What are Active Optical Cables?

The proliferation of bandwidth-hungry applications such as 4K/8K/10K video, as well as augmented and virtual reality, are all fueling the need for reliable, faster data transmission between sources and displays. At lengths of 5 m and beyond, copper cables are simply no longer able to keep up with this insatiable bandwidth demand at the speeds required. Fiber optics is the answer.

While some AOCs are strictly fiber optic by design, Cosemi’s AOCs are hybrid, meaning they use fiber optics for high-resolution and high-bandwidth video signals, and copper for low-speed electrical and power signals. They bring all the benefits of fiber optic cables while maintaining copper’s familiar plug-and-play nature.

Active Optical Cables (AOCs) convert electrical signals into optical for the transmission of video and data communications, over short or long distances, between sources and displays. Compared with direct attach copper cable for video and/or data transmission, AOCs provide many advantages, such as lighter weight, faster speeds, lower power consumption, lower interconnection loss, and increased flexibility. Because AOCs are thin and flexible, they can be routed through walls much easier than a copper cable.

AOCs are ordered by connector type and length, plus some optional features if needed. They are available in many different connector types – including HDMI, DisplayPort, USB, QSFP, and SFP. Desired length is in meters. Jacket type can also be specified: shielded, plenum, Euro market, etc.

When using AOCs, it is important to make sure that the source end of the cable is connected to the device that generates the video signal.

This information was contributed by Cosemi Technologies Inc.