40 Gigabit Ethernet is the trend of higher data transmission. Thus, 40G optical devices are gaining popularity, including 40G QSFP+ transceivers and 40G direct attach cables. 40G direct attach cable (DAC) provides a cost-effective solution for high-density network connectivity. It is a kind of high-speed cable which has transceivers on either end used to connect switches to routers or servers. DAC can be classified into direct attach copper cables and active optical cables.
40G active optical cable ( 40G AOC) is a type of active optical cable for 40GbE applications that is terminated with 40GBASE-QSFP+ on one end, while on the other end, besides QSFP+ connector, it can be terminated with SFP+ connectors, LC connectors, etc. 40G active optical cables have great advantages over 40G direct attach copper cables when transmission distance reaches up to 7 meters. Moreover, 40G AOC has lower weight and tighter bend radius, which enables simpler cable management.
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.AOC cable assemblies are designed to meet data center, networking and high performance computing application needs for a high density cabling interconnect system capable.
