Difference Between Twisted Pair Cable and Coaxial Cable

A wire or cable is an indispensable element in communication system for connecting optical devices like optical transceivers, router and switch. Recently the most common cable types deployed in communication system are fiber optic cable, twisted pair cable and coaxial cable. Both twisted pair cable and coaxial cable are copper cables, so what’s the difference between them? This article may help you sort it out.

 

Twisted Pair

 

Twisted pair cables as the names implies, consists of a pair of cables twisted together, which has been utilized in telecommunication field for a long time. The twisting can avoid noise from outside sources and crosstalk on multi-pair cables, so this cable is best suited for carrying signals. Basically, twisted pair cable can be divided into two types: unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) and shielded twisted-pair (STP).

 

UTP is for UNshielded, twisted pair, while STP is for shielded, twisted pair. UTP is what’s typically installed by phone companies and data communication (though this is often not of high enough quality for high-speed network use) and is what 10BaseT Ethernet runs over. However, STP distinguishes itself from UTP in that it consists of a foil jacket which helps to prevent crosstalk and noise from outside source. It is typically used to eliminate inductive and capacitive coupling, so it can be applied between equipment, racks and buildings.

 

Coaxial Cables

 

Coaxial cable is composed of an inner solid conductor surrounded by a paralleled outer foil conductor that is protected by an insulating layer. A coaxial cable has over 80 times the transmission capability of the twisted-pair. Coaxial cable has also been the mainstay of high speed communication and has also been applied to network with 10 Gigabit links data centers, because it is proved to be cost efficient for short links within 10 m and for residential network.

 

Comparison Between Twisted Cable and Coaxial Cable

 

Most people now are quite familiar with what coaxial cables are, as they are used in almost every home for cable television connections. These data cables are also popular in local area networks (LAN) because they are highly resistant to signal interference, which also gives coax cables the ability to support longer cable lengths between two devices.

 

The biggest advantage of twisted cables is in installation, as it is often thinner than coaxial cables and two conductors are twisted together. However, because they are thinner, they can not support very long runs. These tightly twisted designs cost less than coaxial cables and provide high data transmission rates. They connect with the RJ45 connector, which looks similar to a telephone jack but is designed for twisted pair pins.

 

In the end, twisted pair cabling is better suited when cost and installation are an issue and if EMI and crosstalk are not too much of a problem. But for coaxial cable, it supports greater cable lengths, and can be shielded in a variety of ways—with a foil shield on each conductor, a foil or braid inside the jacket or a combination of individual conductor and jacket shielding.

 

Additional Information About Fiber Optic Cables

 

Besides Twisted and coaxial cables, here comes a new generation of transmission media—fiber jumper. Fiber optic cables have a much greater bandwidth than metal cables, which means they can carry more data. They are also less susceptible to interference. For these two reasons, fiber optic cables are increasingly being used instead of traditional copper cables despite that they are expensive. Nowadays, two types of fiber optic cables are widely adopted in the field of data transfer—single mode fiber optic cables and multimode fiber optic cables.

 

Single mode optical fiber is generally adapted to high speed, long-distance applications. While a multimode optical fiber is designed to carry multiple light rays, or modes at the same time, which is mostly used for communication over short distances. Optical fiber cables are also available in various optical connectors, such as LC to SC patch cord, LC to ST fiber cable, SC FC patch cord, etc. The picture above shows a LC to SC patch cord.

 

Conclusion

 

Some engineers confirm that fiber optic cables is sure to be the dominant transmission media in telecommunication field, while others hold that copper cables will not be out of the stage. Thus, whether to choose fiber optic cables, twisted cables or coaxial cables, it is advisable for you to have a full understanding of your application before selecting these data cables. All types of Ethernet cables as well as fiber optic cables are provided at fiber-mart.COM. Our Quick Order Tool will help you find what you need. If you have any requirement of our products, please send your request to us.

7 Key Benefits of Fiber Optic Connectivity

by Fiber-MART.COM

fiber-mart.com has been working to make high speed fiber Internet more accessible to the Central Coast since 2010. Today, the fiber-mart.com fiber optic network helps municipalities run smoothly, businesses experience better returns and communities grow.

