The construction of fiber optic cables to households in China is currently underway, but due to some disadvantages of quartz fiber optic cables, there are many problems with the installation of ZMI-2002 8020-0211 in households. Plastic optical fiber (POF) is a type of optical fiber (optical fiber) made up of highly transparent polymers such as polystyrene (PS), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polycarbonate (PC) as core materials, and PMMA, fluoroplastics, etc. as outer layer materials. Different materials have different optical attenuation properties and temperature application ranges. Plastic optical fiber can not only be used for the last 100-1000 meters of access networks, but also for various vehicles such as cars, airplanes, etc. It is an excellent medium for short distance data transmission. Due to the large diameter and numerical aperture of plastic optical fibers, their optical conductivity is high. Plastic optical fibers have much higher bandwidth capacity than copper transmission media (twisted pair and coaxial cables). The higher the transmission frequency, the lower the cost of using plastic optical fibers.

Plastic fiber optic entering households: a brand new choice

Plastic optical fiber is a type of optical fiber, but unlike quartz optical fiber, its core and outer layer are made of plastic, which has more advantages than quartz optical fiber in short distance transmission. Plastic optical fiber is internationally recognized as the best short distance transmission medium and the most perfect choice for solving the last 100 meters of fiber optic access, which can completely replace the current 5/6 category lines.

Telecommunications companies in Europe and North America, as well as the Plastic Fiber Optic Alliance in Europe, have been testing plastic fiber optic and continuously improving it. Plastic fiber optic does not generate radiation and is completely unaffected by electromagnetic interference, radio frequency interference, and noise. This is particularly important for the diversion of video and audio, as it is evident that these interferences and noise affect the quality of images and services. Plastic optical fibers can be laid side by side with copper cables in the same pipeline or harness. Plastic optical fibers do not produce noise and will not have a negative impact on the current pipeline network.

Recently, some European network equipment manufacturers have begun to integrate POF ports into set-top boxes and home gateways. The innovation of integrating POF ports into set-top boxes and home gateways, such as ZMI-2002 8020-0211, has led telecommunications companies to actively consider using plastic fiber optics in their homes. This integrated approach eliminates some of the shortcomings of previous plastic fiber home networks, making plastic fiber home network solutions more attractive.

At present, many countries use Class 3 cables to solve the last distance wiring problem in home networks, and telecommunications companies are now looking forward to using a large amount of plastic fiber optic wiring in home networks. In order to verify the advantages of plastic fiber optic as a transmission medium for household wiring, in July 2009, AT&T in the United States led a plastic fiber optic verification experiment. Different POF optical switches and media converters form different home networks in four households (see Figure 1). Family 3 has renovated the existing coaxial cables and used POF medium converters on 7 set-top boxes.

 

Figure 1 Verification test of AT&T plastic fiber optic wiring

The following diagram shows the configuration scheme of an all optical network and VDSL/POF optical end-to-end network designed by a telecommunications operator in the United States.

Plastic fiber optic systems: multi scenario applications

The plastic fiber optic system conforms to the trend of “light entering and copper exiting” and is a new generation of short distance transmission system. Supporting various scenarios of FTTx, meeting the needs of “three network integration” and intelligent building comprehensive cabling, it can be used for FTTH/FTTD in xPON mode, as well as independent networking, suitable for various scenarios such as national government agencies, enterprises and institutions, cultural education, medical and health, intelligent buildings, residential areas, industrial parks, schools, hospitals, hotels, internet cafes, security monitoring broadcasts, and requirements for shielding, confidentiality, and lightning protection.

 

Figure 2 FTTP U-verse User Multi Network Fusion POF Optical Transmission Architecture

At present, the institute has successfully developed a fully automatic assembly line with a daily output of 100000 meters of PMMA plastic optical fibers. It has continuously produced PMMA optical fibers with optical attenuation between 170-200dB/km for several months, and has produced millions of meters of low loss plastic optical fibers, indicating that this industrial technology has matured. At the same time, the institute also has the potential to mass produce step PMMA optical fibers with an optical attenuation of 150dB/km, and the product technical indicators reach the best level of similar international products. The emergence of low attenuation PMMA fiber continuous mass production technology marks China’s entry into the world’s advanced ranks in this field.

Scenario 1: Triple network integration

The plastic optical fiber (POF) in home solution under the background of triple network integration adopts the technical architecture of “GEPON+POF”. From the office end to the user’s building, GEPON equipment is used to carry signals, and from the building to the user’s home, plastic optical fiber (POF) is used to connect to network equipment such as the user’s computer and IPTV, achieving full optical network access.