Tag: optical transceiver

Main parameters of the optical modules

1. Transmission rate

The transmission rate refers to the number of bits transmitted per second in units of Mb/s or Gb/s. Main rates: 100M, Gigabit, 2.5G, 4.25G and 10G, 25G, 40G, 56G, 100G, 120G, etc.

Therefore, based on different data rate, our optical transceiver modules arrange 100M, 1G/2G/4G SFP module, 10G SFP+/XFP, 16G SFP+, 25G SFP28, 40G QSFP+, 56G QSFP+, 100G CFP/CFP2/CFP4/QSFP28 Module.

2. Transmission distance

The transmission distance of the optical module is divided into short distance, medium distance and long distance. It is generally considered that a short distance is 2 km or less, a medium distance of 10 to 20 km, and a long distance of 30 km, 40 km or more.

■ The transmission distance of the optical module is limited, mainly because the optical signal has a certain loss and dispersion when transmitted in the optical fiber.

note:

• Loss is the loss of light energy due to absorption and scattering of the medium and leakage of light as it travels through the fiber. This energy is dissipated at a certain rate as the transmission distance increases.

• Dispersion is mainly caused by the unequal speed of electromagnetic waves of different wavelengths propagating in the same medium, which causes different wavelength components of the optical signal to reach the receiving end at different times due to the accumulation of transmission distance, resulting in pulse broadening and thus inability to distinguish Signal value.

• Therefore, users need to select the appropriate optical module according to their actual networking conditions to meet different transmission distance requirements.

3. Center wavelength

• The center wavelength refers to the optical band used for optical signal transmission. Currently, there are three main types of optical wavelengths commonly used in optical modules: the 850 nm band, the 1310 nm band, and the 1550 nm band.

• 850nm band: mostly used for short distance transmission of ≤2km

• 1310nm and 1550nm bands: mostly used for medium and long distance transmission, more than 2km transmission.

In addition, users also need to confirm which brand of their equipment, which will decide the compatiblity of the SFP transceiver modules.

What is an XFP transceiver?

XFP transceiver (photoelectric converter) is only used for photoelectric signal conversion, and protocol converter used to convert a protocol to another XFP transceiver is a physical layer device, is the fiber optic broadband into twisted pair device , There are 10/100 / 1000M conversion. Protocol converter there are many, most of which is basically a two-tier equipment, often encountered a RAD protocol converter is 2M E1 line into V.35 data lines connected to the router equipment, of course, 2M turn Twisted pair Ethernet, with 2M communication lines can be achieved within the scope of remote access and expansion. These two kinds of equipment on its maintenance is not much, as long as not burned generally not bad.

What is the Optical transceiver?

Optical transmitters and off receivers, optical transmitters are receiving electrical signals that are converted into optical signals transmitted in fiber access, while optical receivers. Network video server is to accept the analog audio and video signals, can be a direct signal from the camera and monitor head, after digital compression coding, popular MPEG-4, the network transmission of special equipment, video servers are generally equipped with Ethernet RJ- 45 interface and fiber FC interface, but also with SCSi interface external hard drive for front-end storage, he is commonly used in remote network monitoring system, the most equipment. Digital optical function is to transfer the image, voice and data signals to be digitized, and then these digital signals are multiplexed, the multi-channel low-speed digital signal into a high-speed signal, and this signal is converted to light signal. The optical signal is reduced to the electrical signal at the receiving end, the restored high-speed signal decomposes the original multi-channel low-speed signal, and finally the data signal is reduced to the image, the voice and the data signal.

The difference between XFP transceivers and optical transceivers

XFP transceiver and optical transceiver are the same place to be photoelectric conversion; and they are different is that the XFP transceiver is mainly transmission network, only photoelectric conversion, does not change the code, not the data for other processing, the transceiver is for Ethernet For example, run 802.3 protocol, only for point-to-point connection. In addition to the photoelectric conversion work, but also on the data signal reuse and demultiplexing, a core transmission video, 485/422 / audio / light volume / network, etc., usually out of the multi-E1 line. XFP transceiver applications such as banking, education and other networking. The SDH, PDH optical transceiver is mainly used for telecom operators, to provide many pairs of point to the point of the data circuit; Video Optical is mainly used for security monitoring, distance education, video conferencing and other video transmission requirements of relatively high real- Can transmit control, switch, voice, Ethernet and other signals to meet the needs of multi-service applications, so we sometimes call it Integrated Optical.

