Cisco SFP Optics For Gigabit Ethernet Applications Used Cisco Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP) Gigabit Interface Converter is a hot-swappable input/output device that plugs into a Gigabit Ethernet port or slot, linking the port with the network (Figure 1). SFPs can be used and interchanged on a wide variety of Cisco products and can be intermixed in combinations of 1000BASE-SX, 1000BASE-LX/LH, 1000BASE-ZX, or 1000BASE-BX10-D/U on a port-by-port basis. 1000BASE-SX SFP for Multimode Fiber Only The 1000BASE-SX SFP, compatible with the IEEE 802.3z 1000BASE-SX standard, operates on 50 ?m multimode fiber links up to 550 m and on 62.5 ?m Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI)-grade multimode fibers up to 220 m. 1000BASE-LX/LH SFP for Both Multimode and Single-Mode Fibers The 100BASE-LX/LH SFP, compatible with the IEEE 802.3z 1000BASE-LX standard, operates on standard single-mode fiber-optic link spans of up to 10 km and up to 550 m on any multimode fibers. 1000BASE-ZX SFP for Long-Reach Single-Mode Fibers The 1000BASE-ZX SFP operates on standard single-mode fiber-optic link spans of up to approximately 70 km in length. The SFP provides an optical link budget of 23 dB, but the precise link span length depends on multiple factors such as fiber quality, number of splices, and connectors. When shorter distances of single-mode fiber (SMF) are used, it might be necessary to insert an inline optical attenuator in the link to avoid overloading the receiver. A 10-dB inline optical attenuator should be inserted between the fiber-optic cable plant and the receiving port on the SFP at each end of the link whenever the fiber-optic cable span loss is less than 8 dB. 1000BASE-BX10-D and 1000BASE-BX10-U SFP for Single-Fiber Bidirectional Applications The 1000BASE-BX-D and 1000BASE-BX-U SFPs, compatible with the IEEE 802.3ah 1000BASE-BX10-D and 1000BASE-BX10-U standards, operate on a single strand of standard SMF. A 1000BASE-BX10-D device is always connected to a 1000BASE-BX10-U device with a single strand of standard SMF with an operating transmission range up to 10 km. The communication over a single strand of fiber is achieved by separating the transmission wavelength of the two devices as depicted in Figure 2: 1000BASE-BX10-D transmits a 1490-nm channel and receives a 1310-nm signal, whereas 1000BASE-BX10-U transmits at a 1310-nm wavelength and receives a 1490-nm signal. Note in Figure 2 the presence of a wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) splitter integrated into the SFP to split the 1310-nm and 1490-nm light paths.