Transceiver Standards Overview

Fibre optic transceivers come in various formats and form factors which define their power and transmission capabilities. Common form factors such as SFP, QSFP and OSFP have been developed to support increased data rate requirements and meet evolving industry demands. Across all form factors, there are different standards that refer to the transmission range of the transceiver such as SR, LR or ER.

The common specifications of transceiver standards are as follows:

As transceiver technology has developed to support higher data rates, more channels have been integrated within modules. This is why you may see a ‘4’ or ‘8’ next to the standard definition.

For instance, a 100GBase-SR4 module uses four lanes running at 25Gbps to reach a total data rate of 100Gbps, while a 400GBase-SR8 transceiver utilizes eight lanes at 50Gbps each to reach 400Gbps.

Some high speed transceivers include a ‘2’ or ‘2x’ before the standard definition, such as 2FR4, or 2DR4. This indicates an internal configuration that combines two sets of lower speed technology within a single module. This means that an 800G 2FR4 has the same internal hardware as two 400G FR4 modules in one casing.

For more detailed information, see our data rate specific Tech Talk posts.

For legacy SFP technology up to 1000Base, they look slightly different:

The above information offers a general overview of transceiver technologies; however, specifications may vary for individual devices. We provide modules tailored to a wide range of applications and can make any necessary amendments to meet your specific requirements.

Contact us to discuss a personalised solution or if you have any questions.