Tag Archives: 40G QSFP+

10G SFP+ and 40G QSFP+ Transceivers Cabling Solutions

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This article will discuss different connection methods between parallel Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable (QSFP+) transceivers and Small Form-factor Pluggable (SFP+) transceivers. As we know, a 40G QSFP+ transceiver can be either an 8-fiber parallel link or a 2-fiber duplex link. In this document when QSFP is used we will be discussing an 8-fiber parallel link. A SFP+ transceiver is usually an 2-fiber duplex link. According to standard, since QSFP+ is 40G interface, SFP+ is 10G interface, therefore four SFP+ transceiver must be needed to connect to one QSFP+ transceivers to achieve 40G transmission.

40G QSFP+ to 10 SFP+ Direct Connectivity Solutions
When directly connecting a QSFP port to the four corresponding SFP ports, an eight fiber MTP-LC breakout cable is required. The harness will have four LC Duplex connectors and the fibers will be paired in a specific way, assuring the proper polarity is maintained. This type of direct connectivity is only suggested for short distances within a given row or in the same rack/cabinet.

10G SFP+ and 40G QSFP+ direct connection

  • Polarity Drawing for Above Scenario 

Polarity Drawing for Direct Connectivity Solutions

40G QSFP+ to 10 SFP+ Interconnect Solutions
The 40G QSFP+ to 10 SFP+ interconnect solution shown in figure below shows one link with a breakout of the QSFP with the use of an MTP-LC module to four SFP links. A Type-B non-pinned MTP to non-pinned MTP cable is used between MTP-LC modulethe MTP-LC module and QSFP transceiver. The connection to the SFP transceivers is accomplished with Uniboot LC duplexed jumpers. This is a solution that is only recommended for short distances, where the patching takes place within a given row of racks/cabinets. This solution does present some disadvantages which are that ports 5 & 6 of the module are not being used thus reducing the patch panel density. It may also create some confusion when patching occurs since these two ports are dark.

SFP+ QSFP+ Interconnect Solutions

  • Polarity Drawing for Above Scenario Polarity Drawing for 10G SFP+ and 40G QSFP+ Interconnect Solutions

Unlike the patching approach in figure above, the solution shown in figure below has no dark fibers oLC-LC adapter panelr ports. The Type-B jumper is replaced with an eight-fiber harness. The modules are replaced with the LC-LC adapter panel. Using this approach allows full patch panel density that was lost in the previous example. Only two LC-LC adapter panels will be required for every three 8-fiber harnesses. All ports on the LC-LC adapter panels will be used and the connections to the 10GbE ports will be completed with an Uniboot LC duplexed jumper. This solution should also be deployed when there is a short distance between active components (within the same row). Note the LC panel does not support the LC Uniboot connector, only LC Duplex connectors with the triggers removed to avoid clearance issues with the panel cover.

10G 40G Interconnect Solutions

  • Polarity Drawing for Above Scenario 

Polarity Drawing for 10G SFP+ and 40G QSFP+ Solution

Fiberstore (FS.COM) provide all the products mentioned above, including 10G SFP+ transceivers, 40G QSFP+ transceivers, MTP patch cables, MTP-LC harness cable, MTP-LC module and LC-LC adapter panel. All in stock and can be shipped the same day.

Related article: It’s Time to Use MTP Cassettes in Your Network!

40G Network Connectivity Solutions

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High speed and wide bandwidth demands drive data centers to consolidate into more complex systems. The speed of data center now is increasing to 40G and eventually to 100G. How to achieve 40G connectivity? In fact, we need some new optical technologies and cabling infrastructure. In this post, I will introduce some commonly used qsfp and qsfp cable for 40G connectivity.

40G QSFP Modules
As we know, fiber optic transceiver is an electronic device that receives an electrical signal, converts it into a light signal, and launches the signal into a fiber. It also receives the light signal, from another transceiver, and converts it into an electrical signal. It is the key component in fiber optic transmission. The basic interface of 40G pluggable optical modules are 40GBASE-LR4 and 40GBASE-SR4 in QSFP+ form factor.

40G QSFP+

1. 40GBASE-SR4 QSFP+
40GBASE-SR4 transceivers are used in data centers to interconnect two Ethernet switches with 8 fiber parallel multimode fiber OM3/OM4 cables. It can support the transmission distance up to 100 m with OM3 fiber and 150 m with OM4 fiber. The optical interface of 40GBASE-SR4 is MPO/MTP. This module can be used for native 40G optical links or in a 4x10G mode with parallel to duplex fiber breakout cables for connectivity to four 10GBASE-SR interfaces.

