FiberPlex FOI-6010 - Manual (Page 12)

Other Considerations
USB FiberPlex Auxilary Control (uFAC) Interface
The FOI‐6010 includes a uFAC (FiberPlex Auxiliary Control over USB) interface which allows read write access
to status and parameter registers in both installed SFP/ SFP+ modules if supported by Fiberplex.
This port communicates over a USB 2.0‐compliant, full speed connection, via a USB Micro‐B connector. It
enumerates as a custom Fiberplex device, requiring its own driver. Please contact Fiberplex Technologies for
details and availability of the applications built around this interface.
Although power can be supplied across the port, it is recommended that the appropriate external supply for
the TD/FOI‐6010 be used. Power supplied through the USB port itself is not sufficient to power the device with
SFPs installed.
Video Optimization
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, or SMPTE, is a leader in the development of standards
for film, television, and other video. The Serial Digital Interface or SDI, was standardized by SMPTE for
broadcast quality digital video transmission. Other standards evolved from this original standard, defining
Enhanced, High‐definition (HD), 3G‐SDI (1080p) and Ultra High‐definition (UHD), or 4K video (2160p).
To help ensure error‐free transmission, the standards include a data scrambler / descrambler to create a high
density of transitions in the serial data, making it easier for the receiver to maintain timing. Where an
encoding method such as 8B‐10B ensures a minimal sequential run of all ones or zeros, it does so at the cost
of a 25% increase in bandwidth requirements. The scrambler / descrambler method does not require this, but
as a result there are certain combinations of scrambler state and the next data bits to be scrambled that result
in a sequence of up to twenty consecutive ones or zeros. These sequences are referred to as pathological
conditions, and are present in specific shades of pink or grey.
These pathological conditions may create errors in transmission through typical AC coupled optics, or any
other AC coupled interface. Video Enhanced or SMPTE Compliant optics are designed to accept these
pathological conditions, allowing the longer sequences of ones or zeros to pass without error.