Optical module is mainly used in the field of data communication. Its function is to realize the mutual conversion of photoelectric signals. Due to the rise of big data, blockchain, cloud computing, Internet of things, artificial intelligence and 5G, data traffic has increased rapidly.The optical interconnection of data center and mobile communication has become a research hotspot in the optical communication industry. Next, ETU-LINK will introduce in detail what fields the next optical module can be applied to.

1.Data Center

A large number of network switches and server clusters are placed in the host room of the data center. They are the core of generic cabling and information network equipment and the data aggregation center of information network system. For the connection between servers, switches and between servers and switches, the optical module (direct copper cable, active optical cable), optical fiber patch cord and other transmission carriers of ETU-LINK need to be used to realize the data interworking.

With the increasing market demand for data transmission, IDC machine room can enhance the business competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises. The diversity of interconnection scenarios in the data center and the personalization of customer needs have spawned different types of network equipment and transmission carriers (active optical cable, direct copper cable, optical module and optical fiber patch cord ). Therefore, when selecting relevant equipment or accessories, users need to make choices according to the actual application scenarios.

2. Mobile Communication Base Station

The mobile communication base stations of operators also need optical modules to realize the interconnection between devices.The base stations have RRU and BBU devices. In application, we need to connect the links of these two devices, which requires our optical modules and optical fiber patch cord. In 4G network, the devices used to connect BBU and RRU are mainly 1.25G optical module, 2.5G optical module, 6G optical module and 10G optical module.

2. SAN/NAS Storage Network

The main function of SAN / NAS storage network is to store data. Among them, San network is mainly composed of servers, fibre channel switches, storage devices and transmission carriers (optical modules and fiber jumpers); NAS storage network is mainly composed of NAS memory, switch, terminal equipment (computer), transmission carrier (optical module, optical fiber jumper). It should be noted that the San network uses fibre channel optical modules, which need to support FC fibre channel protocol, while the optical modules used in NAS storage network only need to comply with Ethernet protocol.

3. Passive Wavelength Division System

Passive wavelength division system is mainly used in MAN, backbone network and WAN. CWDM optical module and DWDM optical module are commonly used. Among them, the CWDM optical module adopts CWDM technology, which can combine optical signals of different wavelengths through an external wavelength division multiplexer and transmit them through an optical fiber, so as to save optical fiber resources. At the same time, the receiver needs to use a wavelength decomposition multiplexer to decompose the complex optical signal.

The channel spacing of passive wavelength division multiplexing (CWDM) technology is 20nm, and the working wavelength is 1270-1610nm. The CWDM optical module with 40km and above adopts the back wave (1470-1610nm), and the CWDM optical module with transmission distance of 10km and 20km adopts the full band (1270-1610nm).

CWDM optical module is usually used in CWDM system, which has lower cost than DWDM optical module and is widely used. In a CWDM system, the CWDM optical module is inserted into the switch, and the CWDM optical module is connected with the CWDM demultiplexer or OADM optical add drop multiplexing by patch cord.

2. SAN/NAS Storage Network

The main function of SAN / NAS storage network is to store data. Among them, San network is mainly composed of servers, fibre channel switches, storage devices and transmission carriers (optical modules and fiber jumpers); NAS storage network is mainly composed of NAS memory, switch, terminal equipment (computer), transmission carrier (optical module, optical fiber jumper). It should be noted that the San network uses fibre channel optical modules, which need to support FC fibre channel protocol, while the optical modules used in NAS storage network only need to comply with Ethernet protocol.

The diagram of NAS storage network is shown below

The schematic diagram of SAN storage network is shown below:

2. 5G Carrier Network

The arrival of 5G Era has indeed brought a new round of growth space to the optical module industry. 5G carrier Network is generally divided into metro access layer, metro convergence layer, metro core layer / provincial trunk line to realize the forward and middle return functions of 5G services. Among them, the equipment at each layer mainly depends on optical modules to realize interconnection.

5G forward network mainly uses 25G SFP28 (eCPRI / CPRI) optical module, including duplex bidirectional, simplex BiDi, 25G WDM (including tunable wavelength) module and other schemes.

5G, 25G, 50G, 100G, 200G and 400G optical modules are mainly used for 5G medium return.It supporting various interface protocols such as CPRI, eCPRI, Ethernet and OTN, as well as modulation formats such as NRZ, PAM4 and DMT.

The growing demand for optical modules mainly depends on the data communication market and telecommunications market. In today's data age, optical modules are bound to attract new development opportunities.