Data Transmission over Polymer Optical Fibers
I. Tafur Monroy, H.P.A. vd Boom, A.M.J. Koonen, G.D. Khoe
COBRA Institute, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, E-mail:
i.tafur@tue.nl.
Y. Watanabe
Asahi Glass Company, Tokyo, Japan. E-mail: y_wata@agc.co.jp.
Y. Koike, T. Ishigure
Keio University, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Japan. E-mail: koike@appi.keio.ac.jp.
Abstract
Polymer Optical Fiber (POF) is a promising transmission medium for providing broadband
telecommunication services within the customer’s premises. POF offers several attractive
features for data transmission such as broad bandwidth and low cost for in-house, access and
LAN applications. This article presents a review on optical transmission systems using POF
and their enabling technologies. A summary is given of experimental data links with record
capacity over record transmission distances. Standardization activities in POF technology and
transmission are reported. To conclude, we discuss trends for further development and
research.
Keywords: Optical communications, in-house networks, POF, polymer optical fiber.
Dr.ir Idelfonso Tafur Monroy
Eindhoven University of Technology
Telecommunications Technology
and Electromagnetics
P.O Box 513, EH 11:08
5600 MB Eindhoven
The Netherlands
Tel: + 31-40-2473219
Fax: +31 -40 -2455197
Data Transmission over Polymer Optical Fibers
I. Tafur Monroy, H.P.A. vd Boom, A.M.J. Koonen, G.D. Khoe
COBRA Institute, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, E-mail:
i.tafur@tue.nl.
Y. Watanabe
Asahi Glass Company, Tokyo, Japan. E-mail: y_wata@agc.co.jp.
Y. Koike, T. Ishigure
Keio University, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Japan. E-mail: koike@appi.keio.ac.jp.
Abstract
Polymer Optical Fiber (POF) is a promising transmission medium for providing broadband
telecommunication services within the customer’s premises. POF offers several attractive
features for data transmission such as broad bandwidth and low cost for in-house, access and
LAN applications. This article presents a review on optical transmission systems using POF
and their enabling technologies. A summary is given of experimental data links with record
capacity over record transmission distances. Standardization activities in POF technology and
transmission are reported. To conclude, we discuss trends for further development and
research.
Keywords: Optical communications, in-house networks, POF, polymer optical fiber.
1 Introduction
There is an increasing demand for high data-rate communication in the costumer’s premises
and office areas to provide services like fast internet access and compressed digital video
based services (MPEG). The transmission media used at present are not suited for
provisioning high-bandwidth services at low cost. For instance, today’s wiring in local area
networks is based mainly on copper cables (twisted-pair or coaxial) and glass fiber of two
kinds: single mode and multimode. Copper based technologies suffer strong susceptibility to
electromagnetic interferences and have a limited capacity for digital transmission.
Conventional silica based fibers are a costly solution because they require precise connecting
and dedicated installation and handling. An alternative technology is the use of polymer
optical fiber (POF) for data transmission [1]. POF offers several advantages over conventional
transmission media: large bandwidth over short distances (up to 1000 m), potential low cost
associated with ease of installation, splicing and connecting. Furthermore, POF has small
volume and light weight. It guarantees electromagnetic immunity. In addition, POF is not
brittle but ductile and will stretch rather than break under increased tension; even a thick
bundle of POF is more flexible than a bundle of glass fiber. POF technology could be used for
data transmission in many application areas ranging from in-house networking to the avionic
environment deploying a variety of techniques [2]. This article serves as a review on data
transmission systems over POF and their enabling technology.
This paper is organized as follows. Firstly, the transmission properties of POF such as
attenuation and bandwidth are discussed. A review on the advantages of POF over
conventional transmission media is presented. Secondly, we present a list of record
2
10000
PMMA based GI
POF
1000
PF polymer based GI POF
Experimental spectrum
100
10
1
PF polymer based GI POF
Theoretical spectrum
0.1
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
Wavelength (m)
1.4
1.6
transmission experiments, including wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) transmission,
that demonstrates the feasibility of POF technology for high capacity systems.
Figure 1: Spectral attenuation of PF POF.
Comprehensive experimental details are given to expose several issues that are relevant for
the system performance. Thirdly, we report on standardization activities regarding POF
technology and transmission. Finally, the potentials of POF technology for data transmission
are discussed and summary conclusions are drawn.