2. 40GBASE-LR4 QSFP+
40GBASE-LR4 QSFP+ transceiver support with a link length up to 10 kilometers over 1310 nm single-mode fiber with duplex LC connectors. The 40 Gigabit Ethernet signal is carried over four wavelengths. Multiplexing and demultiplexing of the four wavelengths are managed within the device. It is most commonly deployed between data-center or IXP sites with single-mode fiber.

QSFP+ Cables
QSFP+ cable is designed to meet emerging data center and high performance computing application needs for a short distance and high density cabling interconnect system capable of delivering an aggregate data bandwidth of 40Gb/s. QSFP+ cables are suitable for very short distances and offer a highly cost-effective way to establish a 40G link between two switches within racks and across adjacent racks. These high speed cables provide a highly cost-effective way to upgrade from 10G to 40G or 40G to 40G interconnect connection.

1. Passive and Active Direct Attach Copper Cables
The 40g passive or active direct attach copper cables (DAC) are designed with twinax copper cable and terminated with QSFP+ connectors. The main difference between passive DAC and active DAC is that the passive one is without the active component. Therefore, active QSFP+ DAC can achieve a longer transmission distances than passive QSFP+ cable.

0.5m(1.6ft)-passive-40gbase-qsfp+-dac

2. Active Optical Cable (AOC cable) Assemblies
Active optical cable, namely AOC brings a more flexible cabling than direct attach copper cables with the advantages of lighter weigth, longer transmission distance and higher performance for anti-EMI. Now, 40G AOC cable are popular with users.

10m(32.8ft)-40gbase-qsfp+-to-qsfp+-aoc

MPO/MTP Cable Series
Since 40GBASE-SR4 and 40GBASE-CSR4 both use MPO/MTP connector. Therefore, in addition to fiber optic transceivers and direct attach cables, MTP cabling series usually needed to achieve 40G connectivity. This series include MTP trunk cables, MTP-LC harness/breakout cables, LC or MTP patch cables, MTP-LC cassette modules, MTP adapter panels and MTP rack mount holders.

MPOMTP Cabling Series

Fiberstore offers a comprehensive solution for 40G network connectivity. What’s more, products such as 40GBASE-LR4 and 40GBASE-SR4 modules are in stock and can shipped in 12hrs. For more information, please visit www.fs.com.

Related article: Do You Know about Active Optical Cable (AOC Cable)

40GBASE-LR4 QSFP+ Transceiver Links: CWDM and PSM

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As we all know, 40GBASE-SR4 QSFP+ transceivers usually use a parallel multimode fiber (MMF) link to achieve 40G. It offers 4 independent transmit and receive channels, each capable of 10G operation for an aggregate data rate of 40G over 100 meters of OM3 MMF or 150 meters of OM4 MMF. However, for 40GBASE-LR4 QSFP+ transceivers, there are two kinds of links. One is coarse wavelength division multiplexing (CWDM) and the other is parallel single-mode fiber (PSM). What’s the difference between them? In this article, I will show their working principles to you respectively.

40GBASE-LR4 CWDM QSFP+ Transceiver
QSFP-40G-LR4The 40GBASE-LR4 CWDM QSFP+ transceiver, such as QSFP-40GE-LR4, is compliant to 40GBASE-LR4 of the IEEE P802.3ba standard. It contains a duplex LC connector for the optical interface. The maximum transmission distance of this transceiver is 10km. To minimize the optical dispersion in the long-haul system, single-mode fiber (SMF) has to be used. This transceiver converts 4 inputs channels of 10G electrical data to 4 CWDM optical signals by a driven 4-wavelength distributed feedback (DFB) laser array, and then multiplexes them into a single channel for 40G optical transmission, propagating out of the transmitter module from the SMF. Reversely, the receiver module accepts the 40G CWDM optical signals input, and demultiplexes it into 4 individual 10G channels with different wavelengths. The central wavelengths of the 4 CWDM channels are 1271, 1291, 1311 and 1331 nm as members of the CWDM wavelength grid defined in ITU-T G694.2. Each wavelength channel is collected by a discrete photo diode and output as electric data after being amplified by a transimpedance amplifier (TIA).

40G CWDM QSFP+

40GBASE-LR4 PSM QSFP+ Transceiver
40G-LR4 QSFPUnlike CWDM QSFP+ transceiver which uses a LC connector, PSM QSFP+ is a parallel single-mode optical transceiver with an MTP/MPO fiber ribbon connector. It also offers 4 independent transmit and receive channels, each capable of 10G operation for an aggregate data rate of 40G on 10km of single-mode fiber. Proper alignment is ensured by the guide pins inside the receptacle. The cable usually cannot be twisted for proper channel to channel alignment. In terms of a PSM QSFP+, the transmitter module accepts electrical input signals compatible with common mode logic (CML) levels. All input data signals are differential and internally terminated. The receiver module converts parallel optical input signals via a photo detector array into parallel electrical output signals. The receiver module outputs electrical signals are also voltage compatible with CML levels. All data signals are differential and support a data rates up to 10.3G per channel.

