What is MXC Patch Cable?

by Fiber-MART.COM

In today’s world there is an ever-increasing need for more data, at faster speeds. The new MXC™ optical fiber connector system, created by US Conec, makes use of advanced high-density interconnect technology allowing it to offer greater speeds within data centers and networks.

 

US Conec has developed a versatile, cost effective, next generation connector family optimized for direct interface to equipment densely populated with mid-board mounted, multimode or singlemode optical modules. Supporting a varied selection of link designs, the newly released MXC® connector platform is optimized for expanded beam PRIZM® MT ferrules providing for a more robust and debris insensitive interface compared to existing solutions. The platform is also compatible with traditional physical contact MT ferrules making it ideal for a wide variety of equipment interface applications.

 

Compared to existing optical connector solutions, the unique plug and receptacle design provides increased density with fewer components, making it cost effective and ideal for new equipment card edge requirements driven by implementation of embedded, mid-board optics modules. PCB space consumption on the inside of the equipment is minimized by combining the traditional adapter and on-card plug into one simple, condensed, single piece housing.

 

PRIZM MT™ Ferrule

 

Able to support up to 64 fibers each handling one wavelength at 25 Gbps, the main component of the MXC™ connector system is the hermaphroditic PRIZM MT™ ferrule (also known as a lensed or expanded beam MT ferrule). This allows for speeds of up 1.6 Tbit/s (800 Gpbs in each direction), at this speed an entire 2 hour HD movie (4 GB) could be downloaded in just under 2 seconds.

 

The dimensions of the MXC™ ferrule are the same as those of a MT ferrule used in MTP®/MPO connectors. The key difference being that the PRIZM MT™ ferrule tip supports 64 micro lenses within 4 rows, each row containing 16 lenses.

 

Features

Optimized for point to point, equipment card interface applications

Debris insensitive resulting in high reliability

Supports a wide variety of link designs in both multimode and singlemode

High Density

59% PCB area

40% Faceplate area

Reduced complexity plug BOP

Fewer components with traditional adapter eliminated

One piece receptacle becomes part of the internal Tx/Rx to bulkhead jumper

Future offering will include ganged insertion and blind mate variants

Optimized for US Conec’s new expanded beam PRIZM® MT ferrule technology

 

Applications

Being able to support greater bandwidth than traditional MT fiber optic connectors, MXC™ connectors are being rolled out wherever high-speed data transmission is a top priority.

 

High performance computing

Switching/routing fabrics

Switch to server interconnects