A passive optical network is a point-to-multipoint network architecture to serve multiple premises. It allows communication service providers to serve several customers using a single connection. There is no need for any active components for electrical-to-optical or optical-to-electrical conversion during the operations. Some of the most common optical passive components include optical couplers, optical splitters, optical filters, optical connectors, optical attenuators, optical circulators, optical isolators, optical switches, and optical add/drop multiplexers. These components have become a promising solution for modern-day telecommunication needs.
Top 5 most widely used Optical Passive Components
Optical Coupler/Splitter
Optical fiber couplers/splitters are the most popular optical passive components for wavelength multi-demultiplexing of optical signals. An optical coupler is used to combine the signal from different fibers while an optical splitter is used to separate light signals in different fibers. In general, there is no significant difference between a coupler and splitter as an optical device. The functional difference is associated with the end you use as the input or the output as per your connection needs.
Optical Filter
An optical filter is also a wavelength multi/demultiplexing device but with a dielectric thin film that allows you to add or drop any specific wavelength during a fiber communication. The dielectric thin film is a multilayered film with different refractive indexes deposited on different layers to enable specific wavelengths to reflect or transmit at the layer interfaces. It is basically used to filter out a specific wavelength in the midst of fiber as per specific settings.
Optical fiber communication has brought us a fast and efficient mode of data transmission. There are various kinds of optical components and technologies used to achieve maximum reliability, functionality, and economical efficiency of an optical network. Optical passive components play a significant role in today’s data networks and FTTH applications to establish effective fiber communication.
Optical Connector
Optical connectors or fiber optic connectors are used to create a temporary joint connection between two optical fibers, cables, or devices. There are different types of optical connectors have been developed by manufacturers of optical passive components to meet different communication needs. The most common optical connectors include ST, LC, FC, SC, and MTRJ style connectors.
Optical Attenuator
Optical attenuators are fiber optic devices used to reduce the power of transmitted light in a controlled manner. It is used to:
- Preserve receivers from saturation state
- Balance wavelength power
- Equalize node power
There are four types of optical attenuators available in the market for power balancing in fiber communication – plug-style attenuators, in-line attenuators, variable attenuators, and fixed attenuators.
Optical Switch
Optical switches are the fiber optic devices used to control physical connection between input and output ports. They are mainly used in:
- Automatic measurement
- Optical fiber network remote monitoring
- Transplanting multiplexing
- Optical path monitoring system
- Optical fiber sensing system
- Optical device testing
DK Photonics is a world-class manufacturer of high-quality optical passive components for fiber laser and Optical Fibers applications. We offer a low-cost and high-quality option for all the components for the full-range solution of any passive optical network project.