 

As the range of fiber infrastructure grows, fiber connectivity becomes a more affordable and simpler upgrade to your business technology. Let’s take a look at  the seven key benefits and advantages when you upgrade to a fiber optic network.

 

 

 

1. Speed

Fast Internet speeds are important to business productivity, especially if your business depends on publishing and exchanging large data files or videos. These days fiber optic Internet is faster than the highest speed copper Internet connections. Fiber also provides users with much faster upload and download speeds (symmetric speed) than other types of connections so your data is sent much more quickly over fiber networks. Download our smart paper to learn more about symmetric speed.

 

2. Security

Fiber optic cables make the most secure connection for your data. Wireless and copper lines can be compromised. Since fiber networks don’t radiate signals, it’s nearly impossible to hack into or tap. Because security breaches can be costly - financially and to business integrity - using fiber optic networks and Internet connectivity increases security and protection against cyber attack.

 

3. Reliabilityfiberoptic-CTA.png

Uptime and data transmission are very consistent and constant with fiber lines and switches. This means fiber connectivity gives you the most reliable Internet service around. Fiber optic cables are made of glass (not the traditional copper), making it an extremely reliable conductor. What's the difference in fiber and copper Internet connections? Read our blog explaining whether Fiber Optics vs. Copper is better for your company.

 

Fiber optic networks are also more resistive to electromagnetic and radio-frequency interference, crosstalk, impedance and other problems such as temperature change and water damage.

 

4. Cost

Fiber cable cost has decreased significantly, and more and more is the best choice for new cable installation. This means the price of service over fiber has declined and should continue to do so. What is important, is that it has already become cheaper versus the alternatives in many scenarios. For higher bandwidth needs, or systems that are network response sensitive, the cost of connectivity over fiber is less that the alternative legacy TV or phone cable. And once fiber is connected, more options open up to moving services and applications to the cloud, providing cost-savings and scalability.

 

5. Fast Cloud Access

82 percent of business use the cloud in some way or another - data storage, business apps, site hosting, CRM tools. Fiber Internet is capable of giving you faster access to data and applications that you store in the cloud. This mean fewer delays for sales, customer service and communication with customers.

 

 

6. Consistent Signal

Fiber optic Internet signal strength stays consistent over distance while DSL or copper signals can degrade. Large businesses, organizations or building complexes are great candidates for strong and consistent Internet signal strength because of this.

 

7. Lower Processing Delay

Latency, or delays that happen while data is processing over any Internet connection, is another type of Internet speed issue. Latency is decreased significantly with fiber optic Internet connection than with other types of services. Generally, with fiber optic connectivity, businesses experience faster download and upload time (symmetric speed) with video (especially high definition content) and other large files with less latency; faster cloud access; and clearer voice quality for telephone services.

How my Fiber Optic Kevlar Cutter made me look like a hero to my wife

by Fiber-MART.COM

Okay, you’re asking “what’s the deal?” Let me tell you a true story and you can judge for yourself. It all started on my wife’s birthday when the kids sent their mother a bouquet of long stem roses. They were red and they were gorgeous, and I was equally impressed that the thorns were removed. So now the plan was to put these flowers into an appropriate vase for everyone to see, fill with just enough water and stir in one of those food packets to keep them fresh.

 

I always put the packets in and I always wonder whether they really do anything or if the florist just gives them to you to make it seem like he is doing you a favor. Does it work? Would the flowers last the same amount of time without the little packet? Your guess is as good as mine.

 

Now I go into the closet looking for the right size vase for the flowers, and you guessed it, long stem roses and the vases in my closet don’t match…time to cut the flowers. Well my wife grabs an old pair of scissors in the kitchen drawer and begins cutting the stems one at a time. Ever see a rose stem projectile? Ever see blisters on your hand using a dull kitchen scissor and stems hardened to RC 50?

