Three Products to Realize Multimode to Single-Mode Fiber Conversion
An ideal P2P fiber connection is when the two ends maintain the same optics. Yet the optical fiber network is complex with various fiber types in the system. Situations that require interconnections of single-mode fiber with multimode fiber are common. Such as:
• Transmission distance is limited over multimode fiber;
• Equipment with fixed multimode ports needs connectivity to single-mode equipment;
• In-building multimode equipment needs to link to the outside single-mode network.
However, it is not practical to directly splice multimode and single-mode fiber, due to significant differences in core diameter. To achieve MMF to SMF or SMF to MMF connection, we need to use auxiliary products for mode conversion.
Fiber Media Converter
One function of a fiber-to-fiber media converter is to convert multimode to single-mode fiber. QSFPTEK provides a 10G fiber converter with 2 SFP/SFP+ ports. The 2 10GBase-X slots are compatible with a wide range of 1G SFP or 10G SFP+ modules.
Here is a real deployment case. Switches in two buildings are legacy with fixed multimode ports. Connectivity is required for data communication, and the distance between the two buildings is about 8 km.
1. Plug a 10GBASE-SR SFP+ into the switch SFP+ port and one of the media converter slots respectively.
2. Connect the switch with the media converter with an OM3 multimode fiber patch cable.
3. Plug a 10GBASE-LR SFP+ into the other slot of the media converter.
4. Repeat the same operation to the devices on the other building
5. Connect the two media converters with an OS2 single-mode fiber patch cable.
WDM Transponder
WDM transponder or Optical to Electrical to Optical (OEO) is specially designed for converged WDM optical network. It solves communication issues brought by different wavelength and fiber types in the same network. Though OEO is mainly used for wavelength conversion, it also has the function to convert multimode to single-mode.
To realize MMF-to- SMF conversion, check the steps that we conduct in the above case. The used products and deployment process are almost the same.
Mode Conditioning Patch Cables
Different from the previous two products, a mode conditioning patch cable (MCP) converters single-mode to multimode. The duplex cable is comprised of two strands of fiber - one is pure MMF and the other is one-half MMF and one-half SMF. The sole SMF connector is to connect the transmitting bore of the transceiver. and the other MMF connector at the same end is to connect the receiving bore of the module. A special offset design in the MCP eliminates the multiple signal confusion caused by SMF lase launch into the MMF core.
Image Source: Cisco
Conclusion
This post introduces three products to achieve single-mode and multimode fiber mode conversion. To convert multimode to single-mode fiber, both fiber media converter and WDM transponder are feasible. For regular use, it is common to deploy cost-effective fiber-to-fiber media converters. A costly WDM transponder may be nessary for WDM optical networks. Mode-conditioning fiber patch cable provides a solution to patch your existing multimode cable plant to the 1000base-LX/LH or 10GBASE-LX4/LRM transceivers.
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