How To Shop For A Fiber Optic Transceiver

Choosing the right Fiber Optic Transceiver is quite tricky and requires a clear idea of what you want. You can approach the selection by exploring the fiber cable on its own or review the cable and transceiver as a single identity. However, it important to keep in mind that you need to know what is needed for the device to work optimally regardless of your approach. The following are some key tips that will help shop the right transceiver. 

Know the required Fiber Mode

There are two types of fiber: single-mode and multimode fiber. Single-mode fiber is designed for use in long-distance transmissions like bandwidth travelling over long distances. On the other hand, multimode fiber allows signals to travel in more than one path at a time. It is best suited for short distance transmissions such as video surveillance and LAN systems. 

Determine the type of duplex

This involves knowing whether you will need half or full duplex. Some chips are designed to use full duplex only. Selecting half duplex Fiber Transceiverfor such chips may cause conflict or losses. It is advisable to go for full duplex, especially if you aren’t sure whether your application can support half duplex. Remember modern Ethernet interfaces operate at 10,000 1000,100 or 10 Mbps irrespective of the type of duplex used. 

Safety device and temperature adaptability

It is good to choose a transceiver with maximum loss prevention and safety features. This comes along with benefits such as reduced operation cost and loss. Moreover, choose a Fiber Transceiver with temperature adaptability feature that prevents your device from running hot. The feature allows you to know how well the optical transceiver can adapt to heat even when operating at high temperature. This prevents permanent failure as a result of high temperatures. The final security feature that you should check is flame resistance that comes in three grades: high, special and general. 

Material and construction 

There are many Ethernet STP modules that feature different connectors. Some modules operate on standard Category 5 with a RJ-45 connector and different lengths. Some of the common application lengths include 550m, 10km and 100km. Fiber Optic Transceivers are made with different internal construction for use in many applications. The constructions include the tight pack or distribution, fanout design or breakdown and assembly or zip cord. The fanout design is more durable and gives every buffered fiber an individual jacket. 

     Maintenance after purchase

    Choosing the right transceiver for your application is a necessary condition. You should maintain it properly for a longer life time. You can maximize the life and effectiveness of the Fiber Transceiver by doing the following.Clean and inspect routinely for damage and dust using a microscope. Clean it even before installation to prevent dust from settling at the ends.Wear an ESD preventative wrist when handling it.Only remove or insert the transceiver when necessary

It is clear that there are many factors that you need to consider when looking for a Fiber Optic Transceiver. So, be sure to keep the above factors in mind and for real, you will find the process friendlier and settle for a quality transceiver.

A litte About The Fibre Optic Transceiver

The practicality and conveniency offered Fibre Optic Transceivers is far much greater than the normal transmission of information through electrical wires. Fiber optic transceivers are self-contained components that usually combine a fiber optic transmitter and a fiber optic receiver in a single module. The main role of optical module is photoelectric conversion, where the transmitter end takes in and converts electrical signal into light, which is after the the optical fiber transmission in the fiber cable plant. Then, the receiver end again converts the light signal into an electrical signal. They are usually arranged in parallel so that they can operate without relying on each other. Both the fiber optic transmitter and fiber optic transceiver possess their own circuitry and can handle the transmissions in both directions. Usually, transceivers are inserted in various devices such as network interface cards and routers which basically provide more than one transceiver module slot.

Fiber optic transmitters consist of four types of sources that convert electrical signals into optical signals. They include fabry-perot (FP), LEDs, vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers, and distributed feedback (DFB). As for the fiber optic receivers, they simply use photodiodes or photodetectors (semiconductor detectors) to convert optical signals into electrical signals. For short wavelength links, Silicon photodiodes are used. Indium gallium arsenide detectors are used for long wavelength links as they produce less noise as compared to germanium, which allows for more sensitive receivers. In cases of high speed systems, avalanche photodiodes.

How Fiber Optic Transceivers Work

In the fiber optics, the transmitters usually convert an electrical signal into an optical signal. This conversion is usually coupled with a connector and is transmitted through a fiber optic cable. Then, the light coming from the end of the cable is connected to a receiver and a detector simply converts the light back into an electrical signal. In this case, the light source is usually a laser diode or a light emitting diode.

Types of Fiber Optic Transceivers

the OPTICAL TRANSCEIVER is available in different types in the market. All these types differ in several ways: type of connections, data transmission speeds, and packing forms. The most popular types of types of fiber optic transceivers available in the market are SFP, SFP+, XFP, X2, Xenpak, and GBIC. Depending on the fiber type each FIBER OPTIC TRANCEIVER connects to, they are designed for use with the SM (single mode), MM (multimode), and WDM fiber (DWDM, CWDM modules). Single-mode fibers usually transmit infrared laser light at wavelengths ranging from 1,300 to 1,500 nm. Since they have smaller cores, they are ideal for use with laser sources for high speed, long distance links. As for the multimode fibers, they are used with LEDs sources and the transmission speeds and distance limits are usually 100Mbits/s for 2km, 1Gbits/s for 220-550m, 10Gbit/s for up to 300m. LED sources are ideal for lower speeds and shorter distance links.

Anyone who intends to purchase fiber optic transceivers should not only specify the cable and the connector type, but also the basic requirements for the wavelength, data rate, operating voltage, and the bandwidth. This is to avoid choosing the wrong type of an OPTICAL TRANSCEIVER.