In the optical communications field, many devices have similar functions, such as optical transceivers and media converter, they are the equipment for photoelectric conversion. Do you know their differences?Let’s learn about this.

What is media converter?

Optical media converter is a medium for converting short distance electrical signals and long distance optical signals. It is also called photoelectric converter in many places and is generally used in long distance transmission. Optical transceiver is a cost-effective solution, it does not require a lot of manpower, material resources and time to complete the network upgrade.

What is optical transceiver?

The optical module consists of optoelectronic devices, functional circuits and optical interfaces, optoelectronic devices include transmitting and receiving. Simply speaking, the function of an optical module is photoelectric conversion. The transmitter converts an electrical signal into an optical signal and the receiving end converts the optical signal into an electrical signal after transmitting through an optical fiber. The principle is the same as the media converter, but it is more efficient and safer than the media converter.

According to the definition of optical module, as long as there is optical signal, there will be the application of optical module.

How can the optical module be used in conjunction with the media converter?

The wavelength and transmission distance must be the same, for example, using 1310nm wavelength, the transmission distance should be 10KM/20KM.

Optical fiber pigtail interface selection should be paid attention, used in generally media converter uses SC port, optical module uses LC port.

The data rate must be the same, Gigabit media converter corresponding to 1.25G optical module, megabit connect megabit, gigabit connect gigabit.

The optical module types must be the same.

In recent years, with the growing demand for reliable and high-speed mobile communication, optical transceivers are progressively being used for the communication network setup. In addition, the rising deployment of 100G transceivers forhigh-speed networks is one of the prime factors contributing to high demand for optical transceivers. As per a recent researchstudy titled “Global 100G Optical Transceivers Market,” owing to some various prime factors, the global market is anticipatedto grow at a strong rate by the end of 2021. This latest study has been lately broadcasted to the wide database of Market Research Hub (MRH), which offers athorough analysis of the global market, together with analysis of market size by value, volume, growth, segments etc.

For Ethernet systems, optical transceivers serve a necessary role in conveying information across communication channels andbecame a preferred choice because they offer higher bandwidth over long distance; and most importantly provides data security.

An optical transceiver completes the operation of transmission by converting the electrical signal in light pulse and vice versa at the receiving end through the use of optical fibers.

In the initial section, the report introduces the overview of 100G optical transceivers and analyzes the market by value anddifferent segments. Nowadays, the optical transceivers are available at different rates such as 10G, 40G and 100G. As standards transform, so does the technology that utilizes these standards, creating for faster, smaller transceivers for networks to utilize

in sending information. Among these, optical transceivers operating on 100G offer the most effective data transmission.

Moreover, the global market can be segmented on the basis of form factor, technical application and network reach.On the basis of technical application, it has been categorized into data communication and telecommunication. On the basis of end-use, it covers Long haul, Metro, Inter-data center.

At present market, the 100G optical transceiver module on the basis of form factor include CXP, CFP, XFP, SFF, SFP and QSFP. Among them, QSFP demonstrates its great superiority and will lead to denser optics and further price reductions.

Moving further, competitive landscape section is represented. In this section, different companies in the global 100G optical transceivers market have been compared according to their revenue and market capitalization. Additionally, the report also provides business overview, financial overview and the business strategies of the companies.

With the development of China’s 5G network and the improvement of China’s domestic optical module manufacturers’ research and development capabilities and production capacity.This trend greatly increases the cost advantage of Chinese optical module products, making China the optical modules significantly enhance the competitiveness of enterprises.It also stimulated foreign communication equipment manufacturers to increase the procurement of optical module products in China.At the same time, foreign communication equipment manufacturers have gradually shifted their production and R&D bases to China in recent years due to factors such as labor.This behavior has driven the demand for China’s optical module market. So in this case, what is the trend of optical modules in 2020?

