Active Optical Cable (AOC) is a cabling technology that accepts same electrical inputs as a traditional copper cable, but uses optical fiber “between the connectors”. AOC uses electrical-to-optical conversion on the cable ends to improve speed and distance performance of the cable without sacrificing compatibility with standard electrical interfaces. Bandwidth usage is soaring, driven by the proliferation of Internet-connected devices. At this time, active optical cable (AOC cable) has emerged. Besides, the market of AOC cables keeps growing and has a broad prospect.
Active optical cable have four functional parts:
- High-density QSFP+ connector allows for the cable to be plugged into a router or switch.
- 4- Channel full duplex active optical cable transceiver is embedded inside the shell and is responsible for electrical- optical conversions, making AOCs a lower cost solution in comparison to other transceivers.
- MPO optical connector is a permanent attachment to the shell and fiber, protecting the interface from the end users (consumers) and environmental contamination.
Flexible ribbon optical fiber cable,like generally yellow cable for SM Cable, and Orange or Aqua for Multimode Cable.
AOC Features and Advantages:
- Longer reach capability than DAC 3-7 meter limits
- 3-100 meter multi-mode technology
- 100-200 meters with single-mode, Silicon Photonics technologies
- Thinner, lighter, and tighter bend radius cables enabling more flexible configurations, increased airflow for cooling, and easier system maintenance, AOCs are lightweight in comparison to its predecessors, making data centers physically easier to manage.
Primarily, active optical cable (AOC) assemblies were invented to replace copper technology in data centers and high performance computing (HPC) applications. As we know, copper passive twinax cable is heavy and bulky, making it difficult to physically manage the datacenter. And due to the nature of electrical signals, electromagnetic interference (EMI) limits copper’s performance and reliability. Though there are so many disadvantages of copper cable, at that time, it is the main stream while the idea of AOC cables almost seems too good to be true.
However, the advantages of AOC cables make the predecessors look obsolete and unsophisticated, and changes the limitation of copper passive twinax cable as well as playing an important role in high speed data transmission.
Tarluz 100G QSFP28 to 4x 25G SFP28 AOC (Active Optical Cable) is special designed for 
application in 4 x 25G Ethernet links up to 100m on Multimode Fiber (MMF). This AOC is based on vertically integrated VCSEL array technology and designed with QSFP28/SFP28 MSA-compliant high-density connectors, the 100G QSFP28 to 4x 25G SFP28 AOC assemblies are compact, lightweight, and low power. If you know more about the AOC. Please click Tarluz website: www.tarluz.com
