Introduction of Some Commonly Used MPO/MTP Products

With the popularity of cloud computing and big data, the data throughput continually increases, which makes 40/100G Ethernet network more commonplace and now become a prevalent trend for data-center. In order to keep pace with the rapidly developing network, there are a series of MPO/MTP products designed for the reliable and quick operations in high-density data centers, such as, MTP/MPO trunk cable, MTP/MPO harness cable and MPO/MTP cassette. Have you ever wondered what do MPO/MTP stand for? What are the functions of these MPO/MTP products? In this article, it will give the explanation for MPO/MTP and some commonly used MPO/MTP products for your reference.

The word MPO is also referred to as ldquo;Multiple-Fiber Push-On/Pull-offrdquo;, while MTP is a upgrade version of the former MPO, with better optical and mechanical performance. As a high-density, high-performance solution for data centers, MPO/MTP technology is deployed for multi-fiber applications by pulling just one single cable with multiple fibers. Through this technology, you can replace 12 or 24 LC connectors with only one MPO/MTP connector. Generally, MPO/MTP technology is widely used for 40/100G Ethernet network as well as fast installation of enterprise data centers nowadays.

MPO/MTP patch cable is composed of MPO/MTP cable and MPO/MTP connectors, which is commonly used when 40G or 100G active transceivers (e.g., QSFP+ and QSFP28 transceivers) are employed with MTP/MPO interface. For its special internal structure of multi-fiber, MPO/MTP patch cable has a great improvement in performance, for example, less space, scalability, thereby significant space and cost savings are provided to user. As for MTP/MPO connector, it has many fiber optic channels to transmit signals, which becomes the up-and-coming standard optical interface for 40/100G Ethernet network.

Generally, there are two commonly used MPO/MTP patch cables, MTP/MPO trunk cable and MTP/MPO harness cable, which occupy the most part of high density multi-fiber cables market.

MTP/MPO trunk cable is available with 12, 24, 48 and 72 fibers. For instance, a 72-fiber trunk cable can be terminated with 6 MPO/MTP connectors. It usually serves as a permanent link connecting MPO/MTP modules to each other, which is a great solution to reduce the time cost with easy installation and eliminate termination errors. Another advantage is to take up less space, which is very convenient to use. In short, it plays an important role in the data centers with high density requirement and may be the best choice for permanent connection.

MTP/MPO harness cable is designed for the transition from multi-fiber cables to single fiber cables or between the duplex connectors, which provides a reliable, cost-effective cabling system for migrating from legacy 10G to higher speed 40G/100G Ethernet. With the property of flexible connections, MTP/MPO harness cable is indispensable for high-density data centers.

MPO cassette modules are usually fitted with 12 or 24 fibers, with LC, SC or E2000 adapters on the front side and MPO/MTP adapters at the rear. As a high density module, it can distribute the fibers brought by a trunk cable to a duplex cable that serves the transition from ribbon cables terminated with MPO/MTP connector to more common LC or SC interface used on the transceiver terminal equipment.

Compared with traditional fiber products, there are many improvements in MPO/MTP Products, such as, faster and easier installation, lower cost and higher density with less space. There is no doubt that more and more MPO/MTP products will be developed to meet the increasingly high demand of data centers, which will eventually flood the high-density data center.