10GBASE-LX4 Application Overview

by

10GBASE-LR, 10GBASE-ER, and 10GBASE-LX4
10GBASE-LX4: 10 Gb/s wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) serial transmission over 2 single‑mode optical fibers, with reach up to at least 10 km

10GBASE-LX4 supports four long wavelength WDM serial transmission over duplex (2‑fiber) single‑mode optical fiber cabling. The application’s equivalent symbol rate is 12.5 GBd per lane and the supported distance varies according to the type of single‑mode cable used. Network equipment interface connections include duplex optical fiber connectors and standard sockets into which physical (PHY) layer transceiver modules may be plugged.

  • Connector type: SC, LC
  • Transceiver module: XENPAK, X2
  • Defined in clause 53 of the IEEE 802.3 Standard for Ethernet
  • Initially published as IEEE Std 802.33ae™: Media Access Control Parameters, Physical Layers and Management Parameters for 10 Gb/s Operation in 2002

Optical Fiber Cabling (Channel) Characteristics:

10GBASE-LX4
Parameter OS1a Indoor/Outdoor OS2
Operating wavelengths: 1275.7 nm, 1300.2 nm, 1324.7 nm, and 1349.2 nm
Specification wavelength: 1310 nm
Insertion loss (max): 6.6 dB
Cabled fiber attenuation (max): 1.0 dB/km 0.5 dB/km 0.4 dB/km
Operating range2: 2 m to 4 km1 2 m to 8 km1 2 m to 10 km
1 Operating range for cabled fibers having other than 0.4 dB/km attenuation is not specified by IEEE 802.3. These calculations are provided for information only.
2 Maximum operating ranges are calculated using a 2.0 dB connection and splice loss allocation.

Key Application Capabilities:

  • Defines a 10 Gb/s PHY using four WDM lanes for operation over at least 10 km of SMF
  • Supports full-duplex operation only
  • Preserves the 802.3 Ethernet frame format utilizing the Ethernet MAC
  • Preserves minimum and maximum FrameSize of current 802.3 Standard for Ethernet
  • Provides appropriate support for optical transport networks (OTNs)
  • Supports a BER of better than or equal to 10-12 at the MAC/PLS service interface

Related Applications:

The IEEE P802.3ae Task Force also specified the following 10 Gb/s Ethernet applications:

Application    Operating    Wavelength Media Operating Range1
10GBASE-ER 1550 nm Single-mode up to 40 km4
10GBASE-LR 1310 nm Single-mode up to 10 km
10GBASE-LX4 four WDM2 Multimode3 up to 300 m
10GBASE-SR 850 nm Multimode up to 400 m
1 Supported distance varies according to the type of optical fiber cable used.
2 1275.7 nm, 1300.2 nm, 1324.7 nm, and 1349.2 nm
3 Use of mode conditioning launch cords is not required for OM3, OM4, or OM5.
4 Links longer than 30 km for the same link power budget are considered engineered links and must not exceed specified insertion loss.

Back to TIA FOTC IEEE 802.3 Single-mode Optical Fiber Ethernet Standards Explorer