What are MTP/MPO-8 Cables?

In most data centers, MTP/MPO cables are widely used for high-density applications. Common types include MTP/MPO-12 and MTP/MPO-24 connections. However, the MTP/MPO-8 solution is also gaining traction due to its specific advantages and applications.

What is MTP/MPO-8 Fiber？

The MTP/MPO-8 cable is a fiber optic cable featuring an MTP/MPO-8 connector. Its MTP/MPO-8 connector is not strictly a standards-recognized infrastructure interface. It is an application that uses 8 of the 12 fiber positions of the industry standard MTP/MPO-12. In current QSFP applications, the outermost 4 fiber positions (1-4 and 9-12) on the MTP/MPO-12 connector are employed for transmitting and receiving, leaving the middle 4 fibers unused, which leads to unnecessary fiber wastage. As a solution, manufacturers now offer an MTP/MPO cable with just 8 fibers to minimize this waste.

The adoption of MTP/MPO-8 cable is driven by applications that require eight fiber lanes. An example of a Base-8 application is 40GBASE-SR4, which uses four individual 10G lanes to achieve 40G bandwidth. This 8-fiber lane count aligns with 400GbE, 100GbE, and even 400GbE and 800GbE parallel optics data transmission methods. Additionally, Base-8 MTP/MPO cabling is more simple and flexible. 8 fibers, 16 fibers, and 24 fiber optic backbone lines belong to the Base-8 MTP/MPO cabling system.

Why Use MTP/MPO-8 Fibers?

100% fiber utilization

As stated, MTP/MPO-8 fiber cables capitalize on full fiber utilization, optimizing every strand for data transmission. When connecting switch line cards using MTP to LC duplex breakout harnesses, the Base-8 configuration is ideal because most standard switch port configurations (multiples of 4, like 16 and 32 ports) perfectly align with the 8-fiber setup. This ensures no fibers are left idle, unlike the Base-12 harness, which results in fiber wastage in non-divisible configurations.

Flexibility and Scalability

The MTP/MPO-8 fiber provides great flexibility and adaptability for network infrastructure, particularly for future expansions involving 40G, 100G, and even 400G technologies. Base-8 solutions align perfectly with the requirements of almost all 40G and 100G circuits, which predominantly use eight-fiber transceivers. Moreover, MTP/MPO-8 fibers can be seamlessly integrated with both Base-12 and Base-24 settings, facilitating efficient upgrading of current 10G systems to higher data rates like 40G and 100G, thereby enhancing cost-effectiveness and ease of deployment.

What are the Applications of MTP/MPO-8 Fibers?

Base-8 MTP/MPO Jumper for 40G-40G

To facilitate 40G networking, you can employ 8-fiber MTP/MPO fiber jumpers along with a 1U Rack Mount Enclosure and 40GBASE-SR4 QSFP+ transceivers. This setup allows for simple, high-capacity connections between 40G switches while minimizing fiber waste. The 1U Rack Mount Enclosure will streamline cable management, improving overall network maintenance and troubleshooting efficiency.

Base-8 MTP/MPO Harness for 10G-40G

In scenarios involving migration from 10G to 40G, an 8-fiber MTP/MPO to 4 LC duplex harness cables setup proves invaluable. By connecting the MTP port of a 40GBASE-SR4 QSFP+ transceiver (on a 40G switch) and the duplex LC connectors to the ports of multiple 10GBASE-SR SFP+ transceivers (on a 10G switch), this setup ensures complete fiber utilization with zero wastage.

Base-8 MTP/MPO Harness for 25G-100G

For transitioning from 25G to 100G, the 8-fiber MTP/MPO LC harness cables, combined with 25G SFP28 and 100G QSFP28 modules, make the migration seamless. Here, the 100G QSFP28 module splits 100Gbps of data into four 25Gbps streams via the 8-fiber MTP/MPO connector, with each 25G SFP28 module handling these individual streams through duplex LC connectors, ensuring no fiber resources go to waste.

Conclusion

The MTP/MPO-8 fiber solution significantly improves efficiency and cost-effectiveness by ensuring optimal fiber utilization, making it highly suitable for future duplex fiber applications and current high-bandwidth requirements. Compared to traditional MTP/MPO-12 fibers and MTP/MPO-24 fibers, the MTP/MPO-8 fibers notably reduce both fiber wastage and associated maintenance costs, while simplifying deployment and management processes.