40/100 Gigabit Ethernet Fiber Optical Cabling
Migration to fast backbone applications
When migrating to faster transmission, the IEEE stipulates changing to multi-fiber connectors. The reason: Higher bandwidth can only be realized with multi-fiber cabling. According to IEEE 802.3bm, it is possible to realize 40 Gbit/s (40GBASE-SR4) as well as 100 Gbit/s (100GBASE-SR4) using Base-8 cabling.
The MPO interface has become the standard for transmissions of 40 or 100 Gbit/s over four parallel fibers. As only four pairs of fibers are required for data transmission, four fibers per connector remain unused in a simple MPO 12 cabling layout. A different approach is the use of URM NG connectors that were designed for data transmission over eight fibers, thus integrating seamlessly in Base-8 cabling and using all available fibers.
Comparing both approaches with respect to possible migration paths, the replacement of the cassette system is to be considered for the MPO trunk cabling strategy. Hence, the best migration path is URM NG trunk cabling, which can already be implemented in 10 Gigabit Ethernet areas. With this approach, all fixed cabling as well as all distribution equipment can be used on. When migrating to 40 or 100 Gbit/s, merely the patch cables to the active port need to be replaced.
All application situations from 10 to 400 Gbit/s may be realized alternatively with parallel transmission in a two-fiber solution. This, however, strongly increases the efforts for installation and the cable load. We would be pleased to advise you which cabling concept is the right one for your application.
