There are many types and specifications of optical modules, including 1×9, GBIC, SFF, XENPAK, SFP, SFP+, XFP, SFP28, QSFP, QSFP28, QSFP-DD, OSFP, etc. Choosing the appropriate optical module depends on the specific application scenario and data transmission requirements.
optical module is a device used for optical fiber communication. As a key component of data transmission, optical modules come in various types and specifications. This article will introduce common optical module types and specifications, including 1×9, GBIC, SFF, XENPAK, SFP, SFP+, XFP, SFP28, QSFP, QSFP28, QSFP-DD, OSFP, etc.
1×9 optical module: It is the earliest optical module to appear. It is usually directly solidified (welded) on the circuit board of communication equipment and used as a fixed optical module. Mainly used in fiber optic transceivers, PDH optical transceivers, fiber optic switches, single and multi-mode converters and some industrial control fields.
GBIC optical module: The full English name of GBIC module is Gigabit Interface Converter, which was quite popular in the 1990s. It is designed to be hot-swappable and adopts SC interface. It is an interchangeable product that meets international standards. Gigabit switches designed with GBIC interfaces once occupied a large market share in the market due to their flexible interchangeability. It can be said that GBIC is the first optical transceiver module with standardized packaging interfaces, which has a milestone and epoch-making status.
SFF (Small Form Factor): It is a small-size packaging optical module standard, mainly to reduce the size of the equipment. SFF optical module is one of the earliest optical module products. Its main service rate is 2.5Gbps and below. Its electrical interface has two specifications: 10pin and 20pin. The main data signal interfaces of the two versions are the same. SFF is smaller than SFP and is soldered to the motherboard in the form of pins.
XENPAK: Xenpak (10 Gigabit Ethernet Transceiver Package) is the first generation optical module launched for 10G Ethernet, using the 10G additional unit interface (XAU) in the IEEE 802.3ae standard as the data path. The transmission distance of Xenpak on G.652 single-mode fiber can reach 10 km, which is suitable for urban area applications. The Xenpak optical module is larger in size and consumes more power.
SFP optical module is a hot-swappable optical module. It mostly uses LC optical fiber interface. The transmission rate of SFP module is generally 1Gbps. SFP module is also called miniaturized GBIC (MINI-GBIC). Other functions of the SFP module are basically the same as GBIC, and are generally used in SONET/SDH networks, 100M/1000M Ethernet and other high-speed transmission applications.
The SFP+ optical module improves the SFP module and increases the transmission rate. The transmission rate of the SFP+ module can reach 10Gbps, which is suitable for large-capacity and high-speed transmission scenarios. Compared with other 10G optical modules (such as Xenpak and XFP optical modules), SFP+ only retains basic electro-optical and photoelectric conversion functions, reducing the signal control function in the original XFP design, thus simplifying the design of 10G optical modules and improving functionality. Therefore, it consumes less, has the smallest size, and is most suitable for high-density port applications, making it the most popular 10G optical module.
XFP optical module is a small plug-in optical module. The full name of XFP is 10 Gigabit Small Form Factor Pluggable. Compared with previous 10G optical modules, XFP has the most compact appearance and the lowest cost. Mainly used for 10Gbps data transmission.
The SFP28 optical module is an upgrade to the SFP+ module, and the transmission rate reaches 25Gbps.
QSFP (Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable) optical module is a multi-channel optical module. It has four independent full-duplex transceiver channels, each channel transmission rate is generally 10Gbps, used for high-density and high-speed transmission.
The QSFP28 optical module is an upgrade to the QSFP module, with a transmission rate of 100Gbps, which can meet the needs of high bandwidth and large-capacity data transmission.
The 400g QSFP DD transceiver is a further upgrade to QSFP28, with a transmission rate of 400Gbps.
OSFP (Octal Small Form-factor Pluggable) optical module is a higher-speed optical module with a transmission rate of up to 800Gbps. Its size is similar to QSFP+, but the sequence and interface are completely different.
To sum up, there are many types and specifications of optical modules, including 1×9, GBIC, SFF, XENPAK, SFP, SFP+, XFP, SFP28, QSFP, QSFP28, QSFP-DD, OSFP, etc. Choosing the appropriate optical module depends on the specific application scenario and data transmission requirements. With the continuous development of technology, optical modules will appear in more diverse types and specifications, providing more efficient and reliable solutions for data transmission.
