Understanding MPO Fiber Cables and Polarity

MPO stands for Multi-Fiber Push On. MPO fiber patch cord is a
high-density fiber optic transmission jumper which consists of MPO
connectors and fiber cables. The MPO connector is built on the MT-style
ferrule, designed by NTT. MPO connectors can provide quick and
reliable high performance interconnections up to 4, 12, 24 or more and
are usually used with ribbon fiber cables.

MPO connector is about the same size as a SC connector but can

accommodate 12 or 24 fibers. Thus, MPO cables provide up to 12 or 24
times the density and offer savings in rack cabling space. MPO
connectors has 4-, 8-, 12-, 24-, 36-, 48-, 96-, 144- multi-fiber types, with
12-fiber and 24-fiber arrays being the most commonly used. Nowadays,
12 fiber MPO connector and 24 fiber MPO connector have been broadly
deployed into 40G and 100G cabling.

MPO connectors contains several parts such as boot, coupling/housing

assembly, ferrule, guide pins, and so on. Because of difference pins types,
the MPO connector can be either male or female. The male connector
has metal guide pins to ensure fiber alignment when mating while
female connector has no pins. These pins make sure that the connector
fronts are precisely aligned on contact and that the fibers ’ end-faces
aren’t offset. There is a “key” on the top side of the connector, which has
key-up and key-down position. A “White Dot” mark on the connector
body side to indicate the location of Position 1.
 （Structure of MPO Connector）

A general optical link requires two optical fibers to complete the entire
transmission process. The matching of the transmit signal (Tx) to the
receive equipment (Rx) at both ends of the fiber optic link is referred
to as polarity.

Three Polarization Methods of MPO:

Type-A or Straight: On a Type-A cable the fibers at each end of the cable
have the same fiber position. (ex.: the fiber in the 1st position of the
connector A matches with the fiber in the 1st position of the connector B).
The Keys are opposite at both ends, Key Up – Key Down, Key Down -
Key Up.
Type-B or Reversed: On a Type-B cable the fiber positions are reversed
at each end. (ex.: the fiber in the 1st position of the connector A matches
with the fiber in the 12th position of the connector B). This type has both
connectors in the same position (Key Up/Key Up, Key Down/Key Down).

Type-C or Pairs flipped: Type-C cables cross each adjacent pair. (ex.:
the fiber in the 1st position of the connector A matches with the fiber in
the 2nd position of the connector B, the fiber in the 12th position of the
connector A matches with the fiber in the 11th position of the connector
B, ). The Keys are opposite at both ends, Key Up – Key Down, Key Down
- Key Up.

Understanding the basic differences in each of the three MPO polarity

methods can help determine which method to deploy.
Reducing cable congestion in constrained spaces is an important factor
in designing fiber systems for data centers and large enterprise
equipment rooms and data centers. MPO fiber cables are widely used in
high density cabling environments like FTTX and 40/100GSFP 、 SFP+
optical transceivers connectivity applications.

HYC offers various kinds of fiber optic patch cords, including OS, OM1,
OM2, OM3, OM4 OM5 fibers. HYC also provides fiber optic cables
adapted to customers' specific requirements.
http://www.hyc-system.com

HYC Co., Ltd （ HYC ） is a national Hi-tech optoelectronics company

engaged in R&D, manufacture, and marketing of fiber optical products.
Providing professional product and ser vice for fiber connectivity, WDM,
PLC splitter, and high-density datacom cabling. HYC products and
solutions widely applied in 4G/5G, Data Center and Cloud Computing
industry, etc.
sales@hyc-system.com