The optical port of an industrial Ethernet switch refers to the optical fiber interface, which has single-mode, multi-mode, gigabit, and gigabit specifications. Its primary function is to route data carried by light without converting the signal into an electrical form for processing, defining it as a true. Fiber optic communication relies on light pulses to transmit data. The strength of this light is measured in dBm (decibel-milliwatts). This design enables end-to-end optical signal transmission, avoiding the conversion between electrical and optical signals at the switch port level. Unlike standard RJ45 Ethernet ports, SFP ports can support both fiber optic and copper Ethernet connections depending on the installed module. RJ45 ports serve access-layer copper connections; SFP/SFP+ ports enable flexible 1G/10G uplinks; SFP28 delivers 25G for modern data centers; QSFP+ and QSFP28 support high-density 40G/100G spine–leaf.
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