“approaching the Shannon limit”

APPLICATIONS OF KDPOF TECHNOLOGY

POF in home networks

POF offers a great part of the advantages of optical fiber (GOF - Glass Optical Fiber) with less challenges. POF is an established medium in industrial and automobile networks due to its high reliability in very harsh environments, and it has found another niche market in home networks.

POF provides numerous advantages over other home network transmission media, as PLC, MoCA, G.hn or CAT5/CAT6. At the ultra-thin diameter of 1.5 mm, POF can be easily deployed in new constructions or retrofit installations either inside wall cavities or outside the wall - along baseboards, under carpets, or anywhere cable is typically run.

POF can be deployed by a professional or do-it-yourself installer using basic tools, such as a cutter or scissors, and inexpensive plastic connectors. It is immune to misalignment and easy to guide, so it can be installed by a non-skilled person.

Because it is optical, POF is completely immune to the electrical noise. That means existing copper wiring will not interfere with data passing through POF so it can even be installed next to electrical cabling. POF, connectors, and optoelectronics are low-cost consumer parts which is ideal for installers who save on cable costs and installation, testing and maintenance time.

Following table summarizes the main advantages of POF versus typical Ethernet cable:

Today, commercially available products provide data links of 100 Mbps up to 80 meters over standard SI-POF.

Advantages of KDPOF in home networks

Providing data rates of more than 1 Gbps and assured Quality of Service (QoS) to every device in the home, KDPOF technology can be considered as a long term solution and good alternative for the distribution of present an future multimedia services as well as data sharing along the residence. Their features are especially advantageous for emerging IPTV implementations and other triple play services, where the Quality of Experience (QoE) and guaranteed data-rate are the most important factors for a successful deployment.

Because it is an adaptive system, KDPOF products provide a flexible data link adapting the operation to achieve the highest communication capacity for any amateur or professional installation.

POF in industrial communications

Traditionally, the industrial automation factory floor has been comprised of three levels. At the device and sensor level, low-level machine code controls actuators, drives, motion devices, and sensors. The control level contains the controller networks based on typical factory PLC, controlled by proprietary and non-proprietary field-bus networks. The enterprise level encapsulates the intranet based on Fast Ethernet information networks that connect PCs and laptops via Ethernet NICs.

Each one of theses levels operate efficiently and separately. This arise problems from the fact that each level is impervious to the other.

In answer to these problems several important companies have envisaged Fast Ethernet networks that operate over POF; the most established fiber medium in the factory automation space. The ability to merge seamlessly the field-buses with enterprise intranet and operate on Fast Ethernet protocols enables devices on the factory floor to be assigned IP and/or MAC addresses.

Equipment manufacturers and factory assembly vendors can then remotely perform tasks like running diagnostics, making machine sequence changes and production process. Within the factory, the engineer can now remain at his desk while carrying out the tasks that once would only have been accomplished by connecting directly with the factory PLC.

Today, Industrial Fast Ethernet transceivers operate 100 Mbps on SI-POF links up to 50 meters.

Advantages of KDPOF for industrial communications

Operating on industrial environments, KDPOF technology will provide a great coverage improvement for Fast Ethernet installations along the factory floor. KDPOF technology, by means of its design based on capacity achieving modulations and coupled optimization of all their components, will provide Fast Ethernet (100 Mbps) over SI-POF links up to more than 150 meters using off-the-shelf red LEDs. This means a capacity upgrade of industrial buses maintaining the installed low cost infrastructure.

Automotive networks

Consumer demand for more electronic devices in cars, such as anti-collision cameras, DVD players, and navigation systems, has led to the deployment of POF in automobile networks. Its high bandwidth and ease of use, coupled with its high tolerance to vibrations and external noise sources make POF ideal for in-vehicle embedded multimedia networks.

In this field is remarkable the development of Media Oriented Systems Transport (MOST®), that is a data bus optimized for multimedia and infotainment applications inside the automobile. MOST® defines from the physical layer to the application layer of OSI model and it is usually installed following ring topologies. Three versions have been developed, providing from 25 Mbps to 150 Mbps over POF.

MOST® has been developed based on a partnership of carmakers, system architects and key component suppliers. Audi, BMW, Daimler, Harman/Becker and SMSC are the core partners. MOST® has been widely used in over 20 million cars for infotainment networks.

KDPOF for automotive networks

KDPOF technology is able to provide more than 1 Gbps in MOST® installations. It can be used in the same ring topologies and with the same fiber and optoelectronics components currently installed in MOST® networks.

In addition KDPOF, thanks to its low latency and guaranteed Gigabit rate, is suitable for the implementation of ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) over any kind of POF cabling topology.

Higher bandwidth demands required by video based sensors are achievable with KDPOF technology, enabling the installation of high definition rear view cameras, multi-camera 360º view, parking assist, wing mirror replacement, backseat monitoring, night vision, etc. in a cost effective way.

Ⓒ2011 Knowledge Development for POF S.L.