From Optical Fiber To 1G Optical Module Working Principle

Introduction

Optical fiber

Optical fiber, or optical fiber, referred to as optical fiber, is a fiber made of glass or plastic, which is a light transmission tool that uses the principle of total internal reflection to transmit light in these fibers. The fine optical fiber is encapsulated in a plastic sheath, which allows it to bend without breaking. Usually, the transmitting device at one end of the optical fiber uses a light-emitting diode or a laser to send light pulses into the optical fiber, and the receiving device at the other end of the optical fiber uses a photosensitive component to detect the pulses. The cable containing the optical fiber is called an optical cable. The optical module is the source of signal generation and reception, and the optical fiber is the transmission channel of the signal. Both are indispensable.

1G optical modules are widely used in network equipment, such as switches, routers, servers, and optical fiber communication equipment. Its working principle can be simply summarized as signal conversion and transmission: the electro-optical converter (usually a laser diode, LD) inside the optical module converts the electrical signal into an optical signal. The converted optical signal is transmitted through the optical fiber. The optical module at the receiving end uses an optical receiver (such as a photodiode, PIN) to convert the optical signal into an electrical signal, and then transmits it to the target device for processing.

1G optical modules are widely used in enterprise networks, data centers, home broadband access, wide area network connections, campus networks, video surveillance and other fields. Although they may be replaced by higher-speed optical modules (such as 10G, 40G) in some scenarios with high bandwidth requirements, they still play an important role in daily applications.