| Nexans has announced that it has demonstrated that its Plastic Optical Fibre (POF) solution supports 850 nm serial transmission of Gigabit Ethernet over distances much greater than the 275 metres specified in the IEEE 802.3z standard for conventional 62.5/125-micron optical fibre. This development is good news for IT managers as it could significantly reduce transmission costs, particularly for enterprise networks.
Nexans' new Graded Index Plastic Optical Fibre (GI-POF) is being developed out of ultra high purity polymer material. A series of tests was performed using a 120/500�m GI-POF and passive optical connectivity. The tests incorporated various channel lengths and configurations. In one test, a 400-metre link successfully supported 850 nm serial transmission of Gigabit Ethernet packets while surpassing bit error rate targets.
The trials, made possible through the collaborative effort between Nexans' Data Communications Competence Centre, USA and the company's Cabling Systems Competence Centre, Belgium, were performed using an IXIA chassis that contains 850 nm GbE cards capable of full duplex operation at a data rate of 1 Gbps. The IXIA device recorded all errors, fragmented or undersized frames as well as any lost frames. During the test process, more than 3 trillion (3 x 1012) frames were transmitted without error - exceeding the 802.3z targets for bit error rate.
"This is an exciting result for Nexans", stated Kevin St. Cyr, Global Product Manager for LAN products for Nexans and President of Berk-Tek. "The fact that Plastic Optical Fibre can support Gigabit Ethernet using 850 nm serial transmission over channel lengths of this magnitude is good news to IT managers, as it provides another option when they are considering upgrading data rates or expanding links in their networks."
Because 850 nm transmission utilise VCSEL light sources on multimode fibre, the cost of this type of transceiver is the most economical option for campus and enterprise networks. Nexans will continue its efforts to complete the development and bring the GI-POF to market.
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