Everything You Need to Know About Fiber Optics Cable

by Fiber-MART.COM

In the recent years, fiber optics is steadily replacing copper wires. It is a better and apt means of transmitting communication signals. Today, fiber optics cable span across long distances between local phone systems. In addition, it also serves as the backbone for many networking systems including:

 

Cable TV services

University campus

Office buildings

Industrial plants

Electric utility companies

Internet connectivity

Stereo systems

Telephone systems

 

Fiber Optics Cable use pulses of light to transfer data using the event of total internal reflection. The cable has a coating of plastic. This protects the cable from exposure to heat, cold, and other weather atrocities. It also protects the cable from electromagnetic interference and ultraviolet rays of sun. These cables are the most reliable and fastest data transfer cables on the planet.

 

A fiber optics cable system is very similar to the metal wire system. The fiber optics is replacing the metal and copper wire system. The basic difference is that fiber optics uses light to transmit data; whereas metal wires do not. It sends the data down the fiber lines instead of using electronic pulses for transmitting data like in the metal wires.

 

Fiber Optics Cables serve the purpose of connecting and transferring data across continents. They are fast and they can carry large capacity. The signals have higher strength and need least maintenance.

 

Types Of Fiber Optics Cables

There are three types of fiber optic cable commonly in use. They are single mode, multimode, and plastic optical fiber or photonic fiber. Transparent glass or plastic fiber allows the guiding of light from one end to the other with minimal loss is the most efficient.

 

Single Mode

In a single mode fiber, the core diameter reduces to few wavelengths of the incoming light. For a beam with 0.55 μm of wavelength, the core diameter must be of the order of 4.5 μm.

 

Under this situation, the core is so small that only the primary mode can travel inside the fiber. Given the wave broadcast of the light inside the cavity, there is no other way for the light to take longer optical paths.

 

Multimode

In this fiber, the core diameter is much greater than the wavelength of the transmitted light. The transmission of number of modes is simultaneous. The possible ways in which, light travels inside the fiber is relative to the fiber modes. The primary mode travels parallel to the axis of the fiber. Therefore, it takes the minimum time to reach the end of the fiber.

 

When an incoming beam enters with an angle relative to the fiber axis, the light follows a longer path. Thus, it takes a little longer to reach the end. When you increase the core diameter, you can increase the transmission of number of modes.

 

Photonic Fibers

In photonic fibers, the number of cavities around the core guides the transmission of light. The core may be present in a glass or even an air cavity! These are new fiber optic cables available in the market. For the moment, their performances are still under the observation for astronomical applications.

 

Fiber Optics Cable Connectors

Fiber optics cable connectors make flexible connections possible. Fiber optics cable connectors are generally in use where flexibility is in need. Fiber optics cable connectors are also a necessity at termination points when an optical signal routes.

 

Polish And Epoxy Connectors

Polish and Epoxy style connectors were originally in use for termination. These are still under very high rate of extensive installation. These connectors offer a wide range of choices including SC, ST, LC, FC, SMA, D4, MT-RJ, and MU. Some of their advantages are present in the list below:

 

Sturdiness - skill to bear higher levels of environmental and mechanical stress

 

Cable size - Usability with cables of varying diameters, from big to small

 

Multiple Connectors - Can handle single and multiple cables (up to 24) in a single connector

 

Polish And No-Epoxy Or Pre-Loaded Epoxy Connectors

The main advantage of these connectors is that they are easy to install. This translates to lower skill levels in need to handle them. These connectors can have further division as follows:

 

Connectors without epoxy

Connectors with preloaded epoxy

The fiber has stabilization by an internal crimp mechanism and these connectors are available in SC, ST, and FC styles.

 

No Polish And No-Epoxy

Simple design and low cost are the hallmarks of these connectors. The result of training and installation is a higher cost reduction. Moreover, this also enables fast restorations. They are available in SC, ST, LC, FC, and MT-RJ connector styles.

 

Numerous connectors, both standard and proprietary, are in use in the field of telecommunication equipment, data lines, television, cable, and other industrial fields. The connectors described in this text are the ones that are under extensive use in the past. Many are still under use this very day.

