Things to Know about 40GBASE-SR4 QSFP+ Modules

With the growing demand for high data rates, 40 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) is now becoming more and more widely adopted. For a 40 GbE network application, precise connectivity is crucial. 40G QSFP (quad small form factor pluggable) portfolio offers customers a wide variety of high-density and low-power 40 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity options. Among them, 40GBASE-SR4 QSFP+ transceiver is a common 40 GbE connectivity option. And here are some things that you need to know about 40GBASE-SR4 QSFP+ transceivers.

Introduction

40GBASE-SR4 is a fiber optic interface for multimode fiber of OM classes 3 and 4 with four parallel OM3 or OM4 fibers in both directions. “S” means short, indicating that it is an interface for short distances. The “R” denotes the type of interface with 64B/66B encoding and the numeral 4 indicates that the transmission is carried out over a ribbon fiber with four multimode fibers in every direction. Each lane has a 10 Gbit/s data rate. 40GBASE-SR4 QSFP+ modules usually use a parallel multimode fiber (MMF) link to achieve 40G. It offers 4 independent transmit and receive channels, each capable of 10G operation for an aggregate data rate of 40G over 100 meters of OM3 MMF or 150 meters of OM4 MMF. It primarily enables high-bandwidth 40G optical links over 12-fiber parallel fiber terminated with MPO/MTP multifiber female connectors.

40GBASE-SR4 QSFP+ module can also be used in a 4x10G mode for interoperability with 10GBASE-SR interfaces up to 100 and 150 meters on OM3 and OM4 fibers, respectively. The worry-free 4x10G mode operation is enabled by the optimization of the transmit and receive optical characteristics to prevent receiver overload or unnecessary triggering of alarm thresholds on the 10GBASE-SR receiver, and at the same time is completely interoperable with all standard 40GBASE-SR4 interfaces. The 4x10G connectivity is achieved using an external 12-fiber parallel to 2-fiber duplex breakout cable, which connects the 40GBASE-SR4 module to four 10GBASE-SR optical interfaces. The picture below shows a Mellanox MC2210411-SR4 compatible 40GBASE-SR4 QSFP+ transceiver.

40GBASE-SR4 QSFP+ Module vs 40GBASE-CSR4 QSFP+ Module

40GBASE-CSR4 QSFP+ module is similar to the 40GBASE-SR4 interface extends supported link lengths to 300m and 400m respectively on laser-optimized OM3 and OM4 multimode fiber cables. Each 10-gigabit lane of this module is compliant to IEEE 10GBASE-SR specifications. This module can be used for native 40G optical links over 12-fiber ribbon cables with MPO/MTP connectors, or in 4x10G mode with ribbon to duplex fiber breakout cables for connectivity to four 10GBASE-SR interfaces. Maximum channel insertion loss allowed is respectively 2.6dB over 300m of OM3 cable or 2.9dB over 400m of OM4 cable.

Conclusion

Fiberstore offers you a wide variety of 40GBASE-SR4 QSFP+ transceivers for your high-density and low-power 40 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity options branded by many famous companies like Cisco, Juniper or HP. And we also provide other compatible 40G QSFP+ transceivers, such as 40GBASE-LR4 QSFP+ transceiver, 40GBASE-ER4 QSFP+ transceiver, 40GBASE-CSR4 QSFP+ transceiver, etc. Every fiber optic transceiver provided by Fiberstore has been tested to ensure its compatibility and interoperability. You can buy from us with confidence.