FIBER OPTIC EXTENDER

• US 20180287702A1
• Filed: 03/31/2017
• Published: 10/04/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Berk-Tek LLC (Leviton Manufacturing Company Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Nexans Incorporated (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Sambaraju, Rakesh, Good, Michael
• Granted Patent: US 10,797,797 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/4293 hybrid electrical and optical connections for transmitting electrical and optical signals
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/4453 Cassettes
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/0795 Performance monitoring; Measurement of transmission parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/2581 Multimode transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/25891 Transmission components H04B10/40 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/40 Transceivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 11/0005 Switch and router aspects

Abstract

The present arrangement replaces passive components of a multi-mode fiber optic channel, such as a typical prior art cassette (i.e. connectors & short lengths of fibers) with active cassettes that have components therein that receive the optical signal from a first transmitting transceiver, convert the signal to an electrical signal, route that signal appropriately within the cassette and re-send an optical signal out from the opposite of the cassette into the infrastructure harness. This results in a localized optical signal boost at a mid-channel location.

Claims

1. A multi-mode fiber optic channel comprising:

a first transmitting switch for transmitting an optical signal through a fiber optic channel;

a first patch cable connecting said transmitting switch to a fiber infrastructure; and

a second patch cable connecting said fiber infrastructure to a receiving switch,

wherein said fiber infrastructure has a trunk cable connecting two optical cassettes, and wherein at least one of said optical cassettes is an active fiber optic cassette that provide optical signal amplification,

wherein said active cassettes in said fiber optic infrastructure is powered through said first and/or second patch cables, passing through powered guide pins of connectors of said first and second patch cables.

2. The multi-mode fiber optic channel as claimed in claim 1, wherein both of said optical cassettes in said fiber optic infrastructure are active cassettes.

3. The multi-mode fiber optic channel as claimed in claim 1, wherein said active cassettes in said fiber optic infrastructure is powered locally.

5. The multi-mode fiber optic channel as claimed in claim 1, wherein active cassette includes components of an optical transceiver, including but not limited to, TOSA/ROSA, CDR, MDI, laser diver, and receiver amplifiers.

6. The multi-mode fiber optic channel as claimed in claim 5, wherein active cassette, inside said optical infrastructure, receives an optical signal, converts it to an electrical signal to pass internally, and then converts back to an optical signal, before passing said optical signal to said trunk cable.

7. The multi-mode fiber optic channel as claimed in claim 1, wherein a tap is applied within the channel at the active cassette to monitor at least one of the optical pathways in the channel.

8. The multi-mode fiber optic channel as claimed in claim 7, wherein said tap is tapped of an optical signal within said active cassette.

9. The multi-mode fiber optic channel as claimed in claim 7, wherein said tap is tapped of an electrical signal within said active cassette.

11. The multi-mode fiber optic channel as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a wireless antenna for transmitting diagnostic data.

12. The multi-mode fiber optic channel as claimed in claim 11, wherein said active cassette further comprises an impedance element for collecting said diagnostic data, said diagnostic data being in the form of impedance variations in said first tandem patch cable.

4. (canceled)

10. (canceled)