40G PSM QSFP+

What’s the Difference?
From an optical transceiver module structure viewpoint, PSM seems more cost effective because it uses a single uncooled CW laser which splits its output power into four integrated silicon modulators. Besides, its array-fiber coupling to an MTP connector is relatively simple. However, from an infrastructure viewpoint, PSM would be more expensive when the link distance is long, mainly due to the fact that PSM uses 8 optical single-mode fibers while CWDM uses only 2 optical single-mode fibers. A summary table comparing the key differences between CWDM and PSM is shown below:

Name CWDM PSM
Optical TX 4 uncooled 1300nm CWDM directly-modulated laserswavelength spacing 20 nm 4 integrated silicon photonic modulators and one CW laseruncooled 1300nm DFB laser
4-wavelength CWDM multiplexer and demultiplexer Needed No need
Connector Duplex LC connector MTP/MPO fiber ribbon connector
Cable Via 2 optical single-mode fibers Via 8 optical single-mode fibers

In addition, the caveat is that the entire optical fiber infrastructure within a data center, including patch panels, has to be changed to accommodate MTP connectors and ribbon cables, which are more expensive than conventional LC connectors and regular SMF cables. What’s more, cleaning MTP connectors is not a straightforward task. Therefore, CWDM is a more profitable and popular 40G QSFP link.

Conclusion
For 40GBASE-LR4 QSFP+ transceivers, either CWDM link or PSM link, the maximum transmission distance is both 10km. 40GBASE-LR4 CWDM QSFP+ transceivers use a duplex LC connector via 2 optical single-mode fibers to achieve 40G. However, 40GBASE-LR4 PSM QSFP+ transceivers use an MTP/MPO fiber ribbon connector via 8 optical single-mode fibers to reach 40G. Therefore, CWDM QSFP+ enables data center operators to upgrade to 40G connectivity without making any changes to the previous 10G fiber cable plant, which is more cost-effective and widely used by people. Fiberstore provides wide brand compatible 40G CWDM QSFP+ transceivers, such as Juniper compatible JNP-QSFP-40G-LR4 and HP compatible JG661A. In Fiberstore, each fiber optic transceiver has been tested to ensure its compatibility and interoperability. Please rest assured to buy. For more information or quotation, please contact us via sales@fs.com.

Related Article: 40G Transceiver Module: QSFP+ Module And CFP Module

Three Ways Fiber Optic Transceivers Promote Data Center

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The data center is one of the most critical and dynamic operations in any business. As companies produce, collect, analyze and store more data, IT infrastructures need to grow as well to keep up with the demand. With all the data processing and transmission, it is only critical that every design aspect and component of your data center is properly optimized, including its fiber optic transceiver technology. The fiber optics and other optical components need to meet the bandwidth requirement for storage, switch, and server applications. Now let’s see how will the fiber optic transceivers promote data centers in the future.Fiber Optic TransceiversSmall Package Makes Sense
Optical transceivers are becoming smaller, but more powerful, which makes them an important piece in server technology. In fact, even though a transceiver is physically small, it can handle a network expansion or an entire install. This shrinking of fiber optic transceivers allows for the improvement of servers. This reduces the overall footprint of servers and networks, which makes data centers smaller and streamlined. Optical transceivers also require lower power consumption, which means you get lower costs both in terms of design and electricity expenses.

Data Center Makes up Big Transceiver Market
Fiber optic transceivers are always being improved, which can only mean good things for data center managers. According to recent numbers, 2016 and beyond will be huge for the data center market and optical components as more companies require efficiency in their networks. Data centers make up 65% of the overall 10G/40G/100G optical transceiver market. Shipment of 10G transceivers continue to grow, but still has plenty of room to grow, especially as industry experts expect the Datacom optical transceiver market to reach $optical transceivers2.1bn by 2019.

40G and 100G Transceivers Pave the Way
Consumers and technology experts can expect optical transceivers to improve as data centers grow and the cloud industry expands. Manufacturers have introduced fiber optic transceivers that can transmit data at 40Gbps and 100Gbps, while some startups are investing millions in developing technology that can achieve higher speeds. These and other improvements can only mean good things for businesses and consumers.

Significantly improving your company’s IT infrastructure is becoming an essential task, especially in this data-driven world. Optical transceivers and components are some of the little things that definitely can make a big difference in this effort. FS.COM provide a variety of fiber optic transceivers with high quality and low price, from 1000Base SFP to 10G SFP+, 40G QSFP+ and 100G CFP. For more information, please visit www.fs.com.

