It's really not an exaggeration, without optical modules there is no optical communication
Over the past 100 years, mankind has evolved from simple telegraph communication to today's 5G communication, and life has changed dramatically with increasingly widespread applications such as live streaming, VR / AR, ultra-HD video conferencing, telemedicine, autonomous driving and smart homes. And all of these need to be based on high-speed data transmission.
Because high-speed signals in the copper cable quickly decay and can not achieve long-distance transmission, at the same time, because of the light than the radio signal transmission frequency is more than 1000 times higher, effectively increasing the transmission rate of information; so, optical fiber gradually become the mainstream transmission medium.
Inside computers, memories, and switches, data is processed and transmitted in the form of electrical signals. So, how to convert electrical signals into optical signals into optical fibers? Or how to convert the optical signal in the fiber into an electrical signal and access to the communication system?
And so, the optical module, the wizard of communications, was born! He realized the photoelectric conversion.
The status of optical modules
Since its birth, the optical module has had an unshakable position in the jungle! The bigwigs in the communications industry have said.
"Without optical modules, there is no optical communication."
"Optical modules are required for all 5G carrier technologies."
"Regardless of which 5G carrier standards and technologies, ultimately can not be separated from the support of optical modules, long distance, low cost, high speed optical modules are the key elements to achieve 5G low-cost wide coverage." ......
Functions of optical modules
Optical modules are usually composed of optical transmitting components (including lasers), optical receiving components (including detectors), driving circuits and optoelectronic interfaces, etc. The structure is shown in the figure below.
Schematic diagram of optical module structure (SFP + package) (image from optical module white paper)
In optical communication, the transmission and reception of information are achieved by optical modules.
the transmitter side, the optical module completes the electrical/optical conversion.
the light is transmitted in the optical fiber.
the receiving end, the optical module performs the optical/electrical conversion.
Development of Optical Module
Optical modules are the basic building blocks of the physical layer of 5G networks and are widely used in wireless and transmission equipment. For 5G carriers, 25/50/100 Gb/s high-speed optical modules will be gradually introduced in the front, middle and backhaul access layers, and N×100/200/400 Gb/s high-speed optical modules will be introduced in the backhaul aggregation and core layers.
The development trend and technical route of optical modules are shown in the following figure.
The following are the 3 main features of optical modules
Package Form
The standardization of packaging form allows the compatibility and interoperability of optical modules produced by various manufacturers.
The package form is the most important feature of an optical module. With the development of optoelectronic devices, device and chip bandwidths have gradually increased. The increase in device and chip bandwidth has been accompanied by the development of photonic integration technology, and optical modules have achieved higher speed transmission and smaller package sizes.
The following figure shows the development of optical module package form.
Transmission Rate
High-speed data transmission makes various applications of 5G possible.
The transmission rate refers to the number of bits per second in Mb/s or Gb/s. Optical modules have gradually climbed from 155 Mb/s in the early days to 622 Mb/s, 1.25 Gb/s, 2.5 Gb/s, 10 Gb/s, 25, 50, 100 Gb/s, 200 Gb/s, 400 Gb/s, and 800 Gb/s.
To achieve higher rates, 3 solutions are typically available.
Transmission distance
In the field of optical communication, faster and farther has been the unremitting pursuit of communication people.
Optical module transmission distance, the first mainly SR (100 m), LR (10 km), ER (40 km), ZR (80 km) several, with the construction of data center network, in order to more cost-effective wiring, and further derived from the DR (500 m), FR (2 km) two transmission distance.
Common optical module transmission distances are as follows.
The higher the rate the shorter the transmission distance. If the distance exceeds these limits, a fiber amplifier such as an EDFA (Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier) can be used to amplify the weak optical signal to transmit it further, or a coherent optical module can be used to transmit it. Neither is cheap, of course, and requires additional costs.
With the advent of the 5G era and the popularity of the Internet of Things, the information generated is exploding, putting higher transmission performance requirements on the physical layer underlying the entire communication system. Optical modules, as an important component, will surely continue to contribute the necessary power to the development of communication!
