1000Base-T vs 1000Base-X (Copper vs Fiber) design guidelines

[crono1009]

I'm currently designing a dual port 1000Base-T Gigabit Ethernet circuit card. My problem is that I do not have much space to work with on my board and the dual port RJ45 Magjack is taking up a ton of space. To save space I've been looking to switch to a fiber-optic system with much smaller connectors.

Anyone have experience laying out a fiber design? Could I essentially just switch out my RJ45 MagJack with a fiber optic module and switch my PHY to one that supports 1000BASE-X? In other words would I have to change my current RGMII and MAC interfaces to support fiber?

How is a board layout with fiber different than with copper?

Any documents on these topics would be helpful, I'm having difficult finding them.

Thank you,
-Kevin

 

[crono1009]

While looking for space saving solutions for my gigabit ethernet board I found SFP transceivers. Does anyone have any experience with these? Can one 1000BASE-T SFP transceiver replace the RJ45, Magnetics, and PHY on my board?

Thanks,
-Kevin