Tag Archives: PON splitter

Passive Optical Network Technology

The tremendous growth in IP traffic badly influenced the access network capacity. It’s believed that the copper-based access networks can’t provide either the minimum bandwidth or the required transmission distance for delivering services of voice, data, and video programs. Passive optical network (PON) is seemed as a promising and cost-effective way to solve this problem.

What’s PON?

PON is a telecommunication network that uses point-to-multipoint fiber to the end-points in which optical splitters are used to enable a single optical fiber to serve multiple end-points. It does not include any electrically powered switching equipment.

Three Devices in PON

There are three distinct devices in the network (as shown in the following picture): the OLT (optical line terminal), the ONUs (optical network units) or ONTs (optical network terminals) and the splitter. Each one has a necessary function in the passive optical network. PON always works under transmission between the OLT and the different ONT’s through optical splitters, which multiplex or demultiplex signals based on their origin and destination.

PON-devices

  • OLTs are located in provider’s central switching office. This equipment serves as the point of origination for FTTP (Fiber-to-the-Premises) transmissions coming into and out of the national provider’s network. An OLT, is where the PON cards reside.
  • ONU converts optical signals transmitted via fiber to electrical signals. These electrical signals are then sent to individual subscribers. ONUs are commonly used in fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) or fiber-to-the-curb (FTTC) applications. Using different wavelengths for each service makes it possible to transmit high-speed Internet and video services at the same time. Wavelength multiplexing is performed at the central office and a wavelength demultiplexing mechanism is provided at the customer’s house.
  • PON splitter is used to split the fiber optic light into several parts at a certain ratio. For example, a 1X2 50:50 fiber optic splitter will split a fiber optic light beam into two parts, each get 50 percent of the original beam.
Advantages of PON

There are many advantages given by the use of fiber and the passive elements that compose the network. The following will tell about the advantages of PON.

  • High bandwidth The bandwidth allowed by systems based on PON can reach the 10 Gbps rate down to the user. The need to increase the bandwidth and the speed is another justification for the use of PON.
  • Long distance A PON allows for longer distances between central offices and customer premises. While with the Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) the maximum distance between the central office and the customer is only 18000 feet (approximately 5.5 km), a PON local loop can operate at distances of over 20 km.
  • Low cost On one hand, the cost of passive elements is low. On the other hand, the installation of these PON elements is much more economic. And it avoids operation and maintenance costs, such as absence of falls or maintenance of the network feeds.

Of course PON has some disadvantages. Compared with an active optical network, it has less range. That means subscribers must be geographically closer to the central source of the data. PON also make it difficult to isolate a failure when they occur. However, these disadvantages can not avoid choosing PON as the best possible configuration. Because it saves the cost of deploying PON networks regarding other two configurations (point to point and active optical network). And the flexibility of the network allows the usage of a channel by a large number of users.

Brief Introduction Optical Splitter and Applications

Fiber optic splitter is used to split the fiber optic light into several parts at a certain ratio. For example, a 1×2 50:50 fiber optic splitter will split a fiber optic light beam into two parts, each get 50 percent of the original beam. Here the ratio is called splitting ratio. Fiber optic splitters can be terminated with different kinds of connectors, the main package could be box type or stainless tube type, one is usually used with 2mm or 3mm outer diameter cable, the other is usually used with 0.9mm outer diameter cables.

Fiber optic splitters are important passive components used in fiber optic communications. Nowadays two kinds of fiber splitters are very popular, one is the traditional fused type fiber optic splitter, which features competitive prices, the other is PLC splitter  (as shown in the Figure),which is compact size and suit for density applications. Both of these two types fiber splitters has its advantages to suit for different requirement.

PLC splitter

An optical splitter is a passive optical fiber tributary device that connects an optical line terminal to an optical network unit, such as PON splitter. It can transmit packets using time division multiplexing (TDM) in the downlink and gather packets using the time division multiplexing access (TDMA) protocol in the uplink.

Features:

Rack-Mounted Optical Splitter Unit Series

19-inch rack-mounted structure that supports ETSI-based installation;
Clearly identifies the connection and distribution of each optical core;
PC or APC (optional);
Standard rack-mounted structure that can be installed in an ODF or splice box for centralized management of large-scale fiber splitting;
Legible optical route identifiers for ease of future maintenance;
Sheet metal packaging for protecting optical components.

Case-Shape Optical Splitter unit-SPL1101 Serie

Optical splitting ratio ranging from 1:2 to 2:64;
Labeling clearly identifies the connection and distribution (assignments) for each optical core;
Adapter, PC, APC (optional).

Case-Shape Optical Splitter unit-SPL9101 Series

Split ratio ranging from 1:2 to 2:64;
Small-sized, general-purpose, and can be installed in a connector box, optical cross connection cabinet, or optical distribution box for fiber splitting;
Use fiber patch cords as input and output ends of the optical splitter unit.

Outdoor Wall-Mounted Optical Splitter Unit

High protection level;
Can be installed through a hole, on a pole, or in a trench with the help of auxiliaries;
Embedded with an optical splitter, fiber splicing device, fiber management tray, and fiber routing device.

Indoor Wall-Mounted Optical Splitter Unit
Can be mounted on a wall indoors;
Built-in optical splitter unit and cable distribution device for splitting and distributing fibers;
PC and APC (optional).

Applications & Benefits

With the split ratio ranging from 1:2 to 2:64, the optical splitter series can be installed in a connecting box, splice box, or optical division box for fiber splitting, while the clearly-labeled optical route identifiers facilitate easy maintenance.

Our splitter products are based on planar waveguide technology that offers maximum performance and exceptional long-term stability-ion-exchange in glass. The standard products are low-loss and broadband singlemode splitters for the entire telecommunications wavelength range manufactured on 6-inch wafers with splitting rates of 1×2 to 1×64, including splitters such as 1×5 or 1×12.

Fiberstore Fused Biconic Tapered splitter (FBT splitter) is available with 1×2, 1×3, 1×4, 1×5, 1×6, 1×8, 1×12, 1×16, 1×18, 1×20 and 1×24 configurations with single mode or multimode fiber. Our new multimode splitters are based on planar intergrated optical waveguides and are produced by means of ion exchange in glass. Thus, they are very compact, robust and long-term stable. Whether in sensor technologies or in optical power transfer, there is a wide range of applications. Planar waveguide components for the near infrared wavelength range are also available.