2 Polymer optical fibers
Polymer optical fibers used for data communications are made mostly of polymethyl
methacrlylate (PMMA) and perfluorinated (PF) polymer material. Conventional PMMA-POF
has a step index (SI) profile. SI PMMA-POF has been commercially available for many years.
The core diameter of this fiber is typically 0.125-2.0 mm. This fiber has a large attenuation
(150 dB/km at 650 nm wavelength) and limited bandwidth e.g. 20 MHz.km. Improvement in
the bandwidth of this POF fiber has been obtained by grading the refractive index. Graded
index (GI) PMMA-POF has shown a bandwidth-distance product of 0.5 GHz.km at the 650
nm wavelength.
Although by grading the index profile of significantly enhanced characteristics have been
obtained, the bandwidth and attenuation still limit the transmission distances and capacity.
Reduction of transmission loss has been achieved by using amorphous perfluorinated
polymers for the core material. This new type of POF has been named perfluorinated POF
(PF-POF). This new fiber with low attenuation and large bandwidth has opened the way for
high capacity transmission over POF based systems. A cable of two fibers of GI PF-POF has
3
been commercially available since June 2000 under the trademark Lucina [3]. For a review of
the evolution of POF performance see [4]. The typical characteristics of GI PMMA POF and
GI PF-POF are summarized in Table 1.
2.1 Attenuation
Figure 1 presents of the dependence of the attenuation of POFs on the wavelengths. A
significant point to note is that perfluorinated POF promises low attenuation (less than 40
dB/km) over a wide spectral window of wavelengths ranging from the 650 nm to 1310 nm.
This allows for enhancement of transmission capacity by using WDM techniques and use of
the same wavelengths as in glass optical fiber systems. State-of-the-art GI PF-POF shows an
attenuation value in the order of 10 dB/km and a bandwidth-distance product of 1 GHz.km[1].
Characteristic
GI PMMA-POF
PF GI-POF
Attenuation
150 dB/km at 650 nm
<40 dB/km at 650-1310 nm.
10 dB/km achieved at 1210 nm
>1000 dB/km at 850 and 1310 nm
Potential bandwidth 2 GHz.km at 650 nm.
distance product
10 GHz.km
Achieved
transmission
distance
550 m at 2.5 Gbit/s
110 m at 11 Gbit/s
200 m at 2.5 Gbit/s
Table 1. Summary of characteristics of GI PMMA and GI PF-POF.
2.2 Bandwidth of POF
Apart from attenuation, an important characteristic of POF as transmission medium is its
bandwidth. Bandwidth is a measure of the transmission capacity of a fiber data link. Several
factors determine the bandwidth of polymer optical fiber. These include chromatic dispersion,
modal dispersion, and launching conditions. Launching conditions refer to how light is
coupled into the fiber; for example its angular light power distribution. The bandwidth
characteristic is usually specified by the –3 dB bandwidth. The –3 dB bandwidth is
determined by analyzing the POF transfer function, which relates the output signal to the
input one in an optical fiber considering it as a transmission line. Dispersion in POF may be
divided into two main types: chromatic and modal dispersion. Chromatic dispersion is related
to the dependence of the index of refraction on the wavelength and the dependence of the
mode intensity profile on the wavelength. Therefore, the various spectral components of each
mode propagating in the fiber travel at a different speed, depending on the wavelength. This
results in pulse broadening; i.e. dispersion. Modal dispersion is related to the spreading of the
pulse as a result of the difference in propagation delays among the modes as well as
dispersion from intermodal effects such as power mixing between modes and mode dependent
loss. In addition, modal dispersion is dependent on how the modes are excited (the launching
condition), the spectral characteristics of the light source, and on the effects of micro-bending,
among others. It is interesting to note that material dispersion of PF-POF fiber is smaller than
4
that of silica fiber [5]. So an optimized GI PF-POF may outperform a graded index silica fiber
at the optimum-operating wavelength.
An accurate analysis of dispersion in POF is required to establish its bandwidth limitations
and to identify ways to get improved characteristics. In references [6,7] a comprehensive
theory is presented for dispersion in graded-index optical fibers. The analysis in [6] includes
most of the effects influencing the bandwidth of GI fibers; both chromatic and modal
contributions. Modal delay, distributed loss and mode coupling are also taken into account. In
[1] it is predicted that a PF GI-POF whose index profile is optimized to minimize dispersion
is able to achieve a bandwidth-distance product in the order of 10 GHz.km.
