Tag Archives: GBIC transceiver

Knowledge of Multi-source Agreement

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Fiber Optical TransceiverWe usually see some products that are compliant with MSA when refers to fiber optic transceivers, but what does MSA mean? It seems like a standard that is used to define the optical transceiver. In fact, MSAs are not official standards organizations. Instead, they are agreements that equipment vendors assume when developing form factors for communications interfaces. These form factors, usually called the transceiver modules, are typically deployed in active electronics such as switches, servers and multiplexers. In this text, some knowledge of the MSA will be introduced.

What is Multi-source Agreement?

MSA stands for multi-source agreement, which is an agreement between multiple manufacturers to make products which are compatible across vendors, acting as de facto standards, establishing a competitive market for interoperable products. Products that adhere to MSAs include optical transceivers (SFP, SFP+, XENPAK, QSFP, XFP, etc), fiber optic cables, and other networking devices. MSAs strictly define the operating characteristics of these optical transceivers so that system vendors may implement ports in their devices that allow MSA compliant transceivers produced by name brand, as well a third party vendors, to function properly. That is, transceivers may be purchased from any of the multiple sources in the open market, like Fiberstore. MSAs are also important in the cabling industry as the density, line speed, power consumption and typical costs of a MSA can strongly impact its success in the marketplace. This, in turn, can drive the choice for both connector and media type.

Why is Multi-source Agreement  so Important?

Equipment vendors all rely on MSAs when designing their systems, ensuring interoperability and interchangeability between interface modules, that is every supplier can produce the transceiver modules with the same functions. For this reason, there are many module suppliers from which customers can choose freely. As we all know, freedom of choice is the foundation of the efficient operation of markets. In order to gain a bigger share of the market, suppliers may act as efficiently as possible, which may drive down costs and offer the widest options to customers. Besides, since there are so many excellent 3rd party optical transceiver module suppliers in the market that network operators don’t need to purchase optical transceivers directly from system (original brand) vendors, which will also save huge costs. Finally, there is no doubt that all these will help support and encourage creation and adherence to standards at the same time. Over the past decade, the MSA process has helped accelerate the acceptance of modules such as SFP+ and CFP, which allow optical transceivers to support greater bandwidth such as 40G and 100G.

Approved Fiber Optica Transceiver Multi-source Agreements

MSA is a popular industry format jointly developed and supported by many network component vendors, most common optical transceivers are specified by it at present. MSAs usually specify parameters for optical transceivers and their guideline values, such as the electrical and optical interfaces (e.g. SX, LX, EX, ZX, etc), mechanical dimensions, electro-magnetic values and other data. This data is accessible by the host system over the I2C interface, as is the status of the optional DDM functions. Some approved fiber optica transceiver multi-source agreements are listed in the table below:

Name Year Brief Description Keywords/Applications
GBIC 2000 GigaBit Interface Converter Designed for Gigabit Ethernet, SDH/SONET (2.5 Gb/s) and Fibre Channel (4Gb/s). Superseded by SFP
SFP 2001 Small Form-factor Pluggable Designed for Gigabit Ethernet, SDH/SONET (2.5 Gb/s) and Fibre Channel (4Gb/s)
XENPAK 2001 Fiber optic transceiver for 10Gb Ethernet Superseded by X2 and SFP+
X2 2005 Fiber optic transceiver for 10Gb Ethernet Superseded by SFP+
XFP 2005 Fiber optic transceiver for 10Gb Ethernet Designed for 10Gb/s. Supports 8Gb/s Fibre Channel, 10 Gb/s Ethernet and Optical Transport Network
SFP+ 2013 Fiber optic transceiver for 10Gb Ethernet Designed for 10Gb/s. Supports 8Gb/s Fibre Channel, 10 Gb/s Ethernet and Optical Transport Network standard OTU2
QSFP/QSFP+ 2013 Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable 40G Supports Ethernet, Fibre Channel, InfiniBand and SONET/SDH standards up to 40GB/s and 100Gb/s
CFP 2013 C Form Factor Pluggable (100G) Optical transceiver form factors supporting 40Gb/s and 100Gb/s. CFP, CFP2 and CFP4
CXP In Progress C Form Factor Pluggable Supports Infiniband and Ethernet to 100G. CXP and CXP2

Some Common Pluggable Fiber Optic Transceivers Type

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There are so many transceivers in FiberStore.Such as SFP Plus transceiver, X2 transceiver, XENPAK transceiver, XFP transceiver, SFP transceiver module (Mini GBIC), GBIC transceiver and so on. But what are fiber optic transceivers do you know? Fiber optic transceiver is a short distance to long distance twisted pair electrical signals and optical signals to be interchanged Ethernet transmission media conversion unit, in many places, also known as media converter. Products are generally used in an Ethernet cable can not be covered, you must use the fiber to extend the transmission distance of the actual network environment, and is usually located in the metropolitan area of broadband access layer applications; while helping the fiber last mile connections to the metro network and more on the outer layer of the network also played a huge role.

