With the development of the 5G optical communications industry, the related industries are also growing rapidly such as optical transceiver. We will talk about the differences between CWDM and ordinary optical modules today.
① CWDM saves fiber resources
Compared with ordinary optical transceivers, CWDM use fewer fibers. CWDM optical transceiver multiplexes the original multiple signals of different wavelengths into one signal through the multiplexer, and then transmits it to the receiving end through a single optical fiber. The receiving end demultiplexes one signal into multiple different wavelengths through the demultiplexer. The signal is transmitted to the corresponding device. Ordinary optical transceivers use one optical fiber to transmit one wavelength, and multiple optical fibers must be used to transmit multiple waves. Therefore, CWDM save fiber resources more than ordinary optical transceivers.
②CWDM requires wavelength division multiplexer/demultiplexer
The ordinary optical transceiver is connected and inserted into the switch then work normally, while the CWDM optical transceiver needs a coarse wavelength division multiplexer/demultiplexer after being inserted into the switch.
③Different working wavelengths
CWDM optical transceivers have 18 working wavelengths (1270-1610nm) in total, and each of them is separated by 20nm. The working wavelengths of ordinary optical modules are usually 850nm, 1310nm, and 1550nm.
At present, CWDM technology is a commercial solution for fronthaul optical transceivers in bearer networks. CWDM optical transceivers have become an inseparable part of mainstream optical transceivers due to cost-saving and fiber-saving.
