Transceiver Compatibility Calculator
Check a transceiver against link distance and optical loss budget to confirm the run will actually come up.
About Transceiver Compatibility Calculator
Two independent tests must pass: the distance must be inside the optic's rated reach, and the accumulated fibre and connector loss must stay inside the standard's channel insertion loss budget. Patch panels are usually the dominant loss on short multimode runs. An optic that is 'rated for 100 m' will still fail at 80 m through four patch panels, and this is the arithmetic that predicts it before the link is built.
Formula
Transceiver Compatibility
total loss = distance km × attenuation + connector pairs × loss per pair; the link works when distance ≤ rated reach and total loss ≤ budget.
- attenuation
- About 3 dB/km for OM4 at 850 nm and 0.35 dB/km for single mode at 1310 nm
- budget
- Channel insertion loss allowance from the IEEE clause, 1.9 dB for 100GBASE-SR4 on OM4
Worked example
With the default values below, Transceiver Compatibility Calculator returns Result of Supported with 0.96 dB margin. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.
Inputs used
- Link distanceaccepts 1–120,000 m
- 80 m
- Transceiverone of 100GBASE-SR4 on OM4 — 100 m, 100GBASE-SR4 on OM3 — 70 m, 400GBASE-SR8 on OM4 — 100 m, 100GBASE-DR on SMF — 500 m, 100GBASE-FR / 400GBASE-FR4 — 2 km, 100GBASE-LR4 on SMF — 10 km, 100GBASE-ER4 on SMF — 40 km
- 100GBASE-SR4 on OM4 — 100 m
- Fibre attenuationaccepts 0.15–4 dB/km
- 3 dB/km
- Mated connector pairsaccepts 0–12 pairs
- 2 pairs
- Loss per connector pairaccepts 0.05–1.5 dB
- 0.35 dB
- Channel insertion loss budgetaccepts 0.5–30 dB
- 1.9 dB
Results
- Result
- Supported with 0.96 dB margin
- Total Channel Loss
- 0.940 dB
- Loss Margin
- 0.960 dB
- Loss in the Fibre
- 0.240 dB
- Link Supported
- Yes
Step by step
- 1Values used
- 2Transceiver Compatibility
- 3Result= Supported with 0.96 dB margin
- 4Total Channel Loss= 0.940 dB
- 5Loss Margin= 0.960 dB
- 6Loss in the Fibre= 0.240 dB
- 7Link Supported= Yes
Assumptions and limits
- The result is derived only from the 6 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
- In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
- Figures are rounded for display to 3 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.
How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is Transceiver Compatibility calculated?
total loss = distance km × attenuation + connector pairs × loss per pair; the link works when distance ≤ rated reach and total loss ≤ budget. Two independent tests must pass: the distance must be inside the optic's rated reach, and the accumulated fibre and connector loss must stay inside the standard's channel insertion loss budget. Patch panels are usually the dominant loss on short multimode runs.
Why does Transceiver Compatibility matter?
An optic that is 'rated for 100 m' will still fail at 80 m through four patch panels, and this is the arithmetic that predicts it before the link is built.
What values do I need to enter?
This calculator takes 6 inputs: Link distance, Transceiver, Fibre attenuation, Mated connector pairs, Loss per connector pair, Channel insertion loss budget. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.