Over the past 100 years, mankind has evolved from simple telegraph communication to today's 5G communication, and life has changed dramatically with increasingly widespread applications such as live streaming, VR / AR, ultra-HD video conferencing, telemedicine, autonomous driving and smart homes. And all of these need to be based on high-speed data transmission.
Because high-speed signals in the copper cable quickly decay and can not achieve long-distance transmission, at the same time, because of the light than the radio signal transmission frequency is more than 1000 times higher, effectively increasing the transmission rate of information; so, optical fiber gradually become the mainstream transmission medium.
Inside computers, memories, and switches, data is processed and transmitted in the form of electrical signals. So, how to convert electrical signals into optical signals into optical fibers? Or how to convert the optical signal in the fiber into an electrical signal and access to the communication system?
And so, the optical module, the wizard of communications, was born! He realized the photoelectric conversion.
The status of optical modules
Since its birth, the optical module has had an unshakable position in the jungle! The bigwigs in the communications industry have said.
"Without optical modules, there is no optical communication."
"Optical modules are required for all 5G carrier technologies."
"Regardless of which 5G carrier standards and technologies, ultimately can not be separated from the support of optical modules, long distance, low cost, high speed optical modules are the key elements to achieve 5G low-cost wide coverage." ......
Functions of optical modules
Optical modules are usually composed of optical transmitting components (including lasers), optical receiving components (including detectors), driving circuits and optoelectronic interfaces, etc. The structure is shown in the figure below.
Schematic diagram of optical module structure (SFP + package) (image from optical module white paper)
In optical communication, the transmission and reception of information are achieved by optical modules.
the transmitter side, the optical module completes the electrical/optical conversion.
the light is transmitted in the optical fiber.
the receiving end, the optical module performs the optical/electrical conversion.
Development of Optical Module
Optical modules are the basic building blocks of the physical layer of 5G networks and are widely used in wireless and transmission equipment. For 5G carriers, 25/50/100 Gb/s high-speed optical modules will be gradually introduced in the front, middle and backhaul access layers, and N×100/200/400 Gb/s high-speed optical modules will be introduced in the backhaul aggregation and core layers.
The development trend and technical route of optical modules are shown in the following figure.
The following are the 3 main features of optical modules
Package Form
The standardization of packaging form allows the compatibility and interoperability of optical modules produced by various manufacturers.
The package form is the most important feature of an optical module. With the development of optoelectronic devices, device and chip bandwidths have gradually increased. The increase in device and chip bandwidth has been accompanied by the development of photonic integration technology, and optical modules have achieved higher speed transmission and smaller package sizes.
The following figure shows the development of optical module package form.
Transmission Rate
High-speed data transmission makes various applications of 5G possible.
The transmission rate refers to the number of bits per second in Mb/s or Gb/s. Optical modules have gradually climbed from 155 Mb/s in the early days to 622 Mb/s, 1.25 Gb/s, 2.5 Gb/s, 10 Gb/s, 25, 50, 100 Gb/s, 200 Gb/s, 400 Gb/s, and 800 Gb/s.
To achieve higher rates, 3 solutions are typically available.
Transmission distance
In the field of optical communication, faster and farther has been the unremitting pursuit of communication people.
Optical module transmission distance, the first mainly SR (100 m), LR (10 km), ER (40 km), ZR (80 km) several, with the construction of data center network, in order to more cost-effective wiring, and further derived from the DR (500 m), FR (2 km) two transmission distance.
Common optical module transmission distances are as follows.
The higher the rate the shorter the transmission distance. If the distance exceeds these limits, a fiber amplifier such as an EDFA (Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier) can be used to amplify the weak optical signal to transmit it further, or a coherent optical module can be used to transmit it. Neither is cheap, of course, and requires additional costs.
With the advent of the 5G era and the popularity of the Internet of Things, the information generated is exploding, putting higher transmission performance requirements on the physical layer underlying the entire communication system. Optical modules, as an important component, will surely continue to contribute the necessary power to the development of communication!