According to different fiber types, fiber optic connectors can be classified into standard fiber optic connectors, small-form factor (SFF) fiber optic connectors and ribbon fiber connectors. With the increasing deployment of fiber in the LAN, especially for building and campus backbone installation, the the use of SFF fiber optic connectors is becoming more widespread. Of which LC connector has been considered to be the ideal solution for Enterprise applications. This post will briefly introduce LC connector and its application in fiber management and optical transceiver.
What Is LC Connector?
The LC connector is sometimes called “little connector”. It is approximately half the size of an SC connector. The LC has a back shell designed to accommodate standard 1.6mm or 2.0mm diameter cable designs. The standard construction of the LC connector consists of a spring loaded, 1.25mm diameter zirconia ceramic ferrule housed in a thermoplastic connector back shell.
In the emerging SFF connector landscape, the LC connector is becoming the preferred transceiver connector for high bit rate applications (1Gb/s and above) due to its numerous advantages for transceiver design. More transceiver manufacturers support the LC interface than any other SFF connector, and LC transceivers are available from numerous sources for applications ranging from 10 Mb/s to 10 Gb/s.
Why Choose LC Connector?
The LC connector, developed by OFS Laboratories, represents the next-generation SFF connector. But why should we choose LC connector? The LC connector solution reduces the space required on panels, outlets and in closets by approximately 50% throughout the network. It simplifies moves, adds and changes and helps save you money. The LC connector uses an improved version of the familiar, user-friendly RJ-style telephone plug that provides a reassuring, audible click when engaged.
The new, one-piece design enhances the connector’s durability and meets side-load requirements of standard 2.5mm connectors. The connector can only be installed into the adapter in one orientation thus maintaining proper polarization and alignment. The straight-in motion significantly reduces debris and enhances optical performance. The unique combination of small size and the click of connectivity make LC connector the right choice for today’s high performance networks.
The LC Connector in Fiber Management and Transceivers
The LC connector system was designed specifically to address the needs of increasing network interconnect density. In the past, fiber management systems have required twice as many individual connectors as copper systems, hence, crowding racks and closets with additional patch bays, management hardware and line terminating electronics. The LC connector provides the potential for twice the interconnect density in closets and racks when compared to a SC connector. Although, there is a point at which additional density cannot be utilized because of the difficulty in fiber routing inordinately large cable counts. Also at issue in these higher density racks, is the problem of disturbing adjacent circuits in MACs. Most important in fiber management, is the decreased footprint of the LC on electronics (hubs, switches, etc.) for fiber transceivers.
Original SFF transceivers (GBICs) on equipment have now been overshadowed by the SFP transceiver. Equipment vendors are starting to offer SFP on switches/NICs for 1Gb/s Ethernet. The optical receptacle on the SFP for Fibre Channel and Gb/s Ethernet is the LC connector. Most major transceiver vendors now sell SFPs with the LC interface.Figure 2 shows a 1000BASE-SX SFP (eg. TL-SM311LM) with LC duplex connector. For example, On 200 pin XenPAK transceivers, only SFF options are specified in the Multi Source Agreement (MSA). The LC is also used in competing transceivers such as XenPAK, X2 and XFP. 10Gb/s Standards are driving network planners to upgrade infrastructure hardware (fiber, cable management and interconnect) and to prepare their network Storage Area Networks and Fiber Backbones to be able to utilize these high-speed transceivers. For example, SFP-10GB-SR is 10GBASE-SR SFP+ that can transmit 10Gb/s on the LC connector.
Conclusion
Based on a wide range of criteria that cover issues relevant to infrastructure requirement, the LC connector offers clear advantages over its performance. With LC connector system, users effectively double interconnect density without the added expense of additional fiber management systems. Fiberstore offers a variety of LC products including LC optical connector, LC adapter, LC jumper and so on.
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