3 Applications
Application areas that may benefit from the use of POF for data transmission include those
covering short transmission distances; typically ranging from 100 to 1000 meters. POF can
transport data traffic with bit rates varying from hundreds of Mbit/s to 10 Gbit/s. POF
technology has good prospects for application in areas where the cost is a driving factor, as
well as where easiness of handling and installation is mandatory, like in office and residential
area networks. A short inventory where POF may be considered for installation includes:
a) In-home and access networks
b) Fiber to the apartment
c) Wireless LAN backbone
d) Office LAN and horizontal wiring
In areas where enhanced transmission capacity is required, parallel fibers may be used or
WDM transmission can be introduced to increase capacity. POF is also of interest for areas
where electromagnetic immunity is required such as in the case of the automotive and
aerospace industry where its low weight is of importance. In section 7 we will discuss the
potentials of POF technology for deployment at the customer's premises.
3.1 POF versus other technologies
There are several technologies that can serve as the transmission medium for broadband
services at the customer's premises such as twisted copper pairs and copper coaxial cables,
silica single mode fiber, and multimode glass fiber based technologies. Let us examine the
advantages and disadvantages of POF with respect to each of those technologies.
Compared to copper based technologies like coax cables and twisted pair, POF guarantees
electromagnetic immunity and absence of crosstalk. POF has smaller volume, it is less bulky,
more flexile, and it has smaller weight. With respect to data transmission capability, POF
offers higher bandwidth at longer transmission distances and it offers lower installation and
maintenance costs particularly in splicing.
Compared to multimode glass optical fiber, POF is more flexible and ductile making it easy
to handle. POF termination can be realized faster and cheaper than in the case of multimode
glass fiber. The typical large core of polymer fiber allows for large tolerance on axial
misalignments, which results in cheaper connectors. For comparisons sake, let us examine
the power loss due to lateral (axial) misalignment of connecting two graded index (parabolic
5
case) multimode fiber with different core diameters. Calculations, assuming uniform modal
power distributions, for a misalignment of 25 microns yield a loss of 1.76 dB for a 62.5
microns core diameter multimode fiber (MMF). For the case of GI PF-POF with a core
diameter of 200 microns the 25 microns displacement results only in 0.48 dB loss. These
calculations are based on the theory of power coupling of two graded-index fibers[19].
Another advantage of large core PF GI-POF has been observed with respect to the
bandwidth degradation due to modal noise at misalignments in fiber-to-fiber connections.
Namely, GI PF-POF shows very short time delay at the wide area of the core. This is in
contrast to the case of multimode silica fiber with 50 to 62.5 microns core where small
displacements cause severe bandwidth degradation [1,20].
Attenuation and bandwidth characteristics of the current state-of-the art POF are not at par
with those of standard single mode glass fiber; however they are superior to those of copper
based technologies. Furthermore, the installation and termination of POF are easier and
promise low costs compared to the single mode and multimode glass counterparts. It is worth
noting that connectors for POF are not only easier to assemble compared to those for single
mode and multimode glass fibers but are also easier than those for HF coax cabling.
Termination of coax cabling requires a more skilled handling as improper termination will
cause large loss, considerable increased ingress noise and high reflection levels. Moreover,
POF connectors can be assembled easily for instance using a low cost plastic ferrule [8].
Coupling loss using the above method has been measured to be in the order of 0.8 dB at the
850 nm wavelength for a POF with a core diameter of 120 microns.
4 POF data link and system devices
In this section, we would like to review the components being used in experimental POF data
links, such as light sources, detectors and couplers, etc. Most of the existing multimode glass
fiber links use broadband light sources such as light emitting diodes (LEDs) and Fabry-Perot
lasers. These sources have also been used in many reported experimental transmission links
over polymer fibers. Recently, vertical-cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) have been
used for multimode fiber links and for experimental POF data trials. VCSELs are promissing
to become a low-cost solution for light source for LAN applications [9-10]. An important
element in a POF link is the coupling to the source and coupling to the detector. In laboratory
trials, lenses are commonly used for this task. However, for deployment of practical links
effective coupling devices should become available. The coupling from the large core POF to
the detector is an important issue. Therefore, photodetectors with a large detection area and
with high speed are preferred for POF data links. This is a challenging issue as detectors with
a large sensitive area are usually slower than those with a small detecting area. Reported
experimental trials commonly use large area avalanche photodetectors (APD).
