Do You Know These Tips about CFP Optical Transceivers?

On account that the size of CFP optical module is too large to meet the high density demand of data center, the CFP-MSA Committee defines two new CFP series optical modules, namely CFP2 optical module and CFP4 optical module. Compared with the existing CFP, CFP2 and CFP4 will be respectively double and quadruple front panel port density, so 100G CFP optical module has three different sizes of form factor. This post will have an introduction to CFP/CFP2/CFP4 optical transceivers.

Introduction to CFP/CFP2/CFP4 Optics
This CFP transceiver is designed after SFP transceiver interface, but it supports much larger internet speed, which is realized by using 10×10Gbit/s in each direction. The C stands for the Latin letter C, meaning the number 100 (centum). Among these three CFP form factors, the size of the CFP optical module is the largest; the CFP2 optical module is 1/2 of the CFP; the CFP4 optical module is 1/4 of the CFP. (The size of the three modules, as shown in the following figure). It is necessarily reminded that CFP/CFP2/CFP4 optical modules can not be replaced for use with each other, but they can be simultaneously used in the same system.




CFP optical module supports transmission over a single mode and multimode fiber at various rates, protocols and link lengths, including all Physical Media Dependent (PMD) interfaces in IEEE 802.3ba standard.
The CFP optical module is designed on the basis of a small, pluggable optical module (SFP) interface. It is larger in size and supports 100Gbps data transmission. The CFP optical module can support single 100G signal, OTU4, one or more 40G signals, OTU3 or STM-256/OC-768.
The 100G CFP2 optical module is often used for a interconnect link of 100G Ethernet, and the transmission efficiency is higher than that of the CFP. Simultaneously,  the size is smaller than that of CFP which is suitable for higher density wiring. The 100G CFP4 module has the same rate as that of CFP/CFP2 optical module, but the transmission efficiency has been greatly improved. Besides, the power consumption is reduced, and the cost is also lower than that of CFP2. Therefore, CFP4 optical module has an irreplaceable advantage. Next, the advantages of CFP4 optical module will be involved in.

Advantages of CFP Optical Transceiver Module

1. With higher transmission efficiency: the early 100G CFP optical module achieves the 100G transmission rate through 10*10G channels, and the 100G CFP4 optical module now achieves 100G transmission through 4 25G channels, so the transmission efficiency is higher and the stability is stronger.
2. With smaller volume: the volume of the CFP4 optical module is 1/4 of the CFP, which is the smallest optical module in the CFP series light module.
3. With higher integration of modules: the integration of CFP2 is 2 times that of CFP, and the integration of CFP4 is four times that of CFP.
4. With lower power consumption & cost: the transmission efficiency of CFP4 optical module is obviously improved, and the power consumption is decreased and the cost of system is lower than that of CFP2.

Conclusion
Above all is about the tips of CFP optics that you should know, hoping it will be beneficial to you in the latter applications. In addition, for above mentioned  CFP series optical transceivers, Gigalight can offer them for you. Of course, you can also custom them from Gigalight.