 

 

Husband to the rescue! I reached into my tool box for my Jonard JIC-186 Ergonomic Fiber Optic Kevlar Cutter. The very same one all of you techs use to cut Kevlar, copper cables and various other fabrics and cables. You guessed it. These scissors were designed to cut just about anything, and they were prefect, and yes it was “my hero” time. The roses looked great, the stems were the perfect height, and my wife was a happy camper.

 

P.S. keep the blades clean and you will be in Kevlar cutter heaven for a very long time.

 

If you have your own special uses you would like to share – let us know. www.fiber-mart.com

How to Clean Fiber Optic Connector

by Fiber-MART.COM

To keep the proper operation of the equipment, regular cleaning and maintenance is fundamental. Fiber optic connector as an indispensable component of optical network, is typically connected with a fiber jumper, then plugs into a switch or router. Telecommunication experts study that cleaning fiber optic connector is one of the most important preventative maintenance procedures to avoid premature failure of the system. Typically a micrometer dust particle is too small to be found but it can block up to one percent of the light and cause signal loss. That’s why it is so important to learn how to clean fiber optic connector. The following article will provide some detailed information about the procedures for cleaning fiber optic connector.

 

Preparation for the Cleaning Process

 

Always inspect your connectors or adapters before you begin the cleaning process.

Use the connector housing to plug or unplug a fiber.

Turn off any laser sources before you inspect and clean fiber connectors.

Disconnect the cables at both ends and remove the pluggable receiver from the chassis.

Store unused protective caps in a resealable container to prevent any transfer of dust to the fiber.

Discard any used tissues or swabs.

Fiber Optic Connector Cleaning Procedure

 

Step 1: Inspect the fiber optic connector, component, or bulkhead with a fiberscope.

 

Step 2: If the connector is dirty, clean it with a dry cleaning technique.

 

cleaning tool

 

Dry cleaning: Using a reel-based cassette cleaner (see the picture below) with medium pressure, wipe the connector end face against a dry cleaning cloth (single swipe per exposure) in one direction. For angled physical contact (APC) polished connectors, ensure that the entire end face surface mates with the cleaning cloth. Dry cleaning will generally remove airborne contamination and should be attempted first. Inspect the connector end face for contamination after cleaning.

 

Step 3: Inspect the connector.

 

Step 4: If the connector is still dirty, repeat the dry cleaning technique.

 

Step 5: Inspect the connector.

 

Step 6: If the connector is still dirty, clean it with a wet cleaning technique followed immediately with a dry cleaning in order to ensure no residue is left on the end face.

 

Wet cleaning: Lightly moisten a portion of a lint free wipe with fiber optic cleaning solution (or > 91% Isopropyl Alcohol) and applying medium pressure, first wipe the end face against the wet area and then onto a dry area to clean potential residue from the end face. For APC polished connectors, ensure that the entire end face surface mates with the cleaning wipes. Wet cleaning is more aggressive than dry cleaning, and will remove airborne contamination as well as light oil residue and films.

 

Step 7: Inspect the connector again.

 

Step 8: If the contaminate still cannot be removed, repeat the cleaning procedure until the end face is clean.

 

Note: Never use alcohol or wet cleaning without a way to ensure that it does not leave residue on the end face. Or it will cause equipment damage. The following images shows how to use fiber optic cleaner, just three steps will help you out.

 

cleaning fiber optic connector step one

 

cleaning fiber optic connector step two

 

cleaning fiber optic connector step three

 

Avoid These Common Mistakes

 

Do not use a cleaning process that will leave a residue on the end-face. Alcohol or wet cleaning processes are the most common procedures that will leave residue on the surface of the devices.

Do not touch the products without being properly grounded.

Do not connect the end face of the fiber connectors.

Do not twist or pull on the fiber cable forcefully.

Do not connect fiber to a fiberscope while system lasers are still on.

Do not touch the cleaned area with a swab, tissue, or cleaning fabric.

Do not reuse any tissues or swabs.

Do not touch a portion of the tissue or swab.

Do not use alcohol around an open flame or spark.

