In recent years, there have been more techniques used to design with the optical transceiver in order to get higher performance and expand the applications, e.g. WDM optical transceivers, BiDi optical transceivers or tunable optical transceivers etc. Since we have introduced these more than once before, today, I’d like to start a new topic that is about “OTDR SFP”. Actually, as early as three years ago, the “OTDR SFP” was launched by some transceiver vendors. However, even today, there are still many people do not even know what it is. I still remembered that when I first heard “OTDR SFP”, I really felt strange. Why OTDR and SFP are combined together? And what applications are there? Thus, this is why I’d like to talk about it.
What is OTDR SFP Transceiver?
Actually, “OTDR SFP” is a SFP (Small form-factor pluggable) transceiver with integrated OTDR(optical time-domain reflectometer), designed specifically for DWDM optical supervisory channel (OSC) applications. It is also known as SFP transceiver with built-in micro OTDR. The following picture shows the SFP OTDR block diagram.
SFP OTDR Block Diagram
As we know, OTDR has been proposed as a method to provide rapid measurement of a fiber fault location. When it combines with the transceiver, there may be a new application prospect. This optical transceiver module enables users to accurately locate optical fiber faults in DWDM systems using the built-in mini-OTDR operating on the supervisory wavelength. The SFP transceiver module is a single mode fiber working unit that, unlike most SFP transceivers, can use a single wavelength for the transmitter and receiver. This allows the fiber capacity to be doubled because each wavelength is used in both directions. This optical arrangement also enables the transceiver to operate as an OTDR. The built-in OTDR works by automatically running reflection tests when a fault is detected, then sending the reflection and location results via SNMP(Simple Network Management Protocol) to the Host Switch. The “OTDR SFP” helps us to reduce costs by minimizing time to repair a fiber fault and also to improve the customer experience.
In fact, the build-in OTDR is one of the new functions of optical transceivers. However, nowadays, with the mature development of optical transceivers, functions are not the main concern of the users. Conversely, if these new types of optical transceivers will require a set of update of the equipment, people will be unwilling to use them due to the high extra cost. Thus, the cost of the optical transceivers seems to be more important. Fiberstore strives to offer high-quality optical transceivers with a low cost. Though, we do not launch the OTDR SFP product on line now, we supply a variety of optical transceivers which are compatible with many major brands. Moreover, if you really have the requirements of the new functions, we also welcome you to contact us directly over sales@fiberstore.com because we offer the best custom service for better satisfying your demands.
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