Main Specifications of Optical Transceiver Modules
Optical transceiver modules are the carrier used for the transmission between switches and devices. Being the core component in optical fiber communication system, its main function is to convert electrical signals into optical signals at the transmitting terminal; after the optical signals are sent through optical fibers, it converts the optical signals into electrical signals at the receiving terminal.
After years of development, there are many form factors of optical modules at the current market, such as GBIC, SFP, XFP, SFP28, QSFP+, QSFP28, QSFP-DD and COBO, and the transmission rate also advanced from 1Gbps, 10Gbps, 25Gbps, 40Gbps, 100Gbps, to 200Gbps and 400Gbps.
What are some of the important specifications of an optical module, besides its form factor and transmission rate? Below is a brief introduction.
Center Wavelength
Center wavelength refers to the midpoint of spectral bandwidth and is measured in nm (nanometer). Currently, there are 3 main wavelengths used for fiber optics.
- 850nm (multi-mode): low cost to manufacture but offers short transmission distance, usually within 500 meters.
- 1310nm (single mode): high loss but low dispersion in transmission, usually used in transmission distance within 40 km.
- 1550nm (single mode): low loss but high dispersion in transmission, usually used in long-range transmission of over 40km, up to 120 km without using a trunk amplifier. Read more about Main Specifications of Optical Transceiver Modules.