Extend the Life of Your Fiber Optic Connectors With Proper Cleaning Methods

Always extend the life of your fiber optic connectors by using one of these popular cleaning methods. They are safe to use and will prevent premature failure of your devices. Follow the instructions for more stability in your systems.

Summary

 

The following context has briefly introduced the procedures of cleaning fiber optic connectors. Note that if you are not sure how to proceed this, you’d better ask an expert for help. Besides this, choose the suitable cleaning tools would also be significant. Fiberstore has various fiber optic cleaning tools, such as pen cleaner, cassette cleaner, etc. All of these cleaning tools are provided with high quality and reasonable price. Moreover, we also supply a full range of fiber optic cables like LC to ST fiber cable, SC fiber cable, SC FC patch cord, etc. If you have any requirement of our products, please send your request to us.

Difference Between Twisted Pair Cable and Coaxial Cable

by Fiber-MART.COM

A wire or cable is an indispensable element in communication system for connecting optical devices like optical transceivers, router and switch. Recently the most common cable types deployed in communication system are fiber optic cable, twisted pair cable and coaxial cable. Both twisted pair cable and coaxial cable are copper cables, so what’s the difference between them? This article may help you sort it out.

 

Twisted Pair

 

Twisted pair cables as the names implies, consists of a pair of cables twisted together, which has been utilized in telecommunication field for a long time. The twisting can avoid noise from outside sources and crosstalk on multi-pair cables, so this cable is best suited for carrying signals. Basically, twisted pair cable can be divided into two types: unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) and shielded twisted-pair (STP).

 

twisted-pair

 

UTP is for UNshielded, twisted pair, while STP is for shielded, twisted pair. UTP is what's typically installed by phone companies and data communication (though this is often not of high enough quality for high-speed network use) and is what 10BaseT Ethernet runs over. However, STP distinguishes itself from UTP in that it consists of a foil jacket which helps to prevent crosstalk and noise from outside source. It is typically used to eliminate inductive and capacitive coupling, so it can be applied between equipment, racks and buildings.

 

Coaxial Cables

 

Coaxial cable is composed of an inner solid conductor surrounded by a paralleled outer foil conductor that is protected by an insulating layer. A coaxial cable has over 80 times the transmission capability of the twisted-pair. Coaxial cable has also been the mainstay of high speed communication and has also been applied to network with 10 Gigabit links data centers, because it is proved to be cost efficient for short links within 10 m and for residential network.

 

coax cable

 

Comparison Between Twisted Cable and Coaxial Cable

 

Most people now are quite familiar with what coaxial cables are, as they are used in almost every home for cable television connections. These data cables are also popular in local area networks (LAN) because they are highly resistant to signal interference, which also gives coax cables the ability to support longer cable lengths between two devices.

 

The biggest advantage of twisted cables is in installation, as it is often thinner than coaxial cables and two conductors are twisted together. However, because they are thinner, they can not support very long runs. These tightly twisted designs cost less than coaxial cables and provide high data transmission rates. They connect with the RJ45 connector, which looks similar to a telephone jack but is designed for twisted pair pins.

 

In the end, twisted pair cabling is better suited when cost and installation are an issue and if EMI and crosstalk are not too much of a problem. But for coaxial cable, it supports greater cable lengths, and can be shielded in a variety of ways—with a foil shield on each conductor, a foil or braid inside the jacket or a combination of individual conductor and jacket shielding.

 

Additional Information About Fiber Optic Cables

 

Besides Twisted and coaxial cables, here comes a new generation of transmission media—fiber jumper. Fiber optic cables have a much greater bandwidth than metal cables, which means they can carry more data. They are also less susceptible to interference. For these two reasons, fiber optic cables are increasingly being used instead of traditional copper cables despite that they are expensive. Nowadays, two types of fiber optic cables are widely adopted in the field of data transfer—single mode fiber optic cables and multimode fiber optic cables.

 

LC-SC fiber patch cable

 

Single mode optical fiber is generally adapted to high speed, long-distance applications. While a multimode optical fiber is designed to carry multiple light rays, or modes at the same time, which is mostly used for communication over short distances. Optical fiber cables are also available in various optical connectors, such as LC to SC patch cord, LC to ST fiber cable, SC FC patch cord, etc. The picture above shows a LC to SC patch cord.

