Author Archives

Liz Goldsmith

Will the Fiber Work?

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For decades, fiber optics have been inspected and cleaned to ensure the proper passage of light. While fiber optics inspection and cleaning fiber connectors is not new, it is growing in importance as links with increasingly higher data rates are driving decreasingly small loss budgets. With less tolerance for overall light loss, the attenuation through adapters must be lower than ever before. This can be achieved by properly inspecting and cleaning fiber optic cables when they are installed or while making moves, or changes. During this one-hour session, Jim Davis from Fluke Network will introduce us to the basic requirements to support our applications. Participants will earn one BICSI CEC.

Telecom FTTH Network Architecture for Rural Environments

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Bringing broadband service to rural and underserved, exurban areas can pose unique challenges to providers. Deployments must cover great distances to reach just a few homes. Rural areas have higher costs per home passed, and require high subscriber take rates to make fiber deployments economically possible. Alternative FTTx deployment solutions such as a tap FTTH network architecture may offer a solution. In a tap network, a fiber cable is deployed throughout a service area, and fiber optic taps divert optical signals to subscribers.

Some Say, “With 5G, No Need for Fiber Networks.” They Are Wrong

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This week, I read an article stating that 5G “gives developers the ability to scale up projects more easily because there’s no need to build extensive fiber-optic networks to keep data flowing.” This couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, fiber is the essential backbone for all 5G networks to operate, for fronthaul, midhaul, backhaul, and the densification needed to network between small cells.

Playing to Fiber’s Strength

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Last month, I wrote about types of fiber optic sensors that are used in specialized applications. Most of these affect the transmission of light in the fiber to allow the physical parameter to be sensed either along the entire length of the fiber or at discrete points where sensors are connected to the fiber. Many of these sensors can be attached in series along a single fiber to connect up sensors over a large area and monitored using an instrument such as an optical time domain reflectometer.

The challenges of migrating optical networks to 400G

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While 400G is the answer to increasing data demands, there will be an initial struggle on the network backbone in supporting these initiatives and fulfilling the promise of higher-capacity transport. 400G is not a natural extension to existing network infrastructure, and requires taking into account new restrictions and a redesign of the optical network infrastructure. 400G capacity over a single wavelength with its high baud rate is simply too spectrally wide to pass through the 50-GHz filters and fixed grid ROADMs (reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexers). A new “runway” is required to reap the benefits of this new technology.

White Paper: The Role of PoE in the Modern Connected Enterprise

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Power over Ethernet has become the new power grid in buildings. With new standards that allow up to 99W to be delivered, PoE has grown up and is ready to power connected devices throughout the office building, school, and hospital. Panduit’s latest ebook, The Role of PoE in the Modern Connected Enterprise, explores infrastructure considerations and emerging solutions for extending the distance of PoE delivery.