MPO Cable Guide
Applications of MPO cables explained
TYPES OF MTP (MPO) CABLES
Introduction to MPO
MPO is the industry acronym for “multi-fiber push on.” MPO connectors have more than one fibre in a single ferrule and snap into place by a mechanical mechanism. Due to the difficulties in mating two connectors with multiple fibres, as opposed to using single fibre connectors such as an LC connector, different brands of MPO give different performance.
Fibre cables with MPO* type connectors first appeared on the market during the 1990s. These early cables suffered from poor optical performance and so their application was limited.
During the 2000s the performance of these MPO cables was improved largely by the wide adoption of the MT ferrule and the MTP connector.
Both the MT ferrule and the MTP connector are produced by US Conec and were later followed by the introduction of even higher performing ferrules such as the MT ELITE ferrule. As the demand for MPO cables increased other companies created MPO type connectors. Some of these matched the MTP ELITE connector for performance and others catered for the lower cost market.
* MPO (multi-fibre push on) connector. A connector with more than 1 fibre terminated in the ferrule.
Typically these connectors have 12 fibres, however during the last 10 years 8 fibre, 16 fibre, 24 fibre, 48 fibre and 72 fibre connectors have been developed.
1G 10G MPO Cables
As explained above, the first use of MPO cables was within MPO cassette to MPO cassette based fibre network solutions. Typically this used a 12 fibre MPO connector and 12 core cables. The MPO cassettes were either 12 fibre or 24 fibre and presented LC ports at rack fronts and standard LC patch cords could make the final equipment connection.
With the recent development of 100G SR4 Ethernet using QSFP28 transceivers the demand for products within the M400 Series has increased.
As well as 100G SR4 there is also 100G SR10 transmission. SR10 uses 20 fibre cores to transmit 10 x 10G channels and requires an MPO cable with MPO 24 fibre connectors. Complete Connect’s M1000 Series offers complete SR10 and LR10 (PSM) options.
Using 12 fibre trunk cables
Using a 24 fibre trunk cable
Instead of using a traditional tight buffered cable which was common for internal networking, MPO cables could use a lighter, smaller and more flexible cable construction because MPO connectors could be terminated onto 250um fibres (not 900um used in tight buffered cable). This cable (know as micro cable or microcore cable) was lighter, smaller and enabled higher cable density and improved bend radius. This was perfect for use within data centres as the volume of fibre channels was continually increasing and space was at a premium.
As the demand for fibre port density has increased,so has the development of fibre management and the increased use of higher core count fibres (up to 144 is common).
40G and 100G MPO cables
The demand for higher data rates led to parallel networking; using multiple pairs of fibres working together to give one higher channel.
40G Ethernet was designed to use four 10G simultaneously transmitted channels. The transceivers (QSFP+ transceivers) required 8 fibre cores to transmit the 4 x 10G channels. Multimode 40G transceivers were designed to take an MPO 12 fibre connector which met the MPO standard. Even though this connector had a 12 fibre capacity, only 8 of the 12 fibres were required. MPO cables used for 40G Ethernet still often have 12 fibre cores and use 12 fibre MPO connectors. This is often a source of confusion.
Direct Connect
Via Backbone / Trunk cable
Complete Connect’s M400 Series was introduced in 2012 to meet the demands for 40G SR4 Ethernet. The M400 Series offers MPO cables for direct connect between 2 QSFP+ transceivers, plus a range of trunk cables, MPO breakout cables and fibre management products.
MPO Cables for 100G Ethernet
With the recent development of 100G SR4 Ethernet using QSFP28 transceivers the demand for products within the M400 Series has increased.
As well as 100G SR4 there is also 100G SR10 transmission. SR10 uses 20 fibre cores to transmit 10 x 10G channels and requires an MPO cable with MPO 24 fibre connectors. Complete Connect’s M1000 Series offers complete SR10 and LR10 (PSM) options.
Via M400 breakout cable
Via a Backbone / Trunk cable and M400 Cassette
200G MPO Cables
200G can be transmitted in a number of ways. With the creation of 400G many users are moving from 100G straight to 400G and bypassing 200G for their core network connections.
400G MPO Cables
400G can also be transmitted in a number of ways.
Current QSFP-DD transceivers are using 16 fibres (8 Tx and 8 Rx) to create 400G links by transmitting 8 lanes of 50G. These transceivers use MPO 16 fibre connectors.
QSFP-DD transceivers are also being developed to transmit 400G over 32 fibres. These use 16 x 25G lanes and use MPO 32 fibre connectors (our M1600 Series).
MPO CABLES SUMMARY
Fibre Count | Data Rate | Further Information | Series |
---|---|---|---|
12 Fibre | 1G and 10G | Create LC ports Connect SFP+ and SFP28 Cable 12 fibre Polarity TYPE C |
M310 Series |
12 Fibre | 40G | Create MPO ports Connect QSFP+ Cable 8 fibre Polarity TYPE B |
M400 Series |
12 Fibre | 100G | Create MPO ports Connect QSFP28 Cable 8 fibre Polarity TYPE B |
M400 Series |
24 Fibre | 100G | Create MPO ports Connect CFP CPAK Cable 20 fibre Polarity TYPE X |
M1000 Series |
24 Fibre | 200G | Create MPO ports Connect QSFP-DD Cable 16 fibre Polarity TYPE X |
M1000 Series |
16 Fibre | 400G | Create MPO ports Connect QSFP-DD Cable 16 fibre Polarity TYPE B |
M800 Series |
MPO CABLES: POINTS TO NOTE
Cable Polarity
For cables using MPO 12 fibre connectors there is A, B and C. For cables using MPO 16 fibre connectors there is A, B and C. For cables using MPO 16 fibre connectors there is A, B, C and X
MPO Adaptors
There are two types of adapter. Key up/key down and key up/key up. For a MPO 12 fibre connector a key up/key down adapter with connector fibre 1 to fibre 1, 2 to 2 etc. A key up/key down with connect fibre 1 to 12, 2 to 11 etc.
Cable Connector Gender
For all MPO connectors the are two genders: male (with pins) and female (without pins). MPO connectors have to connect male to female. All transceivers with MPO ports have male ports.