Feature: Communications Figure 1: SFP transceiver
Figure 2: QSFP28 transceiver
Figure 3: CFP transceiver
SFP, QSFP or CFP? The best optical
transceiver for your application By Marcin Bala, CTO, Salamanus
O
ptical transceivers are widely found in networking hardware installations, with diff erent modules used for specifi c applications.
While they allow a switch to support diff erent types of transmissions formats, it can be confusing to decide which transceiver best fi ts a specifi c application. With the advance of technology,
transceivers have become an essential part of any network hardware confi guration, improving over time to respond to the changing needs of the telecommunication industry. T ese devices are oſt en perceived as
one of the simplest pieces of hardware in a network, but this is not really the case. T ere are a great number of transceivers and possible confi gurations, and their quality and reliability can change from brand to brand. Choosing the wrong transceiver or ignoring any
quality evaluation means that system administrators might have to deal with unexpected issues caused by poor quality transceivers. So, what are the three main categories
of transceivers and how are they best used in diff erent applications?
SFP transceivers Small form-factor pluggable (SFP) transceivers are the most popular optical transceiver format; see Figure 1. As the name suggests, they come in a small and compact size, which allows them to be used in diff erent applications, including in tight spaces to provide fast communication between switches. SFP transceivers are also very fl exible and can be used with both copper and fi bre optics. Lastly, SFP modules benefi t from being hot-swappable, which means the transceiver can expand the capacity of existing networks without having to redesign the entire cable infrastructure.
26 November 2021
www.electronicsworld.co.uk SFP+ transceivers are an advanced
version of SFP. SFP+ is faster, supports speeds up to 10Gbps but works across shorter distances than SFP. Recently, two advanced versions of SFP transceivers have been introduced: the SFP28, supporting speeds to 28.1Gbps, and SFP56, which can double SFP28’s capacity when set up with PAM4 modulation. SFP transceivers are mainly used in
Ethernet switches, routers and fi rewalls. In copper networks, they are ideal for bridging communication between switches up to 100 metres apart. However, in fi bre optics their network range is anywhere from 500 meters to over 100km. Furthermore, SFP modules support both single-mode and multi-mode fi bre, and transmit data over a pair of fi bres (duplex) or a single optical fi bre (simplex). T eir fl exibility allows these
transceivers to be used in almost all applications that require high speed and long-range cables, from high-defi nition
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46
