XFP Transceiver Overview

Since the module multi-source agreement (MSA) association announced the XFP specification, MSA form factors for 10 Gbit/s optical transceivers have evolved along two separate paths that are now converging on XFP as a universal long-term solution. XFP transceiver is an ultra-small, hot-pluggable, 10 Gbit/s optical transceiver designed to help drive cost and power consumption out of 10 Gbit/s optical networking applications, and enables rapid advances in port density after the previous X2 and XPAK transceiver as well.

Features of XFP Transceiver

• Supports 10GBASE Ethernet and OC-192/STM-64 data rates
• Hot-swappable input/output device plugs into a XFP port
• Provides flexibility of interface choice
• Available for various transmission distance ranging from 300 m to 80 km
• Operates over a single wavelength or use dense wavelength-division multiplexing techniques
• Compliance with XFP Multi-Source Agreement (MSA)
• Digital diagnostic monitoring
• Uses LC fiber connector type to achieve high density
• A 1310nm directly modulated laser with PIN for 10 km
• A 1550nm cooled EML with PIN for 40 or 80 km
Besides, XFP transceiver costs approximately 30% to 40% less than earlier MSA form factors, and is far more compact, giving two to three times the density. As it is multiprotocol and hot-pluggable, it's not surprising that the industries are lining up behind it. Its versatility, low cost, and small footprint are making XFP transceiver the choice for an ever-growing set of 10 Gbit/s communications applications.

Applications of XFP Transceiver

XFP transceiver supports 10 Gigabit Ethernet, 10 Gbit/s Fibre Channel, synchronous optical networking (SONET) at OC-192 rates, synchronous optical networking STM-64, 10 Gbit/s Optical Transport Network(OTN) OTU-2, and parallel optics links. The XFP transceiver can be applied in longer reach applications for the metro-WDM market, which requires a cost-optimized, managed platform supporting different services and suitable for applications in diversified network topologies. For example, XFP-10G-L-OC192-SR1 transceiver provided by Fiberstore can support diverse applications for SDH/Sonet equipment including FEC (9.95Gb/s to 10.7Gb/s), as well as Ethernet LAN(10.325Gb/s) and WAN(9.95Gb/s) applications. The high performance uncooled 1310nm DFB transmitter and high sensitivity PIN receiver provide superior performance for SONET /SDH and Ethernet applications at up to 10km links. Digital diagnostics functions are available via a 2-wire serial interface, as specified in the XFP MSA.

Developing Trend of XFP Transceiver

The developing trend of transceiver depends on customers' needs. And the fact is that customers always need faster, smaller, and more cost-effective transceivers with lower power consumption. Different package of transceivers have come to the market as technology develops. With the fact that the new generation of transceiver package form will gradually replace the older generation, the old version also need to upgrade otherwise it has to be replaced gradually till disappear. For example, when XFP came to us, the transponder was replaced gradually. By adding tunable technique, the 10G transponders have still been in the market so far. But now SFP+ transceiver module also achieves tunable technique which indicates that the need for XFP is gradually decreasing.

Fiberstore manufactures and supplies a complete range of XFP transceiver modules which can be customized. In addition, Fiberstore also provides compatible XFP transceivers as alternatives to those branded by Cisco, HP, Juniper Networks. The aim is to offer customers high-performance and cost-effective products to fulfill their requirements, contributing this way to the customer's success and satisfaction.