differences, and you may get some basic information about this type of fiber patch cables. Hope you can choose the right one for you network.

What is a Patch Panel?

A patch panel is a piece of hardware with multiple ports that helps organize a group of cables. Each of these ports contains a wire that goes to a different location.  Patch panels can be quite small, with just a few ports, or very large, with many hundreds of ports. They can also be set up for fiber optic cables, cat5 cables, RJ45 cables, and many others.

What is a Patch Panel Used for?

Patch panels connect various IT devices together. They are in many different environments including communications closets, telephone company central offices, and data centers. Understanding the role they play can help to determine if your facility requires a patch panel, and if so, how to set it up.

Each port in a patch panel goes to a different device somewhere in the facility. Each panel bundles all the connections together in order to connect to another network. This is often how a LAN connects to a WAN, or to the Internet. Patch panels are also commonly used in facilities with a lot of telephone lines, in which one mainline is used for all phones.

Advantages of Patch Panels

Patch panels are an important piece of equipment in the data center. Using a patch panel comes with many advantages that make it well worth the investment. Some of the most significant benefits of using patch panels include:

Scalability – After installing a patch panel, you can easily add new devices without having to run new cables end-to-end.

Reduces Cable Clutter – Patch panels are typically located closer to the actual equipment. This makes it possible to use a shorter patch cable. From the panel, a fiber optic or other high capacity connection runs to the next network or the internet.

Inexpensive – Patch panels aren’t considered “smart” devices in that they don’t perform any function other than facilitating the passing of data. This means they are very inexpensive.

Lowering Cable Cost – Having a patch panel allows you to use shorter cables, which cost less than longer ones. Typically, you can also use inexpensive cat-5 cables to get to the patch panel rather than costly fiber optics.

Easier Maintenance – If you ever need to run a test cable, test a port, or perform any other common maintenance tasks, it can be done more quickly and is much easier than if each device had a cable run to its final destination.

Patch panels are one of the oldest types of technical equipment still popular today. They are quite simple in their design and function, but still, help to improve the organization and function of a data center or almost any other environment with lots of equipment.

Patch Panel Cable Management System

With dozens, or even hundreds, of cables coming into and out of a patch panel, it can be easy for things to become quite tangled and messy. Unorganized cables can make troubleshooting much more difficult, and can even lead to outages if someone unplugs the wrong cable. This is why it is critical to keep organization in mind from the first cable you plug in. There are many things that a person can do to help keep a patch panel organized, including:

Labeling Cables – All cables should be properly labeled at both ends, and in many cases, along the middle as well. Having labels on the cables will make it easy for technicians to confirm they are working on the right lines.

Patch Cable Organizers – Patch cable organizers allow you to run lines neatly and evenly to each port so you can see exactly where things are coming from and going to.

Color-Coded Cables – Using color-coded cables will allow you to quickly identify what type of cable is in each place.

Zip Ties – Using zip ties to bundle cables that are going to the same server rack or other location will help keep things looking neat and organized.

The most important thing when it comes to patch cable management is having a good plan right from the beginning. It is much easier to spend a little extra time coming up with a good way to run your cables than it is to try to untangle hundreds of wires down the road.

Optical fiber patch cords are widely used in data centers. In recent years, the demand for bandwidth in data center optical fiber transmission systems has shown a trend of high growth. Therefore, the use of a new generation of optical fibers and optical modules can continue to explore the potential of optical fiber network bandwidth growth. Because multi-mode fiber jumpers have great advantages in cost, they have an absolute advantage in data center applications.

Driven by the continuous application and promotion of network media in the cloud computing environment, multi-mode fiber optic patch cords are also constantly developing. From OM1 to OM2, and from OM3 to OM4, the VCSEL laser optimization technology used, and bandwidth requirements are constantly increasing. The introduction of the new category OM4 multi-mode patch cord fiber standard EIA/TIA492AAAD provides a better transmission method for the wide application of multi-mode fiber in the future. This article will provide an ideal communication solution for your data center, server, network switch, telecommunication switching center and many other embedded application systems that require high-speed data transmission.

In 40G/100G data transmission applications, the transmission port connection equipment, such as QSFP optical module, will be directly connected through MTP/MPO connectors regardless of the number of optical fiber connections used by the optical fiber channel, and regardless of the type of optical fiber connection. Because the 40G/100G data transmission application device and the channel connection between the device need to form a special mode, so that the channel of the transmitting end and the receiving end of the device correspond to each other, which requires the MTP/MPO connector to complete the connection.

