Fiber to Ethernet switch principle

The principle of fiber-to-Ethernet switches is mainly based on the combination of fiber-optic communication technology and Ethernet switching technology. How it works is explained in detail below:

First, fiber-to-Ethernet switches use optical fiber as the transmission medium. Optical fiber has the characteristics of high speed, large capacity and low loss, and can transmit a large amount of data signals. At the transmitting end, the data is converted into optical signals through electronic equipment and then emitted into the optical fiber through an optical transmitter. Optical signals are transmitted in the optical fiber in the form of total reflection, that is, the optical signal is continuously reflected in the core of the optical fiber, ensuring that the signal can be transmitted to the receiving end stably and efficiently.

When optical signals arrive at a fiber-to-Ethernet switch, the switch begins to perform its critical role. There are multiple ports inside the switch, and each port is connected to an optical fiber. When an optical signal arrives at a port on a switch, the switch determines which output port to forward it to based on the packet's destination address. This process is implemented through the forwarding table of the switch, which records the mapping relationship between each MAC address and the corresponding output port. The switch quickly determines the forwarding path of the data packet by searching the forwarding table and sends it to the destination port.

At the target port, the optical receiver at the receiving end receives the transmitted optical signal and converts it into an electrical signal. The electrical signal is then processed and decoded by electronic equipment and restored to the original data. In this way, the data is successfully transferred to the target device through the fiber-to-Ethernet switch.

In addition, fiber-to-Ethernet switches also have some advanced functions, such as learning functions, filtering functions, and flow control functions. The learning function enables the switch to automatically learn and record the MAC addresses of devices in the network to establish and maintain the forwarding table. The filtering function allows the switch to filter data packets according to certain rules to achieve network security and access control. The flow control function can help the switch perform reasonable traffic scheduling when the network is congested to ensure the stable operation of the network.

Summary: The principle of fiber-to-Ethernet switches is to transmit optical signals through optical fibers and use the forwarding function of the switch to achieve efficient transmission and exchange of data in the network. It combines the high-speed and large-capacity advantages of optical fiber communications with the flexibility and scalability of Ethernet switching, providing powerful and reliable support for modern network architectures.