Wavelength division multiplexing can be used to enhance transmission capacity. In this case,
wavelength multiplexers and demultiplexers should be available. In laboratory trials, a set of
dielectric thin-film filters has been used to perform the demultiplexing operation of optical
channels in a POF data link [11]. The multiplexing of channels has been achieved by butt
joining a bundle of small core fibers (pig-tailed to the light sources) to a single but large core
POF fiber. For the case of multimode glass fiber link, a compact WDM transceiver has been
proposed, based on the use of VCSELs, polymer waveguide demultiplexers and
6
Date
Bitrate
[Gbit/s]
Distance [m]
Wavelength [nm]
Fiber material
Mar. 1995 (Keio)
2.5
100
650
PMMA
Feb. 1998 (TU/e)
2.5
200
645
PMMA
Aug. 1998 (TU/e) 5
200
1310
PF
Oct. 1998 (TU/e)
2.5
300
645
PF
Nov. 1998 (TU/e) 2.5
550
1310
PF
Jan. 1999 (TU/e)
2.5
550
84
PF
Aug. 1999 (Ulm)
7
80
950
PF
Sep. 1999 (TU/e)
3 x 2.5
200
645,840,1300
PF
Mar. 2000 (TU/e) 2 x 2.5
328
840,1300
PF
Mar. 2000 (BL)
11
100
1310
PF
Jul. 2000 (TU/e)
2x2.5
456
840,1300
PF
May 2001 (TU/e)
1.25
990
840
PF
multiplexers[10]. Similar transceiver modules may become available for WDM POF data
links.
Table 2: List of experimental transmission records using POF. PMMA: polymethy
methacrylate; PF: perfluorinated polymer; TU/e: Eindhoven University of Technology;
BL: Bell Labs, Lucent Technologies;Keio: Keio University, Japan; Ulm:University of Ulm,
Germany.
5 Data transmission experiments
In this section, we present a review of experimental POF data transmission links. Firstly, we
present a list of world record transmission experiments using POF. Secondly, we present a
detailed experimental set-up of a single channel POF transmission link and of a WDM
transmission set-up. This detailed description is intended to expose relevant technological and
system issues involved in high capacity data links over POF.
5.1 Record transmission experiments
7
Lens
Driver +
Equaliser
550m GI-POF
Receiver
Photodetector
2.5 Gb/s Data
Recovered Clock
PRBS
223-1
Recovered
Data
BER
Detector
The experimental trials reported in Table 2 have demonstrated the feasibility of POF links for
high capacity transmission. These trials represent record achievements in data transmission
over POF and are in chronological order. The summary in Table 2 is by far not complete,
however it highlights milestone results and clearly shows the improvements in achieved
transmission capacity and link distances. From the results in Table 2 one can clearly see how
POF technology has evolved in the past few years to its current state supporting high capacity
data-rate transmission.
Figure 2: Experimental set-up for a transmission link over 550 m of GI PF POF.
5.2 Experimental details
Several laboratory trials have been performed to investigate the feasibility and the limits of
data transmission over POF [11]. Several types of fiber have been used in systems operating
at different data rates and reaching different transmission distances. To give insight into the
technological aspects involved in POF data transmission experimental details and results are
presented for the following configurations:
a) A GI PF-POF single channel transmission system. The data rate is 2.5 Gbit/s and it
operates at 840 nm and 1310 nm wavelengths.
b) A system using WDM transmission techniques, operating at 645 nm, 840 nm and 1300 nm
wavelength.
2.5 and 5 Gbit/s transmission experiments with PF GIPOF
Figure 2 shows the block diagram of the experimental set-up used for data transmission over
550 meters of GI PF- POF. Two wavelengths, single channel operation, were used for
transmission at a bit rate of 2.5 Gbit/s. Light was launched into the fiber in such a way that
only a few number of modes propagated in the fiber. This limited launching effectively
increases the POF's bandwidth. The PF fiber showed an attenuation of 43.6 dB/km at 840 nm
and 31 dB/km at 1310 nm. Asahi Glass Co. provided the sample of the PF polymer fiber used
in this trial.
