Pluggable Fiber Optic Transceivers

The pluggable fiber optic transceivers are hot-swapped compact media

converters that are used to provide instant fiber connectivity for the
networking needs. They are an affordable and cost effective way to connect
single network devices to a wide variety of fiber cable distances and types.
These devices facilitate the transportation of fast Ethernet and the
gigabit Ethernet LAN packets over a multiplexed time-division mode over
a packet-switched network.

Mode of operation
These devices are used in data communication, and telecommunication
networks interfacing devices such as switches, routers, and fiber optic
cables to perform the conversion between the optical and the electrical
signals. These fiber optic transceivers support the communication
standards that include the Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET),
Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH), gigabit Ethernet and the fiber
channel.
The Optical Transceivers have a wide range of detachable interfaces to
the multimode/single-mode fiber optics, that allow the users to make a
selection on the appropriate transceiver, in accordance with the required
optical range for the network.

Availability
The Optical Transceivers are available with the copper cable interfaces,
which facilitate a host device that is primarily designed for the optical
fiber communications to allow communication over unshielded twisted pair
networking cables. The modern transceivers support the digital
diagnostics monitoring (DDM) functions which is also known as digital
optical monitoring. This is the feature that allows the users to monitor
the real-time parameters of SFP, such as the power output of the optical
device, the optical input power, temperature, the laser bias current and
the transceiver supply voltage.

Types of Available Fiber Optic Transceivers.

There are different types of the available transceivers on the market.
The most common ones are;
1. SFP
This is a small form-factor pluggable that is compatible, hot-swapped
transceiver module, that is used for both telecommunication and data
communications applications. These modules can be regarded as an upgrade
to the GBIC module. The SFP is a popular industry format that is supported
by various network component vendors as they are designed to offer the

support of SONET, the Gigabit Ethernet, Fiber Channel and other

communications
standards.
2. SFP+
The SFP+ is an enhanced and advanced version of the SFP that supports data
rates for up to 10 Gbit/s, with support of the 8 Gbit.s Fiber Channel,
10-gigabit Ethernet and the Optical Transport Network standard (OTU2).
It is a popular industry standard format that is supported by many network
component vendors. In the modern market, their applications have expanded
to SONET OC-192, SDH STM-64, OTN G..709. CPRI wireless, the 16G Fiber
Channel
and
the
modern
32G
Fiber
Channel
application.
3. XFP
The XFP appeared before the introduction of the SFP+. It is a standardized
form factor of the serial 10 Gb/s fiber optic transceiver. It is protocol
independent and fully compliant with various standards such as - 10G
Ethernet, 10g Fiber Channel, SONET OC-192, SDH STM-64 and the OT G.709.
These transceivers are used in datacom and telecom optical links to offer
a small footprint and lower the power consumption of the transponders.
4. QSFP/QSFP+
This is the quad 4 channel small form-factor pluggable that is compact
hot-pluggable transceiver used for the data communication applications.
The QSFP+ emerged as a standard to support the 1oGb.s data rates.
5. CFP
The C form-factor pluggable is a multi-source agreement that is used to
produce a common form factor for the transmission of high-speed digital
signals. The c stands for the Latin letter C that is used to denote the
number 100 which means centum, as the standard was initially developed
for the 100 Gigabit Ethernet Systems

Application areas
These Optical Transceivers are applicable to a number of places such as;
-

Switches/Bridges/Routers/Servers
SONET/SDH Network
Gigabit Ethernet
1x/2x Fiber Channel
Point-Point Networking
Metro Access Rings
Fiber-to-the-desktop (FTTD)
High-speed Computer Links
LANS, SAN (Local, storage area networks)

The pluggable fiber optic transceivers facilitate the network upgrades

because they are interchangeable with the fiber connectors that can adapt
to most of the existing networks. There is an increasing demand for
the Optical Transceivers as the communication market grows in response
to the many available smartphones and the internet transmission of data.
BENEFITS
The benefits of using the pluggable fiber optic transceivers are many.
Their benefits make them valuable to many networks because of their

universality and ability to operate in many different networks.

-

They
They
They
They

are easy to replace and repair

are compatible with many other devices
pass data across long communication distance
have various set speeds facilitating different data rates

The transceivers are able to accommodate a wide range of link spans and
can be used in the telecom and datacom applications to change an electrical
signal into optical signals and vice versa. They are pluggable fiber
transceivers that are preferred by many designers because of their
flexibility, scalability, and affordability.