As the development of fiber technology, standards for such data rate as 40/100G are defined. Therefore, today’s cabling infrastructures must provide scalability to accommodate the need for more bandwidth in support of future applications. OM3 and OM4 fiber patch cables can not only be installed for use in today’s applications, but also provide an easy migration path to future higher speed technologies such as 40/100G. This article will discuss 40/100G and the role of OM3 and OM4 fiber patch cables plays in migration to 40/100G.
40/100G are groups of computer networking technologies for transmitting Ethernet frames at rates of 40/100 gigabit per second. There are two standards for 40/100G: IEEE 802.3ba and TIA-942. IEEE 802.3ba addresses the physical layer cabling and connector media maximums for 40/100G fiber channel requirements. While TIA-942 establishes design criteria including site space and layout, cabling infrastructure, tiered reliability and environmental considerations.
As parts of the OM3 and OM4 fiber patch cables, OM3 and OM4 fibers are the only multi-mode fibers included in the 40/100G standard. And the microns of OM3 and OM4 fibers are both 50/125 micron ("50" represents the diameter of the core, and "125" represents the diameter of the cladding). As laser optimized multi-mode fibers (LOMMF) designed for use with 850nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELS), OM3 and OM4 fibers have a minimum 2000 MHz/km and 4700 MHz/km effective modal bandwidth (EMB) respectively.
In addition to the performance of OM3 and OM4 fibers, the choice in physical connectivity is also important. Since 40/100G uses parallel optics technology which requires data transmission across multiple fibers simultaneously, the multi-fiber connectors are needed. MTP connectors provide a means to migrate to this multi-fiber parallel optic interface when needed. To meet the needs of today’s serial Ethernet and Fibre Channel applications, MTP-terminated backbone/horizontal cabling is simply installed into pre-terminated modules or cassettes. These modules provide a means for transitioning the MTP connector on the backbone cable to single-fiber connectors such as the LC duplex. Connectivity into the electronics is completed through a standard LC duplex patch cord from the module. When the time comes to migrate to 40/100G, the module and LC duplex patch cords are removed and replaced with MTP adapter panels and MTP patch cords for the parallel optic interfaces.
To best meet the needs of the future, MTP-based connectivity utilizing OM3 and OM4 fibers is the ideal solution. Fiberstore provides various kinds of devices for migration to 40/100G, including the above mentioned OM3 and OM4 fiber patch cables and MTP connectors.
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OM3 and OM4 Fiber Patch Cables