8
B-B, 840nm
Trans, 840nm
B-B, 1310 nm
Trans., 1310nm
-4
10
-6
10
BER
-8
10
-10
10
-34
-32
-30
-28
-26
-24
Power, dBm
In the experiment operating at 1310 nm a commercially available telecommunication laser, a
distributed feed-back (DFB) laser, was used as the light source. At the receiver end, a very
sensitive large active area (diameter of 230 microns) silicon APD was used together with a
low loss interconnection between the GI-POF and the APD receiver. At the transmitter side,
light from the single mode fiber (SMF) pigtail of the DFB laser was launched into the large
core of the GI-POF by means of a butt coupling. The coupling loss was less than 0.1 dB. In
the experiment involving the 840 nm wavelength, a VCSEL light source was used in
combination with a silicon APD receiver. The VCSEL used had a modulation bandwidth of 2
GHz; for this reason an electrical equalizing circuit was used to enhance the bandwidth.
Fig. 3. BER measurements for a 2.5 Gbit/s data link over 550 m of PF GI-POF. Solid lines
represent the curves for operation the 1310 nm wavelength, and the dashed lines for the
system at 840 nm wavelength, respectively. B-B stands for back-to-back and Trans. for
transmission over 550 m of POF.
Light was launched directly from VCSEL into the GI-POF with a resulting loss of about 1 dB.
Both experiments (at the 840 and 1310 nm wavelength) were carried out using a non-returnto-zero (NRZ) pseudo random binary sequence (PRBS) with a pattern length of 2 23-1. Special
measures were taken to avoid reflections back to the light source. A lens-based coupling
system was used to improve optical coupling efficiency from the fiber to the photodetector.
The bit-error rate (BER) as a function of the received average power at the input of the
receiver was measured after transmission over 550 m of fiber and without fiber (back-to-
9
6 45 nm
Receiver
Driver
D
E
M
U
X
6 45 nm
Multiplexer
Driver
2x100 m GI-POF
840 nm
840 nm
Receiver
1310 nm
Receiver
Driver
1310 nm Laser
Recovered Clock
PRBS 2.5 Gb/ s Data
223-1
Measured BER <10 -10
Data
BER
Detector
back); see Fig. 3. In the 840 nm experiment (dashed lines in Fig. 3), the average output power
of the VCSEL was 1.3 dBm and the sensitivity of the receiver was -28.6 dBm at 2.5 Gbit/s for
a BER of 10-9. The attenuation of the 550 m GI-POF was 24.0 dB. Degradation in the order
of 4.5 dB was observed in the receiver sensitivity (see Fig. 3), attributed mainly to multimode
dispersion.
Figure 4: Experimental set-up for three channel WDM transmission over a link of GI PFPOF.
In the 1310 nm experiment (solid lines in Fig. 3), the average output power of the DFB laser
was 0.4 dBm and the sensitivity of the receiver was -28.4 dBm at 2.5 Gbit/s for a BER level
of 10-9. The attenuation of the 550 m GI-POF was 16.3 dB at 1310 nm. A 4.4 dB receiver
sensitivity degradation was observed (see Fig. 3), due mainly to multimode dispersion of the
fiber. The modulated spectral width of the light source was smaller than 1 nm for the 840 nm
VCSEL and smaller than 0.1 nm for the 1310 nm DFB laser. These small values certainly
minimized the effect of the material dispersion of the fiber. The dispersion was further
avoided by the launching conditions of our experiments. In the case of the 1300 nm
experiments, the SMF pigtail of the laser source was butt jointed to the GI-POF exciting only
a few modes. In the case of the 840 nm experiment, also a few modes were excited because
the light beam launched into the fiber was nearly parallel, meaning that the numerical aperture
was not overfilled. So, the fiber exhibited less modal dispersion because the number of
propagated modes was less than those than can be excited under overfilled launch conditions.
Wavelength division multiplexing transmission
10
Perfluorinated polymer fiber has a low loss wavelength region ranging from 650 nm to 1300
nm, allowing for WDM transmission of several data channels. To demonstrate WDM
transmission over POF the experimental set-up shown in Fig. 4 has been used. A
demultiplexer for splitting up the wavelengths operating at 645 nm, 840 nm and 1310 nm has
been realized with planar interference filters [11]. The measured insertion losses from GI PFPOF input to the photodetectors for all the three wavelengths were smaller than 1.6 dB.