In order to ensure the card with other manufacturers, repeaters, hubs and switches and other network equipment is fully compatible fiber optic transceiver products must strictly comply with 10Base-T, 100Base-TX, 100Base-FX, IEEE802.3 and IEEE802.3u Ethernet, etc. web standards, in addition, anti-electromagnetic radiation in the EMC aspects should meet FCC Part15. As the major carriers are efforts to build community networks, campus networks and enterprise networks, so the amount of fiber optic transceiver products are constantly improved in order to better meet the access network construction.

Now on the market most of the optical transceiver supports Pluggable, So, today I will show you some common Pluggable fiber optic transceivers type:

SFP (Small Form-factor Pluggable) Transceiver Module
1,Gigabit optical module, FE SFP optical module, 155Mb SFP optical module, 622Mb SFP optical module, 2.5G SFP optical module: Small pluggable optical transceiver module, LC connector.
2,Gigabit BIDI optical module,Mbps BIDI optical module: BIDI (bidirectional transmission) optical transceiver module, LC connector.
BIDI GEPON OLT optical modules: BIDI GEPON OLT optical transceiver module, SC connector.
3,Gigabit CWDM optical modules: Gigabit CWDM (Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplexing) optical transceiver module, LC connector.
4,Gigabit SFP electrical interface module: RJ-45 Interface
5,Gigabit SFP cable: dedicated to interconnecting devices, hot-swappable

SFP + (10 Gigabit Small Form-factor Pluggable)Transceiver Module
1, SFP + optical modules:10 Gigabit sfp+ module LC interface
2, SFP + cables: dedicated to interconnecting devices, hot-swappable

GBIC (Gigabit Interface Converter, Gigabit Ethernet Interface Converter) Transceiver Module
1, GBIC transceiver modules: hot-pluggable optical transceiver module SC interface
2, GBIC electrical interface modules: hot-pluggable and RJ-45 interface
3,GBIC stacking module: dedicated to interconnecting devices, hot-swappable HSSDC(High Speed Serial Data Connection) Interface

XFP (10 Gigabit Small Form-factor Pluggable,10 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces small pluggable) Transceiver Module
XFP module is 10 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces small pluggable optical transceiver module LC interface

XENPAK (10 Gigabit Ethernet Transceiver Package,10 Gigabit Ethernet interface transceiver collection package) module
Optical transponder, hot-swappable, SC Interface

Some Types for GBIC Transceivers

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GBIC is short for gigabit interface converter, it is a media conversion device between Gigabit Ethernet and fiber optic networks, via the GBIC transceiver, Gigabit network equipment can directly connect to copper wires, single mode fiber ports or multimode fiber ports. The data transfer rate is one gigabit per second (1 Gbps) or more.

The Cisco® Gigabit Interface Converter (GBIC) is a hot-swappable input/output device that plugs into a Gigabit Ethernet port or slot, linking the port with the network. From FS.COM, we provide a full range of Cisco GBIC transceiver modules. There are many types for GBIC transceivers, such as Cisco WS-G5483,Cisco WS-G5484,Cisco WS-G5486,Cisco WS-G5487 and so on.

Cisco WS-G5483 (Copper) GBIC Transceiver

The Cisco WS-G5483 (1000BASE-T GBIC Transceiver) connects a GBIC port to Category 5 wiring using a standard RJ-45 interface. The maximum Category 5 wiring distance is 328 feet (100 m).Cisco WS-G5483, also called copper GBIC transceiver, is an ideal solution for Catalyst switch customers.

Cisco WS-G5484 (Short Wavelength) GBIC Transceiver

The Cisco WS-G5484 GBIC (1000BASE-SX GBIC Transceiver) operates on legacy multimode fiber (MMF) optic link spans up to 1804 feet (550 m) and on laser-optimized multimode fiber (OM3) optic link spans up to 3281 feet (1 km).The 1000BASE-SX is a short wavelength GBIC module.

