Do You Know about Optical Modules?

Optical modules can be divided into 10G optical modules, 25G optical modules, 40G optical modules, 50G optical modules, 100G optical modules, 200G optical modules, 400G optical modules, 800G optical modules, etc. according to their transmission rates. At present, the product lines of major domestic optical module companies have covered optical modules with transmission rates of 800G and below.

The 10G optical module market is mature

10G optical module refers to an optical module that can send and receive 10G data signals per second. There are two main types of 10G optical modules: XFP optical modules and SFP+ optical modules. The XFP optical module is larger because it appeared earlier, while the SFP+ optical module is an upgraded version of the SFP optical module and has low cost, small size, and compatibility. It has many advantages such as strong performance and has been widely used in data center networks.

Nowadays, 10G network technology and market have matured. The solution for 10G data center is usually 10G switches with SFP+ 10G optical modules and LC fiber jumpers. Switches with different speeds should be matched with optical modules of corresponding speeds.

25G optical modules are cost-effective

The 25G optical module is an optical module with a transmission rate of 25Gbps. It is mainly used in 25G Ethernet and 100G (4×25Gbps) Ethernet. Its function is for the interconnection of data center servers and switches. The 25G optical module can provide the most energy-saving way to meet the growing needs of data center networks.

25G optical modules have higher port density and can save operating costs by reducing the number of TOR switches and cables.

Compared with 10G Ethernet, the best input/output performance and optical fiber capacity of 25G optical module is 2.5 times that of 10G Ethernet; compared with 100G optical module, the loss of 25G optical module is smaller; compared with using four For optical modules that use 10G optical fiber channels to achieve 40G transmission rates, 25G optical modules are a better choice to achieve 50G transmission rates by using two optical fiber channels because the cost is lower.

25G optical modules are mainly divided into four types: SFP-25G-SR optical module, SFP-25G-LR optical module, SFP-25G-CWDM optical module and 25Gbps-10KM-DWDM optical module.

40G optical modules meet the market’s demand for high density and high speed

CFP and QSFP are the main packaging forms of 40G optical modules, and the 40G QSFP+ optical module is one of the more widely used ones. As a compact hot-swappable optical module, the 40G QSFP+ optical module has four transmission channels, the data rate of each channel is 10Gbps, and this optical module complies with SCSI, 40G Ethernet, 20G/40G Infiniband and other standards. It greatly meets the market's demand for high density and high speed.

In order to meet the demand for high-speed Ethernet and services such as cloud computing and virtual data centers, the transformation of communication transmission networks from 10G to 40G is unstoppable. In addition to achieving greater bandwidth and throughput by adding equipment and optical cables, increasing port density is also a widely accepted method for data centers to transform to 40G. 40G data center solutions usually consist of 40G switches with 40G QSFP+ optical modules, MTP/MPO Fiber Jumper.

In addition, 40G QSFP+ high-speed cables are also suitable for short-distance connection applications within and between racks, and are easy to use and cost-saving.

The most common 40G optical modules are mainly divided into three types: 40G LR4 QSFP+ optical module, 40G SR4 QSFP+ optical module, and 40G LR4 PSM optical module.

100G optical modules are mainly used in cloud data centers

100G optical modules are optical modules with a transmission rate of 100G. They are mainly used for Ethernet, synchronous optical fiber, short-distance interconnection of optical transmission networks, cloud data centers and 100G migration applications.

According to different packaging methods, 100G optical modules mainly fall into three categories: CFP/CFP2/CFP4, CXP and QSFP28. Among them, CFP/CFP2/CFP4 and CXP are the packaging methods of early 100G optical modules, while QSFP28 is the packaging method of the new generation of 100G optical modules, and has now become the mainstream packaging of 100G optical modules. The principle of the 100G QSFP28 optical module is similar to that of the 40G QSFP+ optical module, using 4×25 Gbps to transmit 100G optical signals.