Fiber optic communication, a new way

Fiber optic "T" couplers offer a unique opportunity to design and deploy optical communication systems with a minimum of high cost parts and a minimum of optical line segments. In the same way the industry has gone from hundred wire wire-bundles to tens of fibers fiber-bundles, the T couplers can change tens of fibers fiber-bundles to a one fiber fiber-bundle. Passive linear optical network built with optical T couplers, can support a 16 branch passive network and leave -15 dB for boosting in an amplifier or to support input to a switch. This is based on a 1 dB insertion loss per bi-directional coupler with a 5% tap to the branch, a transmit/receive margin of 30 dB and a 1 dB receive plus 2 dB transmit insertion loss for the single path transceiver. Building couplers with GRIN lenses will bring the optical losses of the couplers within requirements that support a passive network.