Conceptual design of an inexpensive POF demultiplexer

Abstract

Polymer Optical Fibers (POF) can be and are used in various fields of applications. Two of the main fields are the automotive and the home entertainment sector. In these sectors, POF can be applied in optical transmission systems. The requirements of bandwidth are increasing very fast in these sectors and therefore there must be solutions for these demands. One solution is wavelength division multiplexing (WDM). This means there is more than one wavelength that can carry information over the POF. The different signals that are transmitted over the fiber must be separated to regain all information. These separators are called Demultiplexers. There are several systems available on the market, which are all afflicted with certain disadvantages. All these solutions have one main disadvantage; they are all too expensive for mass market applications. The goal of this study is to develop a cost-effective demultiplexing solution for WDM transmission over POF. The main idea is to separate the chromatic light in its monochromatic components with the help of a dispersive unit. This unit and the other assemblies, which are needed to adjust the optical path, should be manufactured in injection molding technique. This manufacturing technique is a very simple way to produce a Demultiplexer for POF.