Fiber optic splitters play an
increasingly significant role in many of today’s optical network
topologies. They provide capabilities that help users maximize the
functionality of optical network circuits from FTTx systems to
traditional optical networks. And usually they are placed in the central
office or in one of the distribution points (outdoor or indoor). This
article will tell something about optical splitters.
What Is Fiber Optic Splitter?
A fiber optic splitter is a passive
optical device that can split or separate an incident light beam into
two or more light beams. These beams may or may not have the same
optical power as the original beam, based on the configuration of the
splitter. By means of construction, the outputs of a splitter can have
varying degrees of throughput, which is highly beneficial when designing
optical networks, whether the splitter is used for network monitoring
or for a loss budget in a passive optical network (PON) architecture.
Generally, there are two types of fiber optic splitters, which are FBT
(fused biconical taper) splitters and PLC (planar lightwave circuit)
splitters.
FBT Splitters
FBT is the traditional technology in
which two fibers are placed closely together, typically twisted around
each other and fused together by applying heat while the assembly is
being elongated and tapered. A signal source controls the desired
coupling ratio. The fused fibers are protected by a glass substrate and
then protected by a stainless steel tube, typically 3 mm diameter by 54
mm long. FBT splitters
are widely accepted and used in passive optical networks. The following
picture shows a 1×2 FBT splitter single-mode three window fiber
splitter with ABS box.
PLC Splitters
The PLC splitters
are used to separate or combine optical signals. A PLC is a
micro-optical component based on planar lightwave circuit technology and
provides a low cost light distribution solution with small form factor
and high reliability. PLCs are manufactured using silica glass waveguide
circuits that are aligned with a v-groove fiber array chip that uses
ribbon fiber. Once everything is aligned and bonded, it is then packaged
inside a miniature housing. PLC splitters have high quality
performance, such as low insertion loss, low PDL, high return loss, etc.
The following is a picture of 1×8 blockless PLC splitter.
Comparison Between FBT Splitters and PLC Splitters
The differences between FBT splitters and PLC splitters are described in the following table.
In a word, the FBT splitters have lower
costs but restricted to the operating wavelength, and the maximum
insertion loss will vary depending on the split and increase
substantially for those splits over 1:8. While the PLC splitters, with
higher costs, have equal splitter ratios for all branches as well as low
failure rate.
FS.COM Fiber Optic Splitters Solution
As a leading supplier in fiber optic
communication industry, FS.COM provides various kinds of PLC splitters
and FBT splitters. Moreover, our fiber optic splitter quality and
performance is not only guaranteed by using high-quality components and
stringent manufacturing processes and equipment, but also by adherence
to a successful quality assurance program, which can be checked in “FS.COM Quality Assurance Program for PLC Splitter”. For more details, you can visit www.fs.com.
Originally published: www.fiberopticshare.com/fbt-splitters-vs-plc-splitters-differences.html
IQRA Technologies Ltd. was established in 2019 in Bangladesh. We are focused on wholesale and also on the retail business of PLC Splitter.
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