Crosstalk levels smaller than -30 dB were measured for all the three wavelengths. The
demultiplexer was used for the following WDM transmission trials.
a) WDM transmission of three channels, operating at 2.5 Gbit/s over 200 m GI PF-POF. A
block diagram of the set-up is shown in Fig. 4. For this experiment, the transmitters and
receivers described in the previous single channel trial have been used. The multiplexing of
channels has been achieved by butt-joining the fibers from the light sources to the POF
sample.
b) WDM transmission of two channels operating at 2.5 Gbit/s, using the wavelengths 840 nm
and 1310 nm over 328 m (one piece) of GI PF-POF. Because the fiber sample used had an
attenuation of more than 100 dB/km at 640 nm, this wavelength could not be used for data
transmission.
c) WDM transmission of two data channels operating at 2.5 Gbit/s, using the wavelengths 840
nm and 1310 nm over 456 m (two pieces of fiber, 328 m and 128 m long, respectively) of PF
GI-POF. The bit-error rate performance has been measured to be less than 5x10-11 for the 840
nm and 1x10-11 for the 1300nm wavelength. In this experiment, a multimode silica based
multiplexer has been used instead of butt-joining the pigtail fibers of the sources to the POF
sample like it was done in the previous WDM experiments. This trial achieved a bit-rate
distance product of 2.28 Gbit/s km.
The above experiments have shown that higher transmission capacity can be achieved in POF
links by using WDM transmission. The wide low attenuation spectral window of PF polymer
fiber allows for the use of available glass fiber communication laser sources operating for
instance at 650nm, 850 nm and 1310 nm wavelengths. However, for POF WDM transmission
to become an attractive transmission technology, low cost, reliable and compact WDM
(de)multiplexer modules should become available.
6 Standardization
In this section we report on standardization activities regarding the use of POF for data
transmission. The automotive industry in Europe has introduced polymer fiber for the
physical layer of optical data buses. The development of a standard for a multimedia network
protocol and a networks model is the focus of the media oriented systems transport (MOST)
cooperation effort of more than 60 companies related to the automotive branch. The MOST
data bus allows for transmission of data at a rate of 25 Mbit/s with optimized operation for
compressed video transmission. The MOST standard is well developed and it is expected to
be implemented by several car manufactures in the near future. For information on this
standard the reader is referred to the MOST homepage http://www.mostcooperation.com.
While MOST is a well consolidated European initiative, in the US and Japan, work is in
progress to develop a new IEEE 1394 standard for autos that will operate at 400 Mbps. The
automotive working group (AuWG) within the 1394 Trade Association pursues this activity,
11
which is backed by the US and Japanese auto manufacturers. For information on the 1394TA
AuWG see the groups homepage http://www.1394TA.com.
In the area of datacom applications POF has been introduced for ATM transmission. The
ATM forum has developed specifications describing the physical medium dependent (PMD)
sublayer for a 155.52 Mbps private user network interface (UNI) over plastic optical
fiber[12]. The Japanese Standard Association (http://www.jeita.or.jp) is promoting work on
the specifications for a PMD layer at S400 based on wide bandwidth POF for the IEEE 1394
–1995 and IEEE 1394a-2000. These standards focus on multimedia applications in in-home
networks. Specifications are being proposed both, for the wide bandwidth POF interface and
for small optical connectors. For example, parameters for the core and fiber diameter of a GI
PMMA-POF have been tentatively fixed to be 500 and 750 microns, respectively [13]. The
German Association of Engineers (VDI/VDE) is currently developing guidelines on testing of
polymer fibers [14]. These guidelines aim to harmonize procedures for testing and measuring
POF characteristics, allowing for comparability, reproducibility and traceability of measuring
results. POF technology is also being considered for control and sensor applications in
automobiles and for avionic communication links. We can conclude that there is a growing
interest for developing standards for POF as a medium for data transmission in several areas
like the automotive industry and the domestic and LAN networks. Well define standards are
essential for promoting the acceptance of POF in the datacom market.
7 Potentials
Polymer optical fiber technology has reached a level of development where it can successfully
replace copper based technology and multimode glass fiber for data transmission in short
distance link applications such as in the office, inhome and LAN scenarios. Transmission of
10 Gbit/s data over 100 m and transmission of 1.25 Gbit/s Ethernet over ca 1 km have been
experimentally demonstrated [11]. Perfluorinated polymer fiber is forecasted to be able to
support bit-rate distance products in the order of 10 Gbit/s.km[1]. Short distance
communications system like inhome network and office LANs represent a unique opportunity
for deployment of POF based systems. POF based systems offer larger bandwidth, higher
flexibility and are easier to install and handle than their copper and glass based counterparts.