Global Optical Transceiver Market: Striding to 200G and 400G

by Fiber-MART.COM

The demand for higher Ethernet speed, couple with the prevalence of Cloud computing, Internet of Things and virtual data center, has driven the prosperity of optical transceiver market. Optical transceivers, direct attach cables (DACs) and active optical cables (AOCs) have evolved dramatically to catch leading edge broadband network capacity. The past decades have witnessed massive adoption of optical transceivers with data rates ranging from 1G, 10/25G to 40/100G, while higher-speed 200G or even data center 400G is just on the horizon. The sales of optical components grows steadily and is expected to continue in the years to come.

 

10G, 25G, 40G and 100G: Seeing Broad Adoption in Data Center 

As network gets faster and virtualization gradually becomes the norm, data center is undergoing a major transformation. The trend emerges in the industry signifies a migration toward higher speed transceivers and better service. These high-bandwidth transceivers are driving revenue growth which suggests a strong market. The global optical transceiver market is anticipated to reach to $9.9 billion by 2020, driven by the widespread use of 10/25 Gbps, 40 Gbps and 100 Gbps, and with the biggest sales forecasted for 25G and 100G ports. The imminent 200 Gbps and 400 Gbps optical transceivers also poise to hold a fraction of the market share.

 

10G Transceiver: Moving to the Edge

Initially offered in the early 2000s, 10 Gigabit Ethernet has matured now to become a commonplace in data center. 10G server connections reached majority of new shipments and have outpaced 1G connection in 2015. Basically the 10G Ethernet is stacked to move to 40G and 100G at the access layer, following the upgrade path of 10G-40G-100G, which, however, will quadruple the cabling complexity, power consumption and overall cost. And this will be exacerbated when aggregating into 100G (10×10G) interface.

 

25G Transceiver: Pave the Road for 100G

So there comes the game changer: 25G Ethernet for better economics and efficiency. 25 Gigabit Ethernet makes the road to 100G smoother with reduced cost, lower power consumption and less cabling complexity. SFP28 optical transceiver is designed for use in 25G Ethernet, delivering 2.5 times higher speed per lane at lower power. 25G SFP28 can be viewed as the enhanced version of 10G SFP+ transceiver, utilizing the same form factor but running at 25 Gb/s instead of 10 Gb/s. Besides, SFP28 25G is back compatible with SFP+ so it will work sufficiently on SFP+ ports. By the year of 2019, the price of a 25G SFP28 will be almost the same as a 10G SFP+. So you will be saving a great bunch of money if choosing to move to 25G. Some users even plan to skip 10G and directly deploy 25G Ethernet for better scaling to 50G and 100G.

 

40G Transceiver: Affordable for Mass Deployment

Obviously, 10GbE is no longer fast enough for data centers handling large-scale applications, so 40G is designed to alleviate bottlenecks in the access layer . When firstly planning to scale to 40G, the cost is extremely high that makes the implement of 40G technology difficult. Luckily, we’ve seen significant cost reduction of 40G optics in the past 2 years: QSFP-40G-SR offered by fiber-mart.COM is $49 only. The price drop accelerates 40G transceivers adoption in aggregation links, or in access links to connect servers. For scaling to“spine-leaf” architecture, 40G switches can be used as spine switch with the 40G QSFP+ ports breaking out into 4 10G SFP+ ports to support 10G server uplinks. 40G port revenue has peaked in 2016 and will now decline in favor of 25G and 50G ports.

 

100G Transceiver: Ramping up in Data Center

Currently 100G are the fastest Ethernet connections in broad adoption, which is growing sustainably. And the optical transceiver market indicates that 100G QSFP28 module price will continue to drop, making the cost difference between 40G and 100G even small. For example, fiber-mart.COM offers great cost reduction on 100G transceivers: only $199 for QSFP28 100G-SR. Moreover, 100G switch port shipments will outnumber 40G switch port shipments in 2018—as 25G server and 100G switch became commonplace in most hyperscale data centers that replaces previous 10G servers and 40G switches. Vendors of 100G QSFP28 transceiver will continue to grow the product and push the limits of its versatility.

