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June 5, 2007
1GB over plastic?!
Currently, fibre-optic transmissions are accomplished using very thin stands of glass (50-70 microns). Siemens has made a breakthrough in using plastic rather than glass:
Siemens researchers have demonstrated a data rate of 1Gbit/s over plastic optical fibre, a speed ten times higher than is possible with current products.Sebastian Randel, the Siemens project manager, said the team sent an IPTV signal at 1008Mbit/s over a 100m connection in the lab, without errors or any flickering on the TV screen.
Anyone who's worked with glass fibre knows it's difficult to handle, and even more difficult to make custom lengths. I took Siecor fibre training some years back, and it took all day for me to accomplish a simple fibre splice. Plastic Optical Fibre (POF) will improve this dramatically:
POF's advantages include flexibility, robustness and ease of connection, all of which make it easier and therefore cheaper to handle - it can even be installed by us cack-handed end users. In particular, the optical core is much thicker than in glass fibre, so it is more tolerant of misaligned connectors, and it can be cut satisfactorily with a metal cutter, whereas glass needs a diamond cutter.
not to mention that plastic will be cheaper!
Posted by Edward J. Branley at June 5, 2007 5:09 PM
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