Moreover, POF technology presents lower price and simplicity; related mainly to its prospect
of using cheap connectors and easiness of termination and maintenance. It should be noted
that available light sources for glass fiber based systems can be used with PF POF systems.
The same is true of connectors as in the case of Gigabit Ethernet equipment.
Feasibility of polymer fiber data networks has not only been demonstrated in laboratory trials
but also in model gigabit LAN networks. Keio University of Japan has demonstrated a gigabit
POF based LAN for Internet access. This University is also developing a POF based campus
network and a high speed GI POF network[1]. At the Eindhoven University of Technology a
POF based wireless LAN network has been developed to provide Internet access as well as
for wireless connectivity of students laptops in an interactive classroom. These network
demonstrators show the maturity of POF technology for data transmission. However, for POF
technology to be competitive in the customer's premises it will have to operate with low cost
components. These include low cost light sources, low cost receiver modules and low cost
WDM devices. Light sources based on VCSELs are a promising solution. Recently, VCSEL
based transceivers for PF GI-POF systems operating at speeds up to 3.2 Gbps have been
demonstrated [10]. Optical connectors for GI PF-POF are also being developed [8]. These
12
connectors are reported to show good characteristics such as reliability, durability and
simplicity and are well suited for use in POF based LAN and home networks. We can
conclude that POF technology is experiencing rapid development towards a mature solution
for data transmission at short haul communications. Standard activities on POF transmission
and technology are favoring this trend and its foreseen that in the near future POF will be
deployed in office environments and in the customer's premises. Apart from the promising
prospects of POF for data transmission, the authors would like to highlight the innovative
research efforts toward a POF based optical fiber amplifier and the fabrication of polymer
photonic crystal fiber [15-17]. The abovementioned POF based devices may significantly
extend the potential of (polymer) optical fiber communication systems.
8 Conclusions
Polymer optical fiber is a promising technology for data transmission in short-haul
communications systems such as office LANs and inhome networks. Compared to copper
and multimode glass fiber based technology, POF is superior in simplicity, transmission
bandwidth offered, flexibility, easiness of installation and handling, which leads lower costs.
POF also guarantees electromagnetic immunity. In comparison to single mode glass fiber
POF technology has inferior bandwidth and attenuation characteristics, however, POF has
lower costs due to its simplicity, easiness of handling and termination and the possibility of
adopting low cost connectors. POF technology is particularly suitable for applications in
inhome networks (for example, 1394 networking) and office LANs. At present, POF is
adopted for low bit rate optical data links in the automotive industry.
The transmission capacity of polymer fiber based systems is increasing rapidly. At bit rates of
2.5 Gbit/s, system spans of 300 m at 645 nm wavelength and 550 m at 840 nm and 1310 nm
wavelength have been achieved using GI PF-POF. Higher transmission capacities have been
reached by using WDM transmission. For instance, 3 channels x 2.5 Gbit/s GI-POF WDM
transmission over 200 m has been reported. A WDM transmission experiment over 456 m of
PF GI-POF with a record bit rate-distance product of 2.28 Gbit/s km has also been reported.
Transmission of 11 Gbit/s over 100 m of PF POF has been demonstrated. POF has been
shown to support transport of 1.25 Gigabit Ethernet over ca 1 km of PF POF [18]. These
experimental results clearly show the applicability of polymer optical fiber for broadband
applications at the customer premises and local area networks.
POF transmission technology has developed and matured enough to successfully replace
copper and glass fiber as the transmission medium for short haul communication systems.
High capacity networking using POF has been demonstrated not only in laboratory trials but
also in model gigabit LAN networks and in wireless POF based networks for Internet access.
Active efforts are being made by standardization bodies to develop guidelines for POF based
physical medium; for instance for the 1394 standard. Since June 2000 PF GI-POF has been
commercially available in the form of a two-fiber cable [3]. Connector technology and
transceivers modules for LAN and in-home networking are also being developed. POF
technology can support transmission of multimedia applications with data rates up to 10 Gbps
over 100–1000 meters long links. The challenge remains in bringing POF technology
(transceivers, connectors, etc.) to a competitive price and performance level for its
introduction at the customer's premises.
References
13
[1] Y. Koike, " POF Technology for the 21st Century", Proceedings of the 10th Plastic
Optical Fibers Conference, Amsterdam, September 27-30, pp. 5-8, 2001.
