Optical network architecture, terminals for use in such networks and methods for using the same
First Claim
1. A terminal for connecting customers to an optical fiber network, the terminal comprising:
- a terminal housing;
an optical fiber splitter in the housing;
an optical fiber cable stub extending from the housing, the optical fiber cable stub having an optical fiber extending therein and coupled to the splitter in the housing;
a plurality of termination connectors connected to the housing, ones of the termination connectors having a customer optical fiber connection point accessible from outside the terminal housing and respective optical fibers extending in the housing from the termination connectors to the splitter;
wherein the splitter is configured to couple the optical fiber from the optical fiber cable stub to the optical fibers extending from the termination connectors to couple a single optical fiber from the optical fiber cable stub to a plurality of customer optical fiber connection points.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A terminal for connecting customers to an optical fiber network includes a terminal housing and an optical fiber splitter in the housing. An optical fiber cable stub extends from the housing. The optical fiber cable stub has an optical fiber extending therein that is coupled to the splitter in the housing. A plurality of termination connectors are connected to the housing. Ones of the termination connectors have a customer optical fiber connection point accessible from outside the terminal housing and respective optical fibers extending in the housing from the termination connectors to the splitter. The splitter is configured to couple the optical fiber from the optical fiber cable stub to the optical fibers extending from the termination connectors to couple a single optical fiber from the optical fiber cable stub to a plurality of customer optical fiber connection points.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. A terminal for connecting customers to an optical fiber network, the terminal comprising:
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a terminal housing;
an optical fiber splitter in the housing;
an optical fiber cable stub extending from the housing, the optical fiber cable stub having an optical fiber extending therein and coupled to the splitter in the housing;
a plurality of termination connectors connected to the housing, ones of the termination connectors having a customer optical fiber connection point accessible from outside the terminal housing and respective optical fibers extending in the housing from the termination connectors to the splitter;
wherein the splitter is configured to couple the optical fiber from the optical fiber cable stub to the optical fibers extending from the termination connectors to couple a single optical fiber from the optical fiber cable stub to a plurality of customer optical fiber connection points. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An optical fiber network, comprising:
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an optical splitter cabinet; and
a plurality of distribution closures coupled to optical fibers extending from the optical splitter cabinet, each of the distribution closures being configured to optically couple a plurality of customer connection points of a terminal having multiple connection points thereon to a single optical fiber from the optical splitter cabinet. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for configuring an optical fiber network, comprising:
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coupling optical fibers from a central office of a provider of the optical fiber network to distribution closures in a service area of the optical fiber network through an optical splitter cabinet;
selecting ones of the distribution closures to be configured;
selecting a termination connector count for terminals to be coupled to the selected ones of the distribution closures; and
coupling the selected terminals to their respective distribution closures, wherein the coupling of optical fibers through the optical splitter cabinet couples a plurality of termination connectors on one of the selected terminals to a single optical fiber extending from the optical splitter cabinet. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. An optical fiber distribution system, comprising:
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means for selectively changing a number of optical ports for connecting to customer premises coupled to a single fiber extending to a distribution closure; and
at least one optical fiber of the optical fiber distribution system extending to the distribution closure. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A terminal for connecting customers to an optical fiber network, the terminal comprising:
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a terminal housing;
an optical fiber splitter in the housing;
an optical fiber cable connector member extending from the housing and having a network termination connector on an end thereof removed from the terminal housing that is configured to optically couple to the optical fiber network, the optical fiber cable connector member having an optical fiber extending therein that couples the network termination connector to the splitter in the housing;
a plurality of customer termination connectors connected to the housing, ones of the customer termination connectors having a customer optical fiber connection point accessible from outside the terminal housing and respective optical fibers extending in the housing from the customer termination connectors to the splitter;
wherein the splitter is configured to couple the optical fiber from the network termination connector to the optical fibers extending from the customer termination connectors to couple a single optical fiber from the network termination connector to a plurality of customer optical fiber connection points. - View Dependent Claims (29)
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Specification