The industry-standard Cisco Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP) Gigabit Interface Converter is a hot-swappable input/output device that plugs into a Gigabit Ethernet port or slot, linking the port with the network. SFPs can be used and interchanged on a wide variety of Cisco products and can be intermixed in combinations of 1000BASE-SX, 1000BASE-LX/LH, 1000BASE-ZX, or 1000BASE-BX10-D/U on a port-by-port basis.

The 1000BASE-BX-D, compatible with the IEEE 802.3ah 1000BASE-BX10-D standard, operates on a single strand of standard single-mode fiber (SMF). A 1000BASE-BX10-D device is always connected to a 1000BASE-BX10-U device with a single strand of standard SMF, with an operating transmission range of up to 10 km. The communication over a single strand of fiber is achieved by separating the transmission wavelength of the two devices: 1000BASE-BX10-D transmits a 1490-nm channel and receives a 1310-nm signal, whereas 1000BASE-BX10-U transmits at a 1310-nm wavelength and receives a 1490-nm signal.

The GLC-BX-D SFP also supports digital optical monitoring (DOM) functions according to the industry-standard SFF-8724 multisource agreement (MSA). This feature gives the end user the ability to monitor real-time parameters of the SFP, such as optical output power, optical input power, temperature, laser bias current, and transceiver supply voltage.