AOC&DAC Application

What is AOC (Active Optical Cables)?

AOC is optical fiber patch cord with optical transceiver on both side. It needs external energy to complish the transformation of light signal and electrical signal. The main constituent elements of AOC is light path and circuit. Light path includes lens and FA using for angling light; Circuit includes PCB board, placode, VCSEL chip, VCSEL driver chip, PD chip and TIA chip, etc. As a main transmission media in high performance computer and data centher, AOC promises the stability of transmission and the flexibility of application. It is common in high density application

AOC

Comparing AOC with DAC:

1. Lower transmission power in system link

2. Half volume as copper cable, Quarter weight as DAC

3. In machine room, air mobility is better and heat dispersion is better

4. Bending radius is smaller than copper cable

5. Transmission distance is farther, reaching to 100-300 meter

6. Superior error rate, BER can reach to 10^-15

Comparing AOC with optical transceiver:

1. The optical interface of AOC will not be exposed, no any worries about cleaning and pollution

2. The stability and reliability of system is better

3. Easier to manage and maintain

4. Greatly lower the cost of operation and maintenance, improve efficiency

Applications of AOC?The application of AOC mainly applied on following 3 area:

1. In teaching centre and lab, AOC connect multiple machine with host computer. It not only confirm the high speed data transmission but also realize network safty

2. In data centre and cloud computing systems, to reach the demand of higher bandwidth and lower power, 10G SFP+ and 40G QSFP+ in AOC can connect the High speed optical communication port of router or optical transceiver

3. In common digital signage, AOC plays an important role. It support 1080p resolution under HDMI. It also supports large outdoor interactive game.

More>>

Although with the rapid development of optical fiber communication technology, optical fiber cables have been widely used in backbone networks and trunk lines in communication networks. As a commonly used medium, optical fibers have also entered a large number of access networks. However, Direct Attach Cable (DAC) is still an indispensable supplement for optical fiber communication access due to factors such as cost, power consumption, and convenience of use. Commonly used in server-to-TOR switch connection applications in the data center.

DAC Application

What is a DAC high-speed cable?

Direct Attach Cable is a fixed component that supports high-speed data transmission using a small connector module as an optical transceiver on one end of a cable. With cost advantages and energy savings, high-speed cables are now widely used in short-distance data centers. It connects to switches, servers, routers, network interface cards (NICs), and host bus adapters (HBA) that provide high density and high data throughput.

What is the superiority of DAC?

Cost Savings: The ends of high-speed cables look like optical modules, in fact, they are very different from optical modules. These small connectors omit expensive optical lasers and some electronic components, which is why high-speed cables are much cheaper than optical modules. In some cases, a high-speed cable can replace an optical module because it eliminates the detachable interface between the optical module and the optical cable. Therefore, in some cases the choice of high-speed cable can save a lot of time and money.

2.Low Power: High-speed cables are a low-cost solution that consumes less power and costs less than optical modules.