Telefónica has successfully measured the use of plastic optical fibers in home networks. The experimental results show that the backbone of the home network using plastic fiber is combined with WiFi. The service provider cites the use of chipset technology from KDPOF, which supports Ethernet-based transport.
The plastic fiber has an outer diameter of 2.2 mm and a core diameter of 1 mm. The Spanish telecommunications company claims that the fiber is easy to install. It requires a simple tool and eliminates the need for a connector. Compared with traditional glass fiber, the installation cost of plastic fiber is “substantially reduced”, and Telefónica said that the fiber supports a transmission rate of 1 Gbps.
The experiment included approximately 30 homes with mounting elements including fiber optics and a media converter. This includes the KDPOF chipset, which contains a plug and two Ethernet ports, together with a pair of fiber-optic branches.
Proponents of plastic fiber have been advertised for a long time for the low cost and ease of installation of plastic fibers. Technical solutions for data centers, enterprise network applications, and home entertainment networks for automotive, aircraft, marine, and industrial-grade networks.
Telefónica did not disclose the deployment plan. He said the company also tested 60 GHz WiFi technology and supported capacity up to 4.6 Gbps.
