Difference OTU4 vs 100GE?
If we compare OTU4 vs 100GE, OTU4 and 100GE are different line protocols, both designed for the transmission of multiplexed data signals at 100G speed over optical fibre. The main obvious difference between OTU4 vs 100GE is the nominal data rate – for OTU4 it is 111.81 Gb/s, but for 100G Ethernet it is (4 lanes at 25.78125 Gb/s) or 103,125 Gb/s, however main difference for both is how multiplexing of lower rate data signals is performed.
OTU4 (Optical Transport Unit 4) is a member of OTN (Optical Transport Network), which is a successor of Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH/SONET). A group of SDH/SONET and OTN transmission protocol families was designed for carrying many signals in trunk networking of different capacities through a synchronous, flexible, optical hierarchy, where lower speed frames are encapsulated in higher speed frames. The OTN protocol family is sometimes referred to as Digital Wrapper. Such an approach allows carriers to multiplex different types of signals most optimally and efficiently. OTN is deterministic (fixed sharing of data link) or transport protocol hierarchy – meaning that operators can ensure low latency, high performance (FEC), service separation, and high bandwidth efficiency.
100G Ethernet has evolved from the Local Area Network Ethernet packet-oriented protocol family, which has now gained popularity as Metropolitan Area Networks (MAN) and Wide Area Networks (WAN) protocols in telecom networks, especially for metro and mobile RAN transport applications. Ethernet uses a statistical multiplexing approach, where multiple data streams share available data channels and adapt their routing in real time. The Ethernet protocol’s flexible nature can bring challenges, where applications require very strict requirements for packet delay and packet delay variations, for example, in mobile fronthaul. However, in the recent decade Ethernet protocol has been constantly upgraded with a number of mechanisms for its future as Carrier Ethernet.
For 100G Transmission 100G QSFP28 Transceiver form factor is most popular. Most of the 100G QSFP28 support 100GE Ethernet application, but be aware – if needed OTU4 Support – check specifications carefully.
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100G QSFP28 Optical Transceivers
Welcome to our collection of 100G QSFP28 transceivers! The 100G QSFP28 optical transceiver are designed according to SFF-8665 standard which specifies QSFP+ 28 Gb/s 4X Pluggable Transceiver Solution (QSFP28) for 100 Gigabit Ethernet. 100G QSFP28 transceivers have the exact same footprint as it’s predecessor 40G QSFP+, but has variations where modules can have NRZ modulation (100G SR4, LR4, ER4, ZR4…) and there are some newer generation 100G QSFP28 Single Lambda modules (100G LR1, FR1, DR1) which use PAM4 modulation (more on PAM4 vs NRZ). We offer a wide range of optical modules tailored to diverse networking environments to cover all industry needs. Some of our most popular 100G modules are the 100G QSFP28 SR4 (PN: 100G-QSFP28-100) designed for short range (below 150m) Multi-Mode Fiber connections, 100G QSFP28 LR4 (PN: 100G-QSFP28-10) designed for long range (up to 10km) Single-Mode Fiber connections and 100G QSFP28 ER4 (PN:100G-QSFP28-40) designed for long range (up to 40km) Single-Mode Fiber connections. To help engineers find the correct units for their setup, we’ve sorted our 100G QSFP28 transceivers in the categories below based on their type and functionality. Not only do we offer a wide range of MSA compatible modules, but all of them can be re-programmed to be compatible with a wide range of devices. From industry-standard solutions to specialized modules, find the perfect fit for your network requirements.