Fiber Optic Splitter How It Works

Fiber optic splitter is also known as beam splitter. Whenever the light beam transmitted in a network needs to be divided into two or more light beams, fiber optic splitters are used. Splitter does not generate power nor require power. Hence, it is a passive device. Also, splitter does not contain any electronic components. It is a simple device. But Fiber Optic Splitter How It Works?

Fiber Optic Splitter How It Works? In general, a optical splitter has many input and output terminals to attain the branch of the light beams, maximize the functionality of optical network circuits. The passive optical splitter can split, or separate, an incident light beam into several light beams at a certain ratio.

As a simple example,  how optical splitter with 1×4 split configurations can separate an incident light beam from a single input fiber cable into four light beams,  transmit them through four individual output fiber cables. For instance, if the input fiber optic cable carries 1000 Mbps bandwidth, each user in the end of output fiber cables can use the network with 250 Mbps bandwidth.

As for the optical splitter with 2×64 split configurations, it is more complicated than the optical splitter with 1×4 split configurations. There are two input terminals and sixty-four output terminals in the optical splitter with 2×64 split configurations. Its function is to split two incident light beams from two individual input fiber cables into sixty-four light beams and transmit them through sixty-four light individual output fiber cables.

What should be noted is that the injected light beams may or may not have the same optical power as the incident light beam. The designer would better to take it into consideration when designing the passive optical networks.

Fiber optic splitters application

A fiber optic splitters, is based on a quartz substrate of an integrated waveguide optical power distribution device, similar to a coaxial cable transmission system. The optical network system uses an optical signal coupled to the branch distribution. The fiber optic splitter is one of the most important passive devices in the optical fiber link. It is an optical fiber tandem device with many input and output terminals, especially applicable to a passive optical network (EPON, GPON, BPON, FTTX, FTTH etc.) to connect the MDF and the terminal equipment and to branch the optical signal.