 

Conclusion

 

Some engineers confirm that fiber optic cables is sure to be the dominant transmission media in telecommunication field, while others hold that copper cables will not be out of the stage. Thus, whether to choose fiber optic cables, twisted cables or coaxial cables, it is advisable for you to have a full understanding of your application before selecting these data cables. All types of Ethernet cables as well as fiber optic cables are provided at fiber-mart.COM.

10G Connectivity – Comparing XFP With SFP+

by Fiber-MART.COM

Defined in 2002, XFP (10 Gigabit Small Form Factor Pluggable) is a hot-swappable and protocol-independent transceiver for 10G high-speed computer network and telecommunication links. Except for XFP, there are SFP and SFP+ transceivers available for 10G connectivity. These devices plug into a special port on a switch or other network device to convert to a copper or fiber interface. So what is the difference between them? The following passage will provide a satisfying solution to you.

 

What Is XFP?

XFP is 10 Gigabit transceiver operating at wavelengths of 850nm, 1310nm or 1550nm. This module combine transmitter and receiver functions in one compact, flexible, and cost-effective package. The physical dimensions of the XFP transceiver are slightly larger than the original small form-factor pluggable transceiver (SFP). XFP transceiver modules are available with a variety of transmitter and receiver types including the SR, LR, ER and ZR. The maximum working distance of XFP SR is 300 meters. 10GBASE-LR XFP transceivers have a wavelength of 1310nm and a transmission distance up to 10 km. For example, XFP-10G-L-OC192-SR1 covers a distance of 10km with LC connectors. XFP-10GLR-OC192SR is Cisco XFP 10GBASE-LR/-LW operating at wavelength of 1310nm over singlemode fiber with a links length of 10km. Both 10GBASE-ER XFP and 10GBASE-ZR XFP modules have a wavelength of 1550nm, and the maximum transmission distance of 40km and 80km, respectively.

 

What Is SFP/SFP+?

SFP is most often used for Fast Ethernet of Gigabit Ethernet applications and can support speed up to 4.25Gbps. It interfaces a network device motherboard (for a switch, router, media converter or similar device) to a fiber optic or copper networking cable. It is specified by the SFP transceiver multi-source agreement. The standard SFP transceiver, SFP+ supports speeds of 10Gbps or higher over fiber. The SFP+ product family includes cages, connectors, and copper cable assemblies. It is also similar to the performance requirements of SFF-8431 and also supports 8G Fiber Channel and 10G Ethernet applications. Take 46C3447 as an example, it is 10GBASE-SR SFP+ that can support a distance of 300m over OM3 cable.

 

What’s the Difference Between XFP and SFP+?

First of all, both of them are 10G transceiver modules and can contact with other types of 10G modules. The primary difference between SFP+ and the slightly older XFP standard is that the SFP+ moves the chip for clock and data recovery into a line card on the host device. This makes SFP+ smaller than XFP, enabling greater port density. Because of the smaller volume, SFP+ transfer signal modulation function, serial/deserializer, the MAC, clock and data recovery (CDR) and electronic dispersion compensation (EDC) function from the module to the Lord on the card. In addition, SFP+ compared to XFP, is a more compact factor package. The cost of SFP+ is also less than that to the XFP, X2 and XENPAK. It can connect with the same type of XFP, X2 and XENPAK as well. Therefore, SFP+ is more popular than XFP for 10G network.

 

Summary

10G optical transceivers are designed for 10G or 10Gbit/s data transmission applications including 10 Gigabit Ethernet, 10Gbit/s Fibre Channel, Synchronous optical networking. After years of development, there has been various different form factors and optics types introduced including XENPAK, X2, XFP and SFP+. But up to now, SFP+ is the most commonly used 10G transceivers available on the market. Fiberstore provides a large selection of 10G transceivers with minimum price and high quality. If you have any requirement of our products, please contact us directly.