Cisco WS-G5486 (Long Wavelength/Long Haul) GBIC Transceiver

The Cisco WS-G5486 (1000BASE-LX/LH GBIC Transceiver) fully complies with the IEEE 802.3z 1000BASE-LX10 standard. It allows for reaches up to 6.2 miles (10 km) over single-mode fiber (SMF) and up to 550 meters over multimode fiber (MMF). The long wavelength/long haul GBIC module is Cisco WS-G5486.

Cisco WS-G5487 (Extended Wavelength) GBIC Transceiver

The Cisco WS-G5487(1000BASE-ZX GBIC Transceiver) operates on ordinary single-mode fiber optic link spans up to 43.5 miles (70 km) long. Link spans of up to 62 miles (100 km) are possible using premium single-mode fiber or dispersion shifted single-mode fiber(premium single-mode fiber has a lower attenuation per unit length than ordinary single mode fiber; dispersion-shifted single-mode fiber has both lower attenuation and less dispersion). The GBIC provides an optical link budget of 21 dB – the precise link span length will depend on multiple factors such as fiber quality, number of splices, and connectors.

When shorter distances of single-mode fiber are used, it might be necessary to insert an in-line optical attenuator in the link to avoid overloading the receiver:

A 5-dB or 10-dB inline optical attenuator should be inserted between the fiber-optic cable plant and the receiving port on the Cisco 1000BASE-ZX GBIC at each end of the link whenever the fiber-optic cable span is less than 15.5 miles (25 km)

Note: The 1000BASE-ZX GBIC module provide an optical power budget of 21.5 dB. You should measure your cable plant with an optical loss test set to verify that the optical loss of the cable plant (including connectors and splices) is less than or equal to 21.5 dB. The optical loss measurement must be performed with a 1550-nm light source.

Function And knowledge With GBIC Transceiver Modules

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Gigabit Interface Converter referred to as GBIC, Gigabit convert electrical signals to optical signals interface device. GBIC transceiver is probably the many types of optical transceivers that will send and receive data. GBIC module is designed for hot-swappable. GBIC interchangeable products meet international standards. The GBIC interface design Gigabit switch interchangeable flexible to take into account a sizable market share available in the market.

GBIC module

Functions of GBIC Module

The GBIC transceiver functions being an input/output transceiver. It plugs into the gigabit Ethernet port on a single end, for instance a port found on network switching equipment. On the other end, the transceiver is attached to the fiber optic network, usually via fiber optic patch cords. The unit is seen as a features, including the wavelengths it can handle, how fast and efficiently it transmits data, the energy it needs to operate, and what distance it could transmit data over. These are the basic main considerations when purchasing a GBIC transceiver to make sure it meets network performance requirements.

Other important features of a GBIC transceiver which increase energy efficiency initiatives are how the unit offers low power dissipation and emits little electromagnetic interference. Each device can install and performance without disrupting anything, but this plug and play capability could be offset by the need to disconnect patch cords before it is installed or removed. Harmful electrical currents and data discrepancies can happen, and it is usually wise to take precautions to avert this whenever you can, specifically in high-density networks.

Transfer Speed of GBIC Module

Data rates vary on GBIC module model specifications, but they have a the least 1 gigabit per second. Manufacturers, such as Cisco, make GBIC modules with varying transfer speeds.

Signal Conversion of GBIC Module

The GBIC can be a module which is plugged into a device that generates electrical signals and in to a device that generates optical signals. The GBIC converts both signals backwards and forwards as needed by the devices. The GBIC even offers identification and system information which allows each device to learn the other’s capabilities.

Uses of GBIC Module

A GBIC module allows an individual to reconfigure fiber links, configure tailor receiver costs, link networking distances and organize network topologies based on set requirements. Utilized on a fiber optic or perhaps an Ethernet system, GBIC modules can be upgraded, substituted or plugged in without switching off the pc. This flexibility eliminates the need to replace entire system networking boards.

Many supplies sell GBIC transceivers. Fiberstore supply various kinds of GBIC module 100% compatible with Cisco GBIC Module, HP GBIC, 3COM GBIC, Netgear GBIC, Nortel GBIC, Extreme GBIC. CWDM GBIC, BIDI GBIC, Mini GBIC are also in stock.We not only supply the GBIC transceivers, but also have other fiber optic transceivers(for example, XENPAK modules, SFP modules, XFP module ).