MTP/MPO
When talking about MTP and MPO connectors we need to keep in mind that they are not the same although compatible.
MTP is developed out of MPO, but with better quality. There are many companies manufacturing parts for MPO connectors, but only US Conec manufactures parts for MTP connectors. This means that parts for MPO, for example the boot, housing and ferrules can be manufactured by anyone. And if the connector is called MTP, then all parts are manufactured by US Conec.
Benefits of MTP over MPO
- Detachable housing. Enables repolishment of the ferrule
Floating ferrule. Improves the connection of the connector surfaces.
- The manufacturing tolerances of the control pins in the male connectors are tighter.
- The spring of the connector is better centered and its compression force is better.
We supply both MTP and MPO products.
Connectors
There are two types of MTP/MPO connectors, male and female. In the male connector there are guide pins and in the female connectors corresponding openings. The male connector is used among other things inside panels and in device interfaces. The female connector is commonly used in patch cords and in instrument and trunk cables.
MTP/MPO connectors are available with 8, 12 or 24 fibers. The connector is the same size with all the fiber counts. In connectors, with 8 or 12 fibers, there are 12 places for fibers. When using 8 fibers the 4 middle places remain unused. This 8-fiber connector is mainly used only in multimode products and in 40Gb systems.
In 24-fiber connector the fibers are in two rows
12-fiber connector is the most common at the moment. 24-fiber connectors advantage is greater coupling density, which leads to halving the trunk cables needed. The challenges for using 24-fiber connectors is their manufacturing complexity, which raises their price considerably.
The insertion loss for MTP/MPO connectors is typically little higher compared to SC and LC connectors with ceramic ferrules, typically 0,25dB. Return loss is also weaker compared to regular ferrules. Therefore SM MTP/MPO connectors are almost always APC polished, and that enables them to reach the typical value of 55dB for return loss.
Patch cords
Patch cords are available for all fiber counts (8, 12 and 24). Both ends can be with MTP/MPO connectors or the other end may be with LC or SC connectors.
Polarity
It is crucial to now the polarity when using MTP/MPO connectors. There are three types of polarity available (A, B and C). The choosing of adapters also depends on the polarity. In the flipbook below, you can find out what different polarities mean and differ from each other.