How to Use Field Assembly Connector?

by Fiber-MART.COM

The expansion of FTTH application has brought prosperity to the manufacturing of field assembly connectors for fast field termination. This type of connector gains its popularity due to the applicability to cable wiring and compact bodies which are easily stored in optical fiber housings. With excellent features of stability and low loss, field assembly connector has now become a reliable and durable solution for fiber optic systems. However, do you really know the field assembly process of the connector? This article provides an easy guide to show you the way of using field assembly connector.

 

Introduction to Field Assembly Connector

Before getting to know the instruction process, let’s have a look at the basic knowledge about field assembly connector. Field assembly connector or fast connector is an innovative field installable optical fiber connector designed for simple and fast field termination of single fibers. Without using additional assembling tools, field assembly connector can be quickly and easily connected to the drop cable and indoor cable, which saves a lot of required termination time. It is specially designed with the patented mechanical splice body that includes a factory-mounted fiber stub and a pre-polished ceramic ferrule. Field assembly connector is usually available for 250 µm, 900 µm, 2.0 mm and 3.0 mm diameter single-mode and multimode fiber types. The whole installation process only takes about 2 minutes which greatly improves the working efficiency.

 

Internal Structure of Field Assembly Connector

From the following figure, we can see the specific internal structure of field assembly connector. The ferrule end face of the connector is pre-polished in a factory for later connection with the fiber. A mechanical splice is also formed at the end of the ferrule for mechanical fixation of optical fiber. The mechanical splice consists two plates, one with a V groove, another with flat surface above the V groove, and a clamp for the insertion of the two plates. When inserting the fiber, a wedge clip will keep the V groove open for easier installation. After the fiber insertion, the wedge clip can be extracted from the V groove.

 

Features and Applications

Key Features

Field-installable, cost-effective, user-friendly

No requirement for epoxy and polishing

Quick and easy fiber termination in the field

No need for fusion splicer, power source and tool for pressure

Visual indication of proper termination

Applications

Fiber optic telecommunication

Fiber distribution frame

FTTH outlets

Optical cable interconnection

Cable television

Field Assembly Instruction Guide

Although it is an simple way to use field assembly connector, the right operation process is also important. Here will introduce some basic steps for connector installation.

 

Step 1, prepare the field assembly connector parts and related tools required during the process. There is no need for special tools, but fiber cleaver and jacket stripper are still necessary.

 

Step 2, insert the connector boot into the fiber cable.

 

Step 3, cut and reserve 10mm bare fiber by fiber cleaver and then make sure the total fiber length of 30 mm.

 

Step 4, insert the fiber from bottom until the stopper and make fiber present micro bend.

 

Step 5, press the press cover to tight the bare fiber.

 

Step 6, lock the boot with yarn.

 

Step 7, cut the yarn.

 

Step 8, screw the boot and put on housing to complete assembly.

 

Precautions

Here are some precautions for you to notice during the process:

 

Point 1, the product is sensitive to dirt and dust. Keeping it away from any possible contamination is necessary.

 

Point 2, the performance will be influenced by the fiber cutting surface condition. Use a cutter with a sharp blade for the best results.

 

Point 3, insert the fiber into the connector slowly. If the fiber is roughly inserted, it might be damaged or broken, leading to failure of connector installation. Broken fiber could scatter in all directions.

 

Point 4, do not remove the dust cap until the connector has been completely assembled in order not to cause a high insertion loss.

 

Point 5, a proper amount of index matching gel is applied in the connector. Do not insert fiber more than once into connector.

 

Conclusion

Fiber assembly connector enables quick termination to improve reliable and high connector performance in FTTH wiring and LAN cabling systems. All the above solutions provided by fiber-mart.COM are available to meet your requirements. Please visit the website for more information.

The advantages of Cisco CWDM/DWDM solutions

The Cisco CWDM solutions are built on the Gigabit Interface Converter (GBIC) technology to support the gigabit Ethernet services. The Cisco CWDM GBIC products can be inserted into the Cisco switches and routers.

