As we all know that the transmission distance of traditional Ethernet shielded / unshielded twisted pair is limited which only up of 100m. So Ethernet optical transceiver and optical cable are needed for achieving long-distance transmission of signals. This tutorial will explain the basic knowledge of Ethernet optical transceiver.
What is Ethernet optical transceiver?
Ethernet optical transceiver is a bidirectional transparent converter that provides Ethernet data signal to optical fiber data signals, makes Ethernet signal can be transmitted through the fiber optic line, thus breaking the Ethernet cable transmission distance of 100 meters limit, and Ethernet network coverage has been greatly extended. Fiber data communication have been widely used with its features of long-distance, large capacity, not susceptible to interference etc. But traditional network systems are all based on electric cable communication, the emergence of fiber optic transceivers makes electrical signals and fiber signals can be converted to each other for telecommunications, it applied to broadcasting, broadband networks and other high-speed, high data traffic and high performance, high reliability of the Ethernet environment.
Types of Ethernet optical transceiver
Generally speaking, Ethernet optical transceiver can be divided three types that include: desktop (stand-alone) fiber optic transceivers, industrial (DIN rail) fiber optic transceivers and rack (modular) fiber optic transceivers.
Desktop (stand-alone) fiber optic transceiver
Desktop (stand-alone) fiber optic transceiver is suitable for single user to use. Compared with other Ethernet optical transceiver, desktop (stand-alone) fiber optic transceiver has the features of small size, low cost etc. so that can save space and cost greatly. The structure of desktop (stand-alone) fiber optic transceiver is very compact, usually deployed in cabinet, distribution box and other space-limiting places, and its plug and play form factor also allow to quickly install and use.
Industrial grade (DIN rail) fiber optic transceiver
Industrial grade (DIN rail) fiber optic transceivers are used in harsh environments, such as high-speed tunnels, subways, sewage treatment, steel plants, etc., with the ability to adapt to low temperature and high temperature, strong performance of anti-lightning, shock resistance and so on.
Rack (modular) fiber optic transceiver
Rack (modular) fiber optic transceiver is a kind of optical transceiver with a rack structure, its power can achieve dual automatic backup uninterrupted work, the system has over-temperature, over-voltage, over-current protection device. The inside of it adopts voltage compensation technology to ensure that the optical transceivers can get reliable and accurate voltage to supply power. Rack (modular) optical transceiver applicable to the converge of multi-user. Now the most of racks are use 16-slot products, that is a rack can be max inserted up to 16 modular fiber optic transceivers, and each modular optical transceiver can work in the rack separately or work together. This Ethernet optical transceiver also can be broken down into network management and non-network management.
 fiber optic transceiver.jpg "Rack (modular) fiber optic transceiver")
Network-management rack optical transceiver can greatly improve the manageability of the optical network, optical network operators can use network-management rack optical transceiver to effective monitor and control of fiber optic networks, significantly decrease the management costs; meanwhile, network-management rack optical transceiver can help operators find the problems timely and accurately, greatly enhance the quality of network services.
Non-network management rack optical transceiver is also knows as plug and play Ethernet optical transceiver, can be quickly installed and fault location. However, it is very difficult for people to find the network problems which appeared in the links, at this moment SNMP card are needed for analyzing all of optical transceiver in the rack.
How to use Ethernet optical transceiver?
Ethernet optical transceivers are commonly use two kinds of interface: electrical interface (RJ45) and optical interface (SC, ST, LC etc.), electrical interface is used to connect electrical cable, and optical interface is use to connect optical cable. It is widely used in the practice network environment where have to use optical cable to extend transmission distance, and usually located in access layer application of broadband metropolitan area network; moreover, it has an important effect on helping to connect the last mile of the fiber to the metro network and the outer layer network.
Conclusion
As a kind of photoelectric conversion device, Ethernet optical transceiver can convert electrical signal into optical signal to transmit on single-mode or multi-mode fiber, that breaking the limit of the cable transmission distance is short, making Ethernet to ensure high bandwidth transmission, the use of optical fiber to achieve a few kilometers or even hundreds of kilometers of long-distance transmission.