 

200G and 400G – New Connection Speed Hits Data Center

Another foreseeable trend in interconnect market is the phase out of low speed transceivers in the core of networks and in data centers. So here comes the major shift from 10G and under to 40/100G and higher. New developments with QSFP28 technology in 2018 also will pave the way for the 200G and 400G QSFP-DD: next-generation 200G and data center 400G Ethernet will deploy starting in 2018, and become mainstream by 2019-2020. On the whole, optical transceiver market is evolving to higher speed, more reduced power consumption and smaller form factor. Let’s take a look at these future-proofing optical transceivers.

 

DAC and AOC: Lower Cost Stimulate Popularity

DACs (direct attach copper cables) and AOCs (active optical cable), with their inherent advantage of enhanced signal integrity and superior flexibility, have become the preferred, cost-effective interconnect for high-speed links at 10G, 25G, 40G and 100G for about all applications in hyperscale and enterprises, and is likely to be used for 200G and 400G as well. DAC and AOC provide improved speed and cost efficiency, they are witnessing tremendous growth in data interconnect market. 2017 has witnessed shipment over 100k direct attach copper cables for 100Gb/s networks in hyperscale data centers, and this is anticipated to continue in 2018. While the global market for AOC is projected to surpass $2 billion by 2020, the sales will keep surging in the years to come.

 

Conclusion

Data demand will continue to skyrocket. As the vast increases in Internet traffic are pushing optical transceiver market to shift, we can still expect deployment of 10/25/40/100 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) optics in mega data centers to spur market growth in 2018. While the lower-cost and power-efficient DACs and AOCs are yielding significant growth in short-distance high speed interconnect. So just stay tuned and embrace the significant opportunities lie ahead for optical transceiver market.

Passive DWDM vs. Active DWDM

by Fiber-MART.COM

DWDW is short for dense wavelength division multiplexing. It is an optical multiplexing technology used to increase bandwidth over existing fiber networks. DWDM works by combining and transmitting multiple signals simultaneously at different wavelengths on the same fiber. It has revolutionized the transmission of information over long distances. DWDM can be divided into passive DWDM and active DWDM. This article will detail these two DWDM systems.

 

Passive DWDM

Passive DWDM systems have no active components. The line functions only due to the optical budget of transceivers used. No optical signal amplifiers and dispersion compensators are used. Passive DWDM systems have a high channel capacity and potential for expansion, but the transmission distance is limited to the optical budget of transceivers used. The main application of passive DWDM system is metro networks and high speed communication lines with a high channel capacity.

 

Active DWDM

Active DWDM systems commonly refer to as a transponder-based system. They offer a way to transport large amounts of data between sites in a data center interconnect setting. The transponder takes the outputs of the SAN or IP switch format, usually in a short wave 850nm or long wave 1310nm format, and converts them through an optical-electrical-optical (OEO) DWDM conversion. When creating long-haul DWDM networks, several EDFA amplifiers are installed sequentially in the line. The number of amplifiers in one section is limited and depends on the optical cable type, channel count, data transmission rate of each channel, and permissible OSNR value.

 

The possible length of lines when using active DWDM system is determined not only with installed optical amplifiers and the OSNR value, but also with the influence of chromatic dispersion—the distortion of transmitted signal impulses, on transmitted signals. At the design stage of the DWDM network project, permissible values of chromatic dispersion for the transceivers are taken into account, and, if necessary, chromatic dispersion compensation modules (DCM) are included in the line. DCM introduces additional attenuation into the line, which leads to a reduction of the amplified section length.

 

Passive DWDM vs. Active DWDM

Both passive DWDM and active DWDM have their own pros and cons.

 

Pros and Cons of Passive DWDM

Cost savings: unlike active backbone networks with amplifiers and dispersion compensators, the passive DWDM allows to arrange a high speed system having high channel capacity with substantial cost savings.

 

Less complex: passive DWDM isn’t complex at all. It’s really plug and play, and there is nothing to provision.

 

Even though passive DWDM has the two main benefits, it still has the drawback.

 

Scalability: you are limited to colored optics, and less wavelengths on the transport fiber. As you grow, you would be required to have more passive devices. Furthermore, with the more passive devices, you have more difficulty to manage. And you will have to start managing the same wavelength on multiple passive devices and they could be serving different purposes on each depending on your setup.

 

Control: if you need to change a wavelength or connection for whatever reason, your option is limited to taking it out of service and disconnecting the physical cabling as the wavelength is tied to the optic.

