Optical Transceivers
There are five main products within the optical transceiver range:
- SFP’s
- GBIC’s
- X2’s
- XFP’s
- Xenpaks
SFP and SFP+ (Small Form Factor Pluggable)
SFP and SFP+ transceivers are designed to be hot-swappable in industry- standard cages and connectors, and offer high-speed performance in a compact package. SFP was the first standardized form factor in this family, and has been used for data rates up to 4 Gb/s. With the need for compact transceivers at high data rates, an enhanced version named SFP+ was developed for applications up to 10 Gb/s and beyond. SFP+ transceivers are interchangeable with SFP transceivers and can be used in the same cages as SFP transceivers.
For 10 Gb/s applications, SFP+ transceivers have a smaller footprint and lower power consumption than XFP transceivers. The electrical interface to the host board for SFP and SFP+ modules is a serial interface.
- Datacom applications using Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet,1x/2x/4x Fibre Channel
- Telecom applications using OC-3/STM-1, OC-12/STM-4 and OC-48/STM-16 across all reaches
- Datacom applications using 10 Gigabit Ethernet and 2x/4x/8x Fibre Channel
SFF (Small Form Factor)
Small form factor, or SFF, transceivers are designed for a range of data rates up to 4 Gb/s and offer physical compactness and pin-thru hole soldering onto a host board. They are available in several configurations including industry standard 2×5 / 2×10, and de-facto 2×6 and 2×7 pinouts.
Applications:
- Datacom applications using Gigabit Ethernet, 1x/2x/4x Fibre Channel.
- Telecom applications using OC-3/STM-1, OC-12/STM-4 and OC- 48/STM-16 across all reaches.
GBIC (Gigabit Interface Converter)
The gigabit interface converter, or GBIC, was the original hot- swappable standardized form factor. The GBIC has been widely adopted in a large number of legacy systems, with designs ranging in data rates up to 2.5 Gb/s. The devices are economical because they eliminate the necessity for replacing entire boards at the system level. upgrading can be done with any number of units at a time, from an individual module to all the modules in a system.
Applications:- Datacom applications using Gigabit Ethernet and 1x/2x Fibre Channel.
- Telecom applications using OC-3/STM-1, OC-12/STM-4 and OC- 48/STM-16 across all reaches. across all reaches.
X2/XFP/XPAK (Optical; Longwave and Shortwave)
X2 is a standardized form factor for 10 Gb/s fiber optics transponders. Both 10G Ethernet and 10G Fibre Channel versions are available. X2 transponders are used in datacom optical links only (not telecom). XFP is a standardized form factor for serial 10 Gb/s fiber optic transceivers. It is protocol-independent and fully compliant to 10G Ethernet, 10G Fibre Channel, SONET OC-192 and SDH STM-64. XFP transceivers are used in datacom and telecom optical links and their benefits are a smaller footprint than other 10 Gb/s transponders (such as XENPAK, X2, XPAK AND 300-PIN). XPAK is a standardized form factor for 10 Gb/s fiber optics transponders. Both 10G Ethernet and 10G Fibre Channel versions are available. XPAK transponders are used in datacom optical links only (not telecom), and their main benefit is a smaller size than other 10G transponder form factors like XENPAK and X2.
Applications:
- Datacom applications using 10 Gigabit Ethernet and 10x Fibre Channel.
XENPAK
XENPAK is a standardized form factor for 10 Gb/s Ethernet fiber optics transponders. XENPAK transponders are used in datacom optical links only (not telecom). The electrical interface to the host board is also standardized and is called XAuI (4 x 3.125 Gb/s).
Applications:- Datacom applications using 10 Gigabit Ethernet.
Routerbazaar offers a range of approved and compatible optical and copper transceiver products for a variety of manufacturers systems.
