Introduction on 100GBASE ER4 Optical Transceiver What Is the 100Gbase ER4 Standard? Before you know the definition of the 100G ER4 optical transceiver, I would like to introduce a 100Gbase ER4 standard for you. The 100Gbase ER4 optical module standard is defined by the IEEE 802.3ba which supports the dense wavelength division multiplexing technology to transmit signals by the single-mode fiber optic cables with a working wavelength of 1310nm. The IEEE also defines the ‘ER’ as extended reach. But how does the QSFP28 ER4 extend the transmission distance? The approach to extending the distance is achieved by the use of a Semiconductor Optical Amplifier (SOA) amplifying the light signals before entering the PIN photodetector. What Is 100GBASE ER4? The 100G QSP28 ER4 optical transceiver module is compliant with QSFP MSA, IEEE 802.3ba 100GBASE-ER4 Lite, and OTU4 standard which can reach a distance of 40km on SMF. It supports both 100G Ethernet and OTU4 network applications with a maximum power consumption of 4.5W. How Does 100G QSFP28 ER4 Work? The 100G ER4 optical transmitter is operating at the LAN WDM wavelength (1295nm, 1300nm, 1305nm, and 1310nm). The four optical signals from the four wavelengths are multiplexed to transmit on SMF through an industry-standard LC connector (a WDM Mux is used to combine the wavelength signals onto a single fiber). On the receiver side, the SOA amplifies the signals before a WDM Demux splitting the signals into individual channels (the PIN receivers are used to convert the channels back to electrical signals). 100GBASE ER4 Application The 100G ER4 module is the best choice for long-distance transmission no more than 40km. It can be applied for 100G direct connection and interconnection in enterprise networks and data centers.
Direct Connection Cabling Solution The QSFP28 ER4 enables 100G direct connection scales all the way up to 40km. Just insert two 100GBASE ER4 modules into the corresponding ports on 100G data center switches, then connect them by LC duplex single-mode patch cables. Data Center Interconnect Cabling Solution The 100G QSFP28 ER4 optical module is suitable for connecting data centers that are sparsely located, which provides a convenient choice for long-distance interconnection between data centers with 100G services. It is an economical solution for high-speed interconnection between distributed data centers. The following diagram shows the basic DCI network solution using 100G QSFP28 ER4 transceivers.

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