1. The construction of 5G network promotes the increasing demand for optical modules

5G network as a fifth generation mobile communication network, the theoretical peak speeds of up to tens of Gb per second, compared with the mainstream at this stage the highest transmission speed of 4G networks hundreds of times faster.In addition, the explosion of data traffic and accelerated deployment of 5G and Internet of Things will further drive the demand for high-speed optical modules, and the demand for optical modules as a core component is huge. All of this means that we need more optical module components to build the network infrastructure.

2. The rise of the data market drives the demand for high-speed optical modules.

At present, the platform using cloud technology will be mature enough, such as AI, video, online games, Internet of Things, mobile Internet and other technologies will continue to drive the demand for IDC infrastructure.Third-party IDC operators are expected to usher in a fast growth cycle. That means the rise of large data centers.And in the flow between very large data centers, the traditional operator demand can not meet this demand at 25T. This will take advantage of the 960T of the Internet enterprise. This data is about 40 times that of the former. It can maximize efficiency and handle the huge computing needs of enterprises.

Therefore, high-speed optical modules will become more and more popular, especially 40G and 100G optica transcievers, which will be widely used in the future.

3. The construction of the data center will bring explosive demand for optical modules and switches.

According to the data, the optical module market maintains a high growth rate, in which 100G optical modules contribute more than 60% of revenue.

Samples of 400G products have been exhibited, and QSFP-DD is expected to become a mainstream product. It is expected that there will be small-scale production in the world this year and large-scale application by 2022.

The word we now often refer to optical module is transceiver. It is a compound of transmitter and receiver, which is a smart combine. Because it vividly expresses the key function of the device, transmitting and receiving signal. Therefore, a transceiver is basically a transmitter and receiver in a small package and serves as an important sub system in fiber optic communication networks.

Structure and Operational Principle

There are several key components in a common transceiver. It’s TOSA, ROSA, laser driver chip, limiting amplifier chip and PCB. This components usually hides in a small package with one or two fiber optic connector at one hand including a release latch and an electrical PCB edge connector at the other. The TOSA(Transmitter Optical Sub-assembly) consists of a laser diode, optical interface, monitor photodiode, metal housing, and electrical interface. The ROSA (Receiver Optical Sub-assembly) consists of a photodiode, optical interface, metal housing, and electrical interface.

Look at how a common transceiver works. First, the electrical signal imported through PCB (Printed Circuit Board) from a motherboard is converted into the optical signal with the help of a laser diode and laser driver chip, and through TOSA the optical signal couples into an optical fiber cable. Meanwhile, the optical signal received through optical interface is converted by ROSA into the electrical signal, then exports by limiting amplifier to the motherboard over the PCB edge connector.

Short Story of Development

It probably not be over 30 years after the first transceiver was invented, but this tiny device has experienced updating every few years, which has taken many experts’ heart and soul. Generally speaking, the pace of technology progress always faster than we can imagine. But as for transceiver, no matter how far and how deep it will go and develop, the tendency of transceiver’s evolution always focus on data speed enhancing, miniaturization, longer distance, compaction, cost-effectiveness, lower dissipation and hot-plugging. In the following chart of different generation of transceivers, you may find how transceiver develop and update over the years.

Application

As an important sub system of communication network industry, transceivers can found where high speed computer network and high-bandwidth data communications need, such as base stations, servers, data centers and so on. Specifically, Ethernet switches, routers, firewalls and network interface cards, fiber converter are most application scenarios.

Standardization

No matter old GBIC or the latest QSFP-DD, they are ‘standardized’ by multi-source agreements(MSA). It is an agreement between multiple manufacturers to make products which are compatible across vendors. This is a very important agreement for many transceiver market participator. Besides strictly defining the operating characteristic of transceivers that compliant vendor can make produce, most importantly, it establishes a competitive market for interoperable products, allowing third party vendor participating in the market. Thus, transceivers may be purchased from any of the multiple sources in the open market, just like 10Gtek.