The Cisco DWDM products are based on the wireless fiber media converter. And these Cisco DWDM products support many services such as the gigabit Ethernet, Fibre Channel, OC-x, ESCON/FICON and the DSx service. The Cisco DWDM products also can be connected to the Cisco switches and routers.

 If you think that the Cisco products, such as, fiber optic transceivers, are very expensive. You come to the right place. We provide CWDM GBIC transceivers, DWDM GBIC modules, SFP+ modules, X2 modules and other fiber optic modules with the high performance and the lower price. And these products are all compatible with Cisco and other brands’ equipment.

QSFP-40G-SR4 VS. QSFP-40G-UNIV

QSFP-40G-SR4 VS. QSFP-40G-UNIV

by Fiber-MART.COM

Due to the ever-increasing requirement for higher speed transmission, 40G Ethernet is introduced to networking world, and it will gradually dominates the market. Many vendors have released different kinds of devices to support 40GbE, among which 40G QSFP+ module is the most popular and available for short distance or long distance data transmission. There are two variants short distance QSFP+ modules: QSFP-40G-SR4, and QSFP-40G-UNIV, what are the differences among these two types? This passage will tell you and give more information.

Differences in Interfaces and Transmission Media

Commonly, for QSFP+ modules, there are mainly two connector interfaces: MPO/MTP and duplex LC(Note: LC interfaced QSFP+ uses serial transmission, while MPO/MTP interfaced QSFP+ uses parallel transmission. In serial transmission, bits are sent simultaneously on different channels within the same cable, and in parallel transmission, bits are sent sequentially on the same channel). QSFP-40G-SR4 uses MPO/MTP to achieve data transmission over multimode fiber. However, in order to avoid wasting cost and deployment time when installing in different cabling structure, duplex LC interfaced QSFP-40G-UNIV is designed to be used in both single-mode and multimode links without adding any hardware or software.

 

Differences in Working Principle

For MPO/MTP interfaced 40GBase-SR4, it offers 4 independent full-duplex transmit and receive channels, each capable of running up to 10G data rates per channel, achieving the total 40G data rates. These modules are often used with 12-fiber MTP trunk cable, four transmitting and four receiving, leaving the middle four unused. For duplex LC interfaced 40GBase-UNIV, it also uses four transmitters and four receivers but has built in optical multiplexing and de-multiplexing, which results in a duplex connector and hence operates over the same duplex fiber infrastructure as 10GBASE-SR.

 

Differences in Transmission Distance

40GBase-SR4 module can support link lengths of 100 meters and 150 meters, respectively, on laser-optimized mutimode fibers, and it can also be used in a 4x10G mode interoperability with 10GBase-SR interfaces up to 100 and 150 meters on OM3 and OM4 fibers, respectively. 40GBase-UNIV can support the same transmission distance over OM3 and OM4 fibers, but it can also achieve link lengths of up to 500 meters over single-mode fiber.

 

Differences in Cost Consumption

40GBase-UNIV is much more expensive than 40GBase-SR4. Take FIBER-MART.COM for example, 40GBase-UNIV is $340, while 40GBase-SR4 is $55. Besides the price of the unit itself, we should also take the whole deployment cost consumption into consideration. Migrating from 10G to 40G is inevitable. The existing 10G network uses two fibers for dual transmission. But most 40G network uses 12-fiber MTP based fiber optic cable for dual-way transmission over multimode fibers, which means if we use 40GBase-SR4 with MTP port for 10G to 40G migration, more optical fibers will be added and the cabling infrastructure will be changed. However, with 40GBase-UNIV module, it can support the same or longer transmission distance as the 40GBase-SR4 does, but it uses two strands of dual-way transmission like most 10G network, which will keep the existing 10G network when upgrade to 40G, greatly saving cost and time.

Conclusion

We have introduced QSFP-40G-SR4 and QSFP-40G-UNIV modules for short distances transmission. These two module types have different features. Choosing which one totally depends on your practical applications and budgets. FIBER-MART.COM has plenty of QSFP-40G-SR4 and QSFP-40G-UNIV optics in stock. For more information, please check FIBER-MART.COM.