40 Gigabit Ethernet Options Guideline

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When the IEEE introduced the 802.3ba Ethernet standard, this was in response to the increasing bandwidth demands facing data centers, paving the way for the introduction of 40Gb/s and 100Gb/s Ethernet operations. Believe it or not, the 40 Gigabit Ethernet era is already upon us. This text put together a brief overview of the current 40 Gigabit Ethernet optics types and form factors to aid in planning for future high-performance Ethernet needs.

40 Gigabit Ethernet Standards
The IEEE 802.3ba introduced the 40 Gigabit and 100 Gigabit Ethernet standards in 2010. 802.3ba is the designation given to the higher speed Ethernet task force which completed its work to modify the 802.3 standard to support speeds higher than 10 Gbit/s. This was the first time two different Ethernet speeds were specified in a single standard. The table below gives detailed specifications for 40 Gigabit Ethernet standards.

40 Gigabit Ethernet qsfp

40 Gigabit Ethernet QSFPTransceiver Options
As with any new generation of technology, one design goal was to leverage as much existing technology as possible. By minimizing the number of new interfaces, the interfaces become less expensive and take advantage of volume production and simplicity. To meet this design goal, there are three media modules will be used in the first generation of 40 Gigabit Ethernet: QSFP, CXP and CFP.

  • QSFP
    The Quad Small-Form-Factor Pluggable (QSFP) is similar in size to the CXP and provides four transmit and four receive lanes to support 40 Gigabit Ethernet applications for multimode fiber and copper today and may serve single-mode in the future. Another future role for the QSFP may be to serve 100 Gigabit Ethernet when lane rates increase to 25 Gbps.

QSFP

  • CXP
    The CXP transceiver features 12 transmit and 12 receive 10-Gbps lanes to support one 100 Gigabit Ethernet port, or up to three 40 Gigabit Ethernet ports. It can achieve rates up to 120 Gbps of pluggable data over 12 lanes in one assembly while enhanced-footprint connectors transmit signals over 10 lanes for up to 100 Gbps.

CXP

  • CFP
    The C Form-Factor Pluggable (CFP) is a new media module that was designed for longer-reach applications, with up to 24 watts of power dissipation. Its dense electrical connectors and integrated, riding heat sink enable a range of interfaces. This module is used for 40GBASE-SR4, 40GBASE-LR4.

CFP

40GbE Cabling Options

The most common 40GbE cable is the QSFP+ Cable. Such as QSFP direct attach copper cable (DAC) and QSFP active optical cable (AOC). Besides, the MPO/MTP cable is considered the best solution for 40GbE. Since MPO/MTP connectors have either 12 fibres or 24 fibres array, which can allow data transmission across multiple fibres simultaneously.

  • Direct Attach Copper Cable

Transmitting 40 GbE over short distances of parallel coaxial copper cabling (also referred to as twinax cabling) is accomplished using a special cabling assembly with four lanes of coaxial cabling (eight pairs). Four pairs each transmit 10 Gbps in one direction and four transmit 10 Gbps in the other direction for a total data rate of 40 Gbps. The two common DACs used in 40g Ethernet are QSFP to QSFP and QSFP to 4 SFP+ copper direct-attach cables.

40G DAC

  • Active Optical Cable

In the market, there are two common 40g fiber cable: QSFP to 4 SFP+ breakout AOC and QSFP to QSFP AOC. The former is a 4×10 Gb/s parallel active optical cable which transmits four separate streams of 10 Gb/s data over ribbon cables in a point-to-multipoint configuration. The cable contains a QSFP+ module on one end and four separate SFP+ modules at the other ends. The latter is a 40 Gb/s parallel active optical cable which transmits error-free parallel 4×10 Gb/s data over multimode fiber (MMF) ribbon cables.

40G AOC

  • MPO/MTP Cable

Current multi-mode optics standards for 40GbE optics use multiple 10Gbps lasers, simultaneously transmitting across multiple fiber strands to achieve high data rates. Because of the multi-lane nature of these optics, 40GbE multi-mode optics use a different style of fiber cabling, known as MPO or MTP cabling. As with 10GbE optics over multi-mode fiber, an OM3 or OM4 grade MMF is needed to be able to cover longer distances. For 40g Ethernet, we can use 8 fibers MPO/MTP harness cables or 12 fibers MPO/MTP trunk cables. The former is to directly connect a QSFP port to other 4 SFP+ ports. The latter is to directly connect one QSFP port to another QSFP port.

MPO/MTP cable

Related articles:

40G Network Connectivity Solutions
MTP Fiber Cable Solutions
Three Types MTP Harness Cables Used in Today’s Data Center