 

Pros and Cons of Active DWDM

Active DWDM can fit more wavelengths onto a single fiber pair. The composite signal that is sent over a single fiber pair can carry more bandwidth than a passive of the same size could. In turn, you don’t need as much physical fiber between your two sites. This is advantageous when distance is a problem because it allows you to get more out of a single fiber pair as opposed to passive.

 

Active setups grant you more control over your optical network. You can dynamically re-tune wavelengths without dropping connections. It’s transparent to whatever is riding on that wavelength. Moreover, active DWDM can be easier to scale as your network grows. You can fit more wavelengths on the fiber.

 

Active DWDM has drawbacks, too.

 

Expensive: active DWDM setups are extremely expensive compared to passive DWDM. If you don’t need that long distance requirements, not choose active DWDM.

 

Configuration: depending on your vendor, configuration can be a serious undertaking, and require a solid understanding of optical networks. There are many more components in active builds. DWDM necessarily require transponders, further, after muxing the signals, they typically need active amplification to have any interesting reach. Without this, you’re only going a relatively short distance.

 

Summary

No matter passive DWDM or active DWDM, choose the one that best suits your network. Knowing their own features can help you better judge which one you need. DWDM mux/demux is a must in both passive DWDM and active DWDM. fiber-mart.COM offers a series of DWDM mux/demux. If you need to buy DWDM mux/demux, fiber-mart.COM is a good place. Visit www.fiber-mart.com or contact us over sales@fiber-mart.com for the details.

Cisco Optical Module Decryption Method

by Fiber-MART.COM

Cisco devices can only support Cisco brand optical module. While other brands optical modules absolutely can’t be supported.

 

If you obstinately plug in the other optical modules into the Cisco port, information like “Unsupport” or “Unknown” will be displayed. The log shows one or several of the following circumstances:

 

%PM_SCP-SP-3-TRANSCEIVER_UNSUPPORTED: Unsupported transceiver in LAN port */*

%PHY-4-CHECK_SUM_FAILED： SFP EEPROM data check sum failed for SFP interface Gi1/0/25

%GBIC_SECURITY_CRYPT-4-VN_DATA_CRC_ERROR: GBIC in port Gi1/0/25 has bad crc

%PM-4-ERR_DISABLE: gbic-invalid error detected on Gi1/0/25, putting Gi1/0/25 in err-disable state

 

Why does this happen?

 

Cisco SFP security key mechanism prevents the use of non-Cisco SFP to ensure quality and compatibility. Each SFP is encoded using extraordinary software key. If a SFP module does not contain a valid key, then the port will be closed when the SFP inserted into Cisco switch. And  the port will not send or receive any data packet.

 

Then how to solve the Cisco optical module security key mechanism?

 

Enter the global configuration mode;

Play is hidden on the command (Do not press the “tab” key);

Service unsupported-transceiver no errdisable detect cause gbic-invalid speed non-negotiate;

Save configuration;

Plug in optical module;

Finish.

In this way, switch will not go to check the serial number of the GBIC. Then the user can put the third-party GBIC or SFP into the machine to make the network operate. Of course, based on the principle of “encouraging”, the previous instruction is “hidden version” of instruction. If you try few times and see there is absolutely no command list inside the unsupported transceiver after finishing the instructions. What’s worse, the machine would never accept as you press “tab”. I’m afraid you should better not come to the mysterious GBIC or SFP.

 

Cisco company warning: When Cisco determines that a fault or defect can be traced to the use of third-party transceivers installed by a customer or reseller, then, at Cisco’s discretion, Cisco may withhold support under warranty or a Cisco support program. In the course of providing support for a Cisco networking product, Cisco may require that the end user install Cisco transceivers if Cisco determines that removing third-party parts will assist Cisco in diagnosing the cause of a support issue.

 

So, you should choose a compatible module. FS.COM offers customers a wide variety of fiber optic transceiver for data center, enterprise wiring closet, and service provider transport applications. Fiberstore is an professional manufacturer & supplier of fiber transceivers. All of our fiber optic transceivers are tested in-house prior to shipping to guarantee that they will arrive in perfect physical and working condition. We guarantee our fiber transceivers to work in your system and all of our fiber transceivers come with a lifetime advance replacement warranty.