How Much Do You Know About 100G CFP Series Optical Modules?

In contemporary world, the Internet users have experienced the great changes brought by 10 Gigabit Ethernet and 40 Gigabit Ethernet. For most Ethernet users, 10/40GbE is more than sufficient, however, not enough for the increasingly growing enterprise networks. In order to enhance the efficiency of Gigabit Ethernet network, developers in data center researched and found out a solution—100 Gigabit Ethernet. 100 Gigabit Ethernet (100GbE) is groups of computer networking technologies for transmitting Ethernet frames at rates of 100 gigabits per second (100 Gbit/s), which conforms with 802.3bm-2015 standards. 100G Ethernet significantly improved efficiency on all aspects, such as bandwidth, space, power...There are many form factors of 100G transceivers including CXP, CFP, CFP2, CPAK, CFP4 and QSFP28. In this passage, we are going to mainly talk about CFP, CFP2, CFP4 and CXP.

CFP Module

CFP is short for C form-factor pluggable, and the first letter-C stands for the Latin letter C used to express the number 100 (centum). It is designed to support faster Ethernet speed at a data rate of 10×10 Gbit/s in each direction. This module consumes less power and there’s plenty of space for PHY’s. The advantage of 100G CFP Module is that it uses 10 lanes to support data transmission. Besides, it uses 148 pin electrical connection, integrated digital processor within package and less than 24 W power usage. There are several transmitter and receiver types available to CFP 100G modules, including LR4, SR10 and ER4.

CFP-100G-LR4 supports transmission distance of 10 km on standard single-mode fiber. It carries over four wavelengths of 100 Gigabit Ethernet signal. Multiplexing and demultiplexing of the four wavelengths are managed within the device. CFP-100G-SR4 module supports link lengths of 100 m and 150 m respectively on OM3 and OM4 multimode fiber cables. Different from CFP-100G-LR4, this module uses 10 lanes to transfer data. And the maximum channel insertion loss allowed is respectively 1.9 dB over 100 m of OM3 cable or 1.5 dB over 150 m of OM4 cable. The maximum transmission distance of CFP-100G-ER4 is 40 km on standard single-mode fiber. Just as CFP-100G-LR4, CFP-100G-ER4 is also carrying over four wavelengths of 100 Gigabit Ethernet signal. On transmit-and-receive optical signal levels, it has Digital Optical Monitoring (DOM) support.

CFP2 and CFP4 Modules

CFP2 and CFP4 modules are generated from CFP, and CFP2 supports both 10×10G and also the newer 4×25G links. CFP2 modules use the 10-lane CAUI-10 electrical interface or the 4-lane CAUI-10 electrical interface. CFP4 modules use only the 4-lane CAUI-10 electrical interface. The size of form factor and power were reduced a lot compared with CFP. The CFP4 form factor is smaller than CFP2. And the power consumption of CFP4 is much lower than CFP2, which is about 10 W. And this is well structured in a high port density 100G module. LR4 is a common transmitter and receiver type used for CFP2 and CFP4. The maximum transmission distance is 10 km with a wavelength of 1310 nm.

The above image shows the more compact form factor of the CFP series optical modules.

CXP Module

CXP module is specially designed for 100G SR10 connections. It has a smaller and more compact form factor than the all above modules for the exclusive SR10 design. And it has the least power consumption among all the above modules as well. The maximum transmission distance of CXP 100GBASE SR10 is 150 m with the wavelength of 850 nm. CXP transceiver is mainly used for linking computer or storage clusters within the rack.

Summary

In this text, we mainly talked about 100G Ethernet network and its several transceiver types, including CFP, CFP2, CFP4 and CXP modules. According to your requirement, you can choose an appropriate module to match your equipment.