June 10, 2011
Passive Optical Network (PON) splitters play an important role in Fiber to the Home (FTTH) networks by allowing a single PON network interface to be shared among many subscribers. Splitters contain no electronics and use no power. They are the network elements that put the passive in Passive Optical Network and are available in a variety of split ratios, including 1:8, 1:16, and 1:32.
June 10, 2011
An interesting (and strange) fact is that attenuation of light through an optical splitter is symmetrical. It is identical in both directions. Whether a splitter is combining light in the upstream direction or dividing light in the downstream direction, it still introduces the same attenuation to an optical input signal (a little more than 3 dB for each 1:2 split).
June 10, 2011
A 1:8 Planar Lightwave Circuit (PLC) splitter is diagrammed in the figure below. A PLC splitter is made with techniques much like those to manufacture semiconductors, and these optical splitters are very compact, efficient, and reliable. A single 1:32 PLC splitter may be no larger than 1cm x 2 cm.
June 10, 2011
A PDH fiber link consists of two fibers, one for data in each direction, and a terminal station at each end to drive light into one fiber, and detect it from the other, whilst sending and receiving data to nearby equipment with electrical signals. If the link is more than about 50 km long, then regenerator stations must be installed, to detect the light from the fiber on the first leg of the link, recover the data bits and use this to modulate a laser to drive the second leg.
June 9, 2011
Fiber optic splitter is used to split one beam of optical fiber light into several parts at a certain ratio, for example, a 1X4 LC type equal splitting ratio fiber optic splitter can split the fiber optic light signal into four equal 25% parts and sent to the 4 different channels, LC is the connector type on the splitters. Fiber optic splitter key parameters include the optical loss, splitting ratio, isolation, PDL etc.