Conference to focus on polymer optical fibre

The FiberComm Conference between 12th and 14th May 2004 will discuss technologies for broadband connections for residential houses and large building complexes.

The FiberComm Conference between 12th and 14th May 2004 will discuss technologies for broadband connections for residential houses and large building complexes.

Glass fibre cables made from silica glass have already been in use for several years in telecommunications and data networks as the broadband successor to classic copper cables.

This technology has been adopted for multimedia cabling for buildings and plants, such as business parks.

A recent example is the recently inaugurated Formula 1 track in Bahrain, where 40 video cameras, 45 signal lamps, 820 loudspeakers and 800 telephone extensions had to be networked with a management system.

However, a more cost-effective alternative has now presented itself for broadband applications in the commercial and private sectors: plastic optical fibre (or polymer optical fibre, POF).

This fibre consists of a transparent plastic, such as plexiglass, and is more flexible and much easier to handle than glass fibre.

The international FiberComm Conference, taking place between 12th and 14th May 2004 in Munich, will demonstrate how POFs can be used to network residential houses and hospitals and how the technologies and architectures can be applied.

The entry of this digital standard into private households has increased the need for high-performance but cost-effective home networks as extensions to cable networks and wireless LAN.

So-called "fibre in the home" (FITH) networks have been developed to network all electronic devices in the home - PCs, televisions, games consoles, ovens, air conditioning units and other domestic appliances.

They are based on plastic optical fibres, transmitting up to 3Gbit/s over short distances and up to 400Mbit/s over a distance of 100m.

In areas requiring data transmission rates and a range similar to that of glass fibre, such as the networking of high-rise buildings or large building complexes, so-called "graded index POFs" (GI POFs) can be used.

Whereas a copper cable can only achieve a data transmission rate of 1Gbit/s over about 50m, GI POFs can achieve the same rate over several hundred metres and can be laid together with electricity power cables in a channel, given their insensitivity to electromagnetic disturbance.

This makes polymer optical fibres suitable for cable television (CATV) and other interactive multimedia services of the future: high-speed access to the Internet, telephony via the Internet (voice-over IP), digital TV and pay-per-view television (pay-per-channel) are all possible with reverse-channel capable optical networks within a single cable.

With around 22 million households connected to cable TV, Germany is the second largest cable market in the world after the USA - and thus a highly attractive market for network providers from all over the world.

However, graded index plastic optical fibres are not suitable for cabling in residential houses and offices.

It was only in December last year that the Sakakibara Hospital in Japan was inaugurated, with all computers for the doctors, nurses and technicians linked together via an optical network, as well as the PCs at patient bedsides.

This case also demonstrated the advantages of POFs: extensive range, cost-effective, flexible and robust installation, tap-proof and insensitive to electromagnetic disturbance.

The uses of POF are just one aspect of the FiberComm Conference 2004, which will provide a comprehensive overview of optical information and communication technology.

Topics for discussion include the commercial and technological development of optical components and networks, as well as future-orientated network architectures such as Ethernet.

Participants in the international conference include decision-makers from management sectors and technical specialists from the manufacturing and user sectors, including network operators, manufacturers of optical components, network and system designers, as well as large-scale enterprises and investors.

Further information on the programme and speakers at the FiberComm Conference are available on the Internet at www.fibercomm.de.

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