With the 8th generation of Micro Switches, MICROSENS consistently advances the long-established FTTO installation switch concept to meet the increasing bandwidth, power, flexibility, and installation requirements of modern office and campus networks. A key innovation of this generation is the modular and rotatable user port design: the user port modules can be rotated by 90°, allowing flexible horizontal or vertical installation and optimal cable routing regardless of the mounting orientation. Combined with the compact M45 form factor and fanless design, the Micro Switch can be seamlessly integrated into wall outlets, floor boxes, cable ducts, or furniture installations in a building-standard-compliant manner.
Within the Fiber to the Office (FTTO) architecture, the Micro Switch continues to function as the decentralized workstation component, converting high-speed optical uplinks from the central building distributor directly to standardized RJ-45 user interfaces at the workplace.
The 8th generation platform is based on a high-performance Layer-2+ switching architecture with full wire-speed, non-blocking forwarding and support for Energy Efficient Ethernet (IEEE 802.3az). The devices are equipped with two SFP+ uplink ports supporting 1G and 10G Ethernet (IEEE 802.3ae), enabling future-proof bandwidth scalability directly at the access layer. This makes the Micro Switch ideally suited for high-performance FTTO deployments and demanding workstation environments.
On the copper side, the Micro Switch provides multiple 10/100/1000Base-T user and downlink ports, complemented—depending on the variant—by an additional multigigabit port supporting 1G, 2.5G, or 5G Ethernet (IEEE 802.3bz). This enables the direct connection of bandwidth-intensive devices such as Wi-Fi 6/6E access points, multimedia endpoints, or high-performance workstations within the structured cabling infrastructure.
The PoE+/++ variants support IEEE 802.3af, 802.3at, and 802.3bt standards, providing up to 60 W per port (PoE++ Class 6) for power-hungry end devices. Up to five PoE PSE ports can be used to supply VoIP phones, WLAN access points, IP cameras, thin clients, or other PoE-enabled devices directly from the Micro Switch, eliminating the need for local power supplies. Due to the higher power demand, the devices are supplied with 44…57 VDC (typically 54 VDC) from an external installation power supply integrated into the building infrastructure.
For management and security, the Micro Switch is based on a future-oriented Linux operating system and provides comprehensive Layer-2+ features. Access is protected via standard management interfaces such as HTTPS, SSH, and SNMP, and the devices are fully integrated into the MICROSENS Network Management Platform (NMP) for centralized configuration, monitoring, and firmware management of large FTTO installations.
The integrated USB-C console interface allows direct local management access, while the optional microSD card slot can be used as a secure backup medium for firmware and configuration data. By exchanging the memory card, the complete device configuration and operational status can be transferred, enabling fast device replacement and simplified maintenance. A secure boot mechanism and encrypted storage of sensitive data ensure a high level of operational security.
To ensure high availability at the access layer, the 8th generation Micro Switch supports standardized redundancy mechanisms such as Ethernet Ring Protection Switching (ERPS according to ITU-T G.8032v2), including single-ring and multi-ring topologies. This enables resilient FTTO network designs with rapid failover times, even in complex ring-based installations.
With its combination of 10G uplinks, multigigabit downlinks, PoE++ power delivery, modular installation design, and comprehensive management features, the 8th generation MICROSENS Micro Switch represents a future-proof, high-performance access solution for modern FTTO networks.
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