What is the difference between OM5 fiber patch cord and OM4 fiber patch cord?

As people's demand for high-bandwidth and high-speed networks increases, in order to satisfy users' access to data centers, the performance of data centers needs to be improved. In this context, a new type of OM5 fiber patch cord was born. The following ZR Cable uses OM4 fiber optic jumper as a representative to compare with OM5 fiber optic jumper, so that you can better understand OM5 fiber optic jumper and OM4 fiber optic jumper.

Fiber Jumper

What is an OM5 fiber patch cord?

OM5 fiber patch cord is a laser-optimized multi-mode fiber patch cord that specifies broadband characteristics for wavelength division multiplexing. OM5 fiber patch cord, also known as broadband multi-mode fiber patch cord, is suitable for high-bandwidth applications. It uses the wavelength division multiplexing technology of single-mode fiber to extend the available wavelength range during network transmission, and can support 4 wavelengths on a single-core multi-mode fiber, reducing the required number of fiber cores to 1/4.

What is an OM4 fiber patch cord?

OM4 fiber jumper is also a laser-optimized multimode fiber jumper. The diameter of OM4 fiber jumper is 50μm. In fact, OM4 fiber jumper is an upgraded version of OM3 fiber jumper, which is developed for VSCEL laser transmission.

The difference between OM5 fiber optic patch cord and OM4 fiber optic patch cord

Structurally, the OM5 fiber optic patch cord is no different from the OM4 fiber optic patch cord, and the OM5 fiber optic patch cord is compatible with the OM4 fiber optic patch cord. In addition, there are still differences between the two. The following is a comparison between OM5 fiber optic patch cords and OM4 fiber optic patch cords.

Different colors: the color of the outer jacket of the OM5 fiber optic patch cord is aqua; while the color of the outer jacket of the OM4 fiber optic patch cord is aqua blue.

Different wavelengths: The wavelength of OM5 fiber jumpers is generally 850/1300nm, and at least 4 wavelengths can be supported at one time; while the wavelength of OM4 fiber jumpers is generally 850/1310nm, and only one wavelength can be supported at a time.

Different transmission distances: Under the same wavelength, the transmission distance of OM5 fiber jumpers is generally longer than that of OM4 fiber jumpers.

Different transmission rates: The transmission rates of OM5 fiber jumpers are 40Gb/s and 100Gb/s; while the transmission rates of OM4 fiber jumpers are 10Gb/s, 40Gb/s, and 100Gb/s.

Different effective mode bandwidth (EMB): at 850nm wavelength, the effective mode bandwidth (EMB) of OM5 fiber patch cord is 6000MHZ.km, while the effective mode bandwidth (EMB) of OM4 fiber patch cord is 4700MHZ.km, for this OM5 fiber The effective mode bandwidth EMB of the patch cord is much higher than that of the OM4 fiber patch cord.

The choice of OM5 fiber patch cord and OM4 fiber patch cord

To sum up, the performance of OM5 fiber optic patch cord is much higher than that of OM4 fiber optic patch cord. As a choice for future data centers, OM5 fiber optic patch cords surpass OM4 fiber optic patch cords in terms of effective mode bandwidth (EMB), which means that it can provide extra space for Ethernet and give data centers stronger vitality. However, when the transmission rate cannot reach 40Gb/s, considering the cost, choosing OM4 fiber patch cord is the best solution.