What is MPO cable and how to use it?

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MPO cable consists of MPO connectors and fibers. MPO connectors are available in female (without pins) or male (with pins) styles. MPO connectors greatly increase cable density, save circuit cards and rack space, and are ideal for current 40G/100G cabling and future network speed upgrades.

 

5 Performance Applications of MPO Cable Types

The type of MPO cable is mainly determined by 5 characteristics, including function, polarity, fiber number, fiber pattern and sheath level, to meet different application environments and requirements.

 

MPO Cable Types: Classified by function

Three MPO cable types, such as MPO trunk cables, MPO breakout cables, and MPO conversion cables, are ideal for high-density cabling networks, providing better network capacity and flexibility.

MPO Trunk Cable

MPO trunk cables are equipped with MPO connectors (female/male) on both ends and are available in 8-144 fibers. These MPO cable is ideal for structured cabling systems such as 40G-40G and 100G-100G direct connect.

 

MPO cable

MPO cable

 

MPO breakout cable

MPO breakout cable (also called fan-out cable) uses female/male MPO connector on one end and 4/6/8/12 LC/FC/SC/ST connector on the other end, such as 8F MPO to 4 LC DX and 12F MPO to 6 LC DX. These MPO cable is ideal for short-distance 10G-40G and 25G-100G direct connections, or for connecting backbone components to rack systems in high-density backbone cabling.

MPO cable

MPO conversion cable

MPO conversion cables have the same fan-out design as MPO breakout cables, but with different fiber counts and types. They are equipped with MPO connectors on both ends. Commonly used MPO conversion cables include 24 fiber to 2×12 fiber, 24 fiber to 3×8 fiber, and 2×12 fiber to 3×8 fiber. They are particularly suitable for 10G-40G, 40G-40G, 40G-100G, 40G-120G connections, eliminating fiber waste and greatly increasing the flexibility of MPO cabling systems.

MPO cable

 

MPO Cable Types: By polarity

The TIA 568 standard defines three connection methods to ensure correct polarity of the optical path, called Type A, Type B, and Type C.

By fiber cores

MPO cable types with different core numbers are divided into 8/12/24 cores, usually used for 40G/100G. The latest 16-core cable is designed for short-distance 400G cabling in hyperscale data centers.

8-core MPO cable systems can carry the same data rates as 12-core cables with lower cost and insertion loss, making them more cost-effective.

12-fiber MPO cable is the earliest solution for 10G-40G and 40G-100G connections. If used for 40G QSFP+ or 100G QSFP28 optical modules, 4 fibers will be idle, resulting in low fiber utilization.

24-core MPO cable is typically used to establish 100GBASE-SR10 links between CFP to CFP transceivers.

 

MPO Cable Types: By fiber mode

Depending on the fiber mode, there are multimode OM3/OM4/OM5 and singlemode OS2 MPO cables Multimode OM3/OM4/OM5 MPO cable is suitable for short-distance transmission, allowing 40 Git/s and a maximum transmission distance of 300m/400m/440m respectively. OS2 MPO cable is suitable for long-distance transmission, such as MAN and PON.

 

MPO Cable Types: By jacket grade

According to different fire protection grade requirements, MPO cable type sheaths are divided into LSZH, OFNP (Plenum), etc.

LSZH MPO cable does not contain halogenated substances (toxic and corrosive when burned), can better protect personnel and equipment in case of fire, and is suitable for closed places.

OFNP MPO cable contain no conductive elements and are designed with the highest fire rating for installation in ducts, plenums and other building airflow spaces.

 

Conclusion

MPO cable types come with five characteristics that make it easier to filter out the network connectivity solution that suits your specific needs. MPO cable is popular for high-density cabling in data centers because of their ability to accommodate multipl fibers in a single interface, which greatly increases network capacity, saves significant space and eases cable management.

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