Most of today’s younger computer using generation might not even remember a time when dial-up was the only way to log onto the internet. For many “elder” computer users they will never forget the sound of their modems calling out into cyber space to see if anyone was there. All of that has changed today thanks to optical transceivers. That’s a very fancy name for a data delivery service that has transformed the way we all use the internet.
In the realm of cyberspace, transmission is key. Today, the fastest transmissions are carried over optical fiber lines as opposed to electrical wires. As the word implies, optical fiber utilizes light beams to transfer data through a stream of fibers or cables. It then becomes the bulwark of the optical transceivers to assimilate that data into what you see every time you log onto the internet. In other words, if you have an internet hook up using fiber optics then you also have optical transceivers even if you couldn’t pick them out of a lineup!
Of course, if you are utilizing optical transceivers then you’re also using SFP modules. These small form-factor pluggable interfaces become the final bridge between the fiber optic data stream and your computer. The technical process of this transfer is the FTTP or fiber to the premises service. You can trace that stream of information from a central hub along the fiber optic network into your optical transceivers and onto your screen. Think of it like the highway system that crisscrosses our country. Start on one coast and you can travel that system right across to the opposite coast. Along the way, you’ll be seeing plenty of sights and can pick up all kinds of information. That’s exactly what happens in the world of fiber optics.
SFP modules aren’t limited to computer applications. You’ll also find them working in telephone and television broadcasts that are receiving any kind of digital signal. As a technology, SFP modules and optical transceivers are fairly new to the scene. They were essentially developed to feed the need for speed. Back in 2007, IBM stepped up to the play to show off its version of an optical transceiver chip that was able to transfer data at a speed of 160 gigabits per second. That clocked in at around 1,660 times faster than the standard Ethernet connection. Why is this so important? Try this experiment: Download a two hour movie from the internet using fiber optics versus Ethernet. On the fiber optic side, you could probably watch the movie in the same time it would take to download it over an Ethernet hook up.
Most of today’s Blu Ray players incorporate a type of SFP modules which allows for an interface between your machine and the internet. This also holds true for the next generation of television sets as they are all becoming extensions of our computers. It’s not a stretch for folks to turn their big screen plasma TV’s into a big screen version of their laptops. That can only be accomplished with optical transceivers. It is truly the way of the future.
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