Nice Features of SFP Transceivers

SFP transceivers are the most used module in the field of Data Communication and Networking. It mainly acts as an interface between a networking device and its interconnecting cable. Always been inserted into fiber switches, routers, etc. The interconnecting cable can be copper and fiber optic.

Why SFP Transceivers Are So Popular?

1.The "hot-pluggable" feature of SFP makes it flexible. Any future changes can be easily incorporated into the SFP module, while the maintenance of the module is also made easier by this hot-pluggable feature of SFP, thereby making it compact.

2.SFP transceivers are compatible with a number of communication standards like Ethernet, SONET along with many other standards. SFP is an upgraded version of Gigabit Interface Converter (GBIC) module. SFPs are with LC connector interface whereas GBICs are with SC cable interfaces. SFP is more space saving than GBIC, since the former has only half the size of the latter. SFP transceivers comply with the Multi Source Agreement between different manufacturers.

3.SFP transceivers are of various types and each type comes with different configurations of transmitter and receiver. This choice of transceiver is usually made based on the type of fiber optic cable, data rate of the connection and length. These SFP modules are of several versions, where in each version has different values of working wavelength and working distance: typical wavelength of different modules are 850 nm, 1310 nm and 1550 nm with working distances of 550m (SX), 10 km (LX) and 40 km (XD) respectively. There are also other types of SFP like DWDM, CWDM and bi-directional SFP with single fiber having upstream and downstream working wavelengths of 1310 nm and 1490 nm.

4.Certain SFP transceivers also use copper cables as interface. This will cause a device in the network to send their data over shielded or unshielded twisted pair cable. Usually such copper cable interfaces are used when the information to be transmitted needs to cover only shorter distances where use of copper cable is more economical than optic fiber cables.

5.Optical SFP transceivers come with digital monitoring features with the help of which one can monitor the performance of SFP in real time. This feature can be used to monitor SFP's performance parameters like working temperature and wavelength, supply voltage, optical input and output, etc. These transceivers have a PCB in them which connects to an electrical connector designed for SFP. SFP transceiver also has a 256 byte EEPROM memory. SFP transceivers are housed in a metal enclosure and their power dissipation is low. They operate over a wide temperature range and support a large number of different types of cable. Improved version of SFP can support transmission rates up to 10Gbps, known as 10G SFP.

As mentioned above, SFP transceivers are so popular among the other fiber optic transceivers like GBIC, XFP transceiver, XENPAK, QSFP+, CFP in networking because of their compactness, flexible and economical design, high performance and low cost.