The active optical cables or AOC cables were introduced as an advanced replacement for the traditional copper cables. The AOC cables are of great importance in the Ethernet networks, hybrid (Copper-Fiber) networks, and so on. These cables are chosen when data security is important, as well as high transmission bandwidth, and high transmission speed are required. These AOC cables are commonly used in applications related to high-performance computing (HPC), supercomputers, consumer electronics, etc. However, before implementing AOC cables in your networks, it is essential to understand what AOC cables are, how they work, and the terms of installation. This post discusses everything that you need to know before integrating your Ethernet or hybrid network with AOC cables.
An Overview of Active Optical Cables
Active Optical Cables (AOC) are optical fiber cables. These cables act as an intermediate media of transmission between a copper cable and the receiver device. The copper cables are widely used in the traditional copper-based Ethernet networks. This copper cable transmission would pose limitations on the transmission of bulky data at high speeds and over long distances. That is why the copper cables are now connected and extended with the AOC cables. AOC cables take the electric signals from the copper cables, convert them into optical pulses, and then the data packets are transmitted at higher speed and higher bandwidth over the fiber optic cable. These cables allow short and long-distance transmission of signals with low power consumption.
However, the AOC cable is not just a fiber strand. It consists of multiple functional components which individually perform different tasks throughout the AOC cables application.
Functional Components of AOC Cables
The functional components of an active optical cable are listed below. These functional components are responsible for AOC cables’ application throughout the transmission.
· QSFP+ Connector: These advanced SFP-8436 connectors are integrated into the fiber optic cable for enabling plug-and-play connectivity. The SFP or any advanced module such as QSFP+ enables connectivity to copper or optical devices via plug-and-play operation.
· Active Optical Transceiver: The optical transceiver consists of a transmitter, receiver, and media converter unit. This transceiver unit performs electro-optical (E-O) and opto-electric (O-E) conversion of data. The electrical data received from the copper cable is converted into optical pulses and is forwarded over fiber optic strands.
· Multi-Fiber Push On (MPO) Connectors: The MPO connectors are the devices used to separate the optical strands from each other. One optical cable can have multiple optical strands which are to be kept wrapped inside the shell but distanced from each other. In certain cases, multi-port multi-fiber push-on (MPO) connectors are utilized.
Note: All three functional components of AOC cables are enclosed inside a ribbon optical cable or a shell. The shell also becomes a passive component as it houses the active components.
Benefits of AOC Cables over Traditional Copper Cables
The following are the benefits of AOC cables over copper cables that make them a better choice for Ethernet networks, high capacity networks, data center networks, etc.
· The data transmission distance over a multi-mode fiber cable can be up to 100meters. Whereas on the single-mode fiber cable, nearly 300 meters of transmission is possible.
· The fiber cables are light in weight and thinner than copper cables, therefore, the integration takes compact space.
· The higher bandwidth of AOC enables bulk data and large frame transmission. This makes these cables suitable for video transmission and high-capacity transmission.
· Being an optical fiber cable, the data losses, attenuation, insertion losses, interconnection losses are negligible. This prevents data loss and reduces the possibility of missing data packets.
· It can be integrated with optical splitters or multiplexers for multi-directional transmission of the same data flames. In multiplexing, this feature can be beneficial.
· It consumes lesser power as compared to copper cables.
Now that AOC cables are well introduced, it is important to pair them with the right and quality devices in a network to take advantage. VERSITRON is one of the leading manufacturers of fiber optics products like media converters, network switches, connectors, transceivers, etc. All these devices have been widely used along with AOC cables in several mission-critical and regular applications across the world.
