Product applications and development trends of 400G optical transceivers

Mondo Technology Updated on 2024-03-02

Optical modules are usually composed of optoelectronic devices, functional circuits, optical interfaces, and other components. Optical transceiver is an important device to realize the photoelectric signal conversion in optical communication system, which can be divided into 10G, 25G, 40G, 50G, 100G, 200G, 400G, 800G, and 16T optical modules, among which the transmit and receive data rates of 400G optical modules are 400G seconds. At present, the technology of 100G optical modules is mature, but with the technical upgrading of products, 400G optical modules have gradually become a trend.

First, the development of 400g.

In 2022, the global optical module market will reach 95400 million US dollars, it is expected that from 2023 to 2027, the global optical module market will maintain a growth state, and it is expected to reach 155$800 million. In recent years, with the development of domestic enterprise technology, low-end optical modules have gradually been replaced by domestic ones, but the current demand for high-end optical modules and core optical chips still relies on imports.

There are many types of optical transceivers, among which 400G optical modules will lead the market share from 2020 to 2025, mainly including applications in the field of optical transport networks and data centers.

For example, compared with the 100G QSFP28 optical module, the 400G QSFP-DD optical module has a high-speed signal rate of twice the speed, twice the density, and about 3 times the power consumption. As the carrier of electrical signals, structural support, and bottom heat dissipation, the challenge of 400G optical module PCB has increased significantly.

II400G optical module application

The transmission rate of 400G optical modules is 400G, which is four times higher than that of 100G optical modules, which can maximize the bandwidth and port density of data centers. From the classification of transmission distance, the applications of 400G optical modules are mainly divided into these categories:

The transmission distance is less than 100 meters

It is mainly used for interconnecting servers and switches inside the cabinet. At present, the data rate is mainly 10G and 25G, and is transitioning to 50G or 100G.

The transmission distance is less thanm

It is mainly used for the interconnection of switches in the same data center room. The data rate is still mainly 40G and 100G, and it is slowly transitioning to 400G. The short-distance is mainly based on 850nm multimode fibers; The 100m and 500m distances mostly use 1310nm wavelength single-mode fibers, and for cost considerations, parallel single-mode technology is mainly used.

The transmission distance is less than10km

It is mainly used for the interconnection of switches or routers between buildings in data centers. At present, the data rate is mainly 100G, and it is transitioning to 400G. For 100G rate, state path communication can provide 100G LR4 optical modules, and state path communication can still use 100G PSM4 optical modules in 500M 2km scenarios.

The transmission distance is greater than10km

It is mainly used for interconnection between multiple data centers. At present, the implementation mode is 100G+DWDM, and for 100G speed, 100G LRG ER4 and 100G ZR4 optical modules can be selected according to the distance state communication between data centers.

III400G optical module products

400G optical modules can be divided into six types: 400G OSFP optical transceivers, 400G QSFP-DD optical transceivers, 400G CFP8 optical transceivers, 400G CDFP optical transceivers, 400G COBO optical transceivers, and 400G CWDM8 optical transceivers.

g osfp

The new interface standard is incompatible with the existing optoelectronic interface.

g qsfp-dd

The 400G QSFP-DD is an extension of QSFP and is compatible with QSFP solutions.

The G CFP module is expensive and requires 16 25G lasers.

g cdfp

The larger the number of channels and the larger the size, the space will be much larger.

g cobo

The module has good heat dissipation and small size, but does not support hot swapping.

g cwdm8

The wide wavelength range and high requirements for MUX Demux have increased the number of lasers.

Among the 400G optical modules, 400G QSFP-DD has great advantages, and the 400G QSFP-DD module of the multi-optical network covers the transmission distance from 100m to 1000km, which can meet the needs of enterprises for a variety of transmission distances.

At present, 400G optical modules are the most cost-effective, which can not only reduce broadband costs. At present, many companies have realized the supply of 400G optical modules, and at the same time, in the context of domestic substitution, the localization coverage of high-end optical modules such as 400G and 800G will be further improved.

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