MPO / MTP fiber optic patch cords can provide various applications for all networks and devices that require 100G modules. They adopt the MT series casing design of the high-density multi-mode fiber optic connector system industry, and the MPO/MTP fiber jumpers use UPC and APC polished end faces, and support both multi-mode and single-mode applications. With VCSEL laser and LED light source, 10G OM3/OM4 MPO/MTP fiber optic patch cords can provide 10Gbps data transmission rate in high bandwidth applications. They are 5 times faster than standard 50um fiber optic patch cords.

At the same time, multimode MPO / MTP fiber optic patch cords are also a more economical choice for most of the most common fiber optic communication systems. Single-mode MPO/MTP fiber jumpers are mainly used in long-distance data transmission systems. MPO/MTP backbone jumpers are specially designed for data center applications. Generally, single-mode and multi-mode MPO/MTP fiber jumpers are designed as round cables with an outer diameter of 3mm or 4.5mm. The connectors at both ends of the cable are also called MPO/MTP connectors.

At present, MPO/MTP high-density push-pull optical fiber jumpers are mainly used in three aspects: high-density cabling data centers, fiber to the home, and connection applications with optical splitters, 40G/100G QSFP+, SFP+ and other optical modules. Today, there are already a series of high-density parallel optical interconnection products that can adapt to the optical fiber transmission of modern data centers, such as custom MPO/MTP fiber jumpers, multi-mode fiber loopbacks and QSFP+ high-speed cable assemblies.

The development of server virtualization and cloud computing, as well as the development trend of network integration, has brought about the development of faster and more efficient data center networks. At present, the 10G switch composed of 48 10G channels is mainly limited to use SFP+ modules to realize the connection. In order to meet higher bandwidth requirements, users can use high-density QSFP+ high-speed cables to complete the connection, and increase the data transmission rate of each channel and increase the port density to meet the customer’s high bandwidth requirements.

The increasing demand for data transmission is driving the development of the entire optical communications market. Active optical cable AOC is a necessity for data transmission and can meet the needs of high-density and high-bandwidth applications. It has many advantages such as high transmission rate, long transmission distance, low energy consumption, and convenient use. It can help communication equipment enjoy the huge advantages of optical transmission. It is an ideal transmission cable for data centers, consumer electronics and other fields.

fiber-mart.com has been deeply involved in the field of multi-mode VCSEL optical modules and active optical cable AOC for many years. Among them, the data center AOC multi-mode product line has transitioned from the first generation of 10G/40G SR AOC to the mainstream application of 25G/100g SR AOC in the current market. Based on the purpose of market segmentation, Gigalight has defined and developed a series of differentiated 100G AOC products. Including standard SR4 AOC version, overclocking low-cost AOC lite version, eSR4 AOC version supporting 25GE zero error, eSR4+ AOC supporting dual rate, etc., which can provide customers with the best commercial choice.

The quasi-100G QSFP28 AOC SR4 standard version 100G QSFP28 AOC integrates four data channels in each direction with a bandwidth of 104 Gbps, which is used for short-distance multi-channel data communication and interconnection applications. Each channel uses OM4 to transmit a distance of 100 meters. The module uses a multimode optical fiber system with a nominal wavelength of 850nm. The electrical interface uses 38 contact edge type connectors, and the optical interface uses 12 optical fiber MTP (MPO) connectors. VCSEL laser is used to provide reliable long life, high performance and consistent service. At the same time, it can optionally support an industrial temperature range.

Overclocking low-cost AOC lite data center emphasizes low cost. Overclocking design is a technology developed in the past two years due to low-cost competition of 5G optical modules. The purpose is to design and match 10G optical components to work at 25G, thereby reducing the overall machine cost. Overclocking technology must meet the following preset conditions:

* Industry Agreement Standard

* General reliability standards

* Service life of the equipment

Active Optical Cable AOC’s transmission distance is relatively short, and the working environment is relatively good, which just provides a stage for AOC overclocking applications. Otherwise, 100G optical modules and 100G Active Optical Cable AOC are no different under cost measurement. Overclocking design can show the difference and application advantages of 100G AOC Active Optical Cable. However, under the above conditions, the overclocked optical module will be slightly inferior to the non-overclocked version (standard version) in function.