With the development of the optical communication industry and the accelerated promotion of 5G, related peripheral industries are also growing rapidly, and the optical transceivers industry is no exception. In addition to our common optical transceivers, there are also WDM optical transceivers. Today, we will talk about the difference between ordinary optical transceivers and CWDM optical transceivers, one of the WDM optical transceivers.
① More efficient use of fiber optic resources
CWDM optical transceivers use fewer optical fibers compared to regular optical transceivers. The CWDM optical transceivers combines multiple signals of different wavelengths into one signal through a multiplexer, and then transmits it to the receiving end through a single optical fiber. The receiving end then uses a demultiplexer to demultiplexing one signal into multiple signals of different wavelengths and transmits them to the corresponding equipment. Ordinary optical transceivers require one fiber to transmit one wavelength, and multiple fibers to transmit multiple wavelengths. Therefore, CWDM optical transceivers are more fiber resource efficient compared to ordinary optical transceivers.
② CWDM optical transceiver requires wavelength division multiplexer/demultiplexer
The ordinary optical transceivers can be used normally after the circuit connection is completed and inserted into the switch, while the CWDM optical transceivers require a coarse wavelength division multiplexer/demultiplexer after being inserted into the switch. In terms of use, CWDM optical transceivers have more coarse wavelength division multiplexers/demulsifiers than ordinary optical transceivers
③ Different working wavelengths
The CWDM optical module has a total of 18 working wavelengths (1270-1610nm), with a 20nm interval between each working wavelength, while the working wavelengths of ordinary optical modules are usually 850nm, 1310nm, and 1550nm.
At present, CWDM technology is a commercial solution for carrying pre network optical modules. CWDM optical modules have become an integral part of mainstream optical modules due to their cost saving and fiber saving advantages.
