Ethernet Standards for Optical Fibe

by Shi Mingxun Fiber-Mart.com

100BASE-FX is a version of Fast Ethernet over optical fiber. It uses a 1300 nm near-infrared (NIR) light wavelength transmitted via two strands of optical fiber.

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There are mainly three standards for optical fiber networking: 100BASE-FX, 1000BASE-LX, and 1000BASE-SX.

100BASE-FX

100BASE-FX is a version of Fast Ethernet over optical fiber. It uses a 1300 nm near-infrared (NIR) light wavelength transmitted via two strands of optical fiber, one for receive(RX) and the other for transmit(TX). Maximum length is 412 m (1350 feet) for half-duplex connections (to ensure collisions are detected), and 2 km (6600 feet) for full-duplex over multimode fiber (MMF). 100BASE-FX uses the same 4B5B encoding and NRZI line code that 100BASE-TX does. 100BASE-FX should use SC, ST, LC, MTRJ or MIC connectors with SC being the preferred option.

100BASE-FX is not compatible with 10BASE-FL, the 10-Mbps version over optical fiber. The 100BASE-FX standard specifies a network capable of 100-Mbps throughput that uses baseband transmission and fiber optic cabling. 100BASE-FX requires MMF containing at least two strands of fiber. In half-duplex mode, one strand is used for data transmission while the other strand is used for reception. In full-duplex implementations, both strands are used for sending and receiving data. The standard allows for a maximum of one repeater to connect segments. 100BASE-FX uses a star topology with its repeaters connected in a bus fashion.

100BASE-FX, like 100BASE-T, is also considered Fast Ethernet and is described in IEEEs 802.3u standard. Organizations switching, or migrating, from UTP to fiber media can combine 100BASE-TX and 100BASE-FX within one network. To do this, transceivers in computers and connectivity devices must have both RJ-45 and SC, ST, LC, or MT-RJ ports. Alternatively, a 100BASE-TX to 100BASE-FX media converter may be used at any point in the network to interconnect the different media and convert the signals of one standard to signals that work the other standard.

Related products in Fiber-Mart: Fast Ethernet Media Converter.

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