[2] T. Koonen, H.P.A. vd Boom, I. T. Monroy, G.D. Khoe " Broadband data communication
techniques in POF-based networks", Proceedings of the 10th Plastic Optical Fibers
Conference, Amsterdam, September 27-30, vol. 1, pp. 14-21, 2001
[3] Asahi Glass Company, Lucina: Graded Index-Cytop Optical Fiber, Technical Note
T009E, July 2000.
[4] J. Zubia, J. Arrue, "Plastic Optical Fibers: An introduction to their Technological
Processes and Applications", Optical Fiber Technology, No. 7, pp. 101-140, 2001.
[5] Y. Koike, “Progress of Plastic Optical Fiber Technology”, 22nd European Conference on
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[6] G. Yabre, “Theoretical Investigation on the Dispersion of Graded-Index Polymer Optical
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[7] Y. Koike, T. Ishigure, "Optimum index profile of the perfluorinated polymer base GI
polymer optical fiber and its dispersion properties", IEEE/OSA J. Lightwave Technol., vol.
18, no. 2, 2000, pp.178-184.
[8] T. Tsukamoto, Y. Watanabe, Y. Takano, "Easy Installation Connector for Perfluorinated
(PF) GI-POF, and Y. Hioki, M. Hojo, T. Toyama, "Development of MU Type Optical
Connector for POF", Proceedings of the 10th Plastic Optical Fibers Conference, Amsterdam,
September 27-30, pp. 225-234, 2001.
[9] L. B. Aronson, B. E. Lemoff, L. A. Buckman, and D. W. Dolfi, “Low-Cost Multimode
WDM for Local Area Networks Up to 10 Gb/s”, IEEE Photonics Technol. Letters, vol. 10,
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[10] Y-S. Lin, C-H. Chang, K-J. Chen, F-H Hou, and C.C.C. Wu, "POF Transceiver Solution
Based on Short Wavelength VCSEL and GaAs PIN Components", Proceedings of the 10th
Plastic Optical Fibers Conference, Amsterdam, September 27-30, pp. 97-104, 2001;
[11] H.P.A. vd Boom, W. Li, P.K. van Bennekom, I. Tafur Monroy and G. D. Khoe "High
Capacity Transmission over Polymer Optical Fiber", IEEE Journal on Selected Topics in
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[12] The ATM Forum, "155 Mb/s Plastic Optical Fiber and Hard Polymer Clad Fiber PMD
Specification" version 1.1. AF-PHY-0079.001. January 1999.
[13] K. Watanabe, S. Morikura, "POF Standardization Activity of JEITA –Report from
Japan", Proceedings of the 10th Plastic Optical Fibers Conference, Amsterdam, September
27-30, pp. 17-22, 2001.
[14] W. Daum, M. Hein, and O. Ziemann, "The new VDI/VDE Guideline on Testing Plastic
Optical Fiber", Proceedings of the 10th Plastic Optical Fibers Conference, Amsterdam,
September 27-30, pp. 31-38, 2001.
14
[15] Choi, D. Y. Kim, U.C. Peak, "Fabrication and Properties of Polymer Photonic Crystal
Fibers", Proceedings of the 10th Plastic Optical Fibers Conference, Amsterdam, September
27-30, pp. 355-360, 2001.
[16] M.A. van Eijkelenborg, et.al., " Microstructured polymer optical fiber", Optics express,
vol.9, No.7, pp.319-327, 2001.
[17] K. Kuriki, et al., "Fabrication and optical properties of neodymium-, praseodymium- and
erbium-chelates-doped plastic optical fibres", Electronic Letters, vol.37, no.7; 29 March
2001; p.415-17.
[18] H.P.A. vd Boom, T. Onishi, T. Tsukamoto, P.K. Bennekom, L.J.P. Niessen, G.D. Khoe,
A.M.J. Koonen, "Gigabit Ethernet Transmission over nearly 1 km GI-POF using an 840 nm
VCSEL and a Silicon APD", Proceedings of the 10th Plastic Optical Fibers Conference,
Amsterdam, September 27-30, pp. 207-211, 2001.
[19] G. Keiser, Optical Fiber Communications, third edition, chapter 5, McGraw-Hill, 2000.
[20] Ref. On modal noise elimination. [Graded-Index Plastic Optical Fibers exceeding 10
Gigabit Transmission rate, Ishigure and Koike
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