R&M presents QXB study

R&M held Fiber Connector Innovation presentation at the 44th ECOC in Rome
With the QXB, lenses are responsible for transmitting light between the contact surfaces of the optical fibers. The solution eliminates the need for cleaning the connector and makes high contact pressure, inspection and error search superfluous.
R&M presented a study on the development of innovative parallel optical connectors called QXB at the recently held 44th ECOC. In these connectors, fused silica lenses are responsible for the transmission of light between the optical fibers.
R&M is researching expanded beam technology together, with Data Speed Control GmbH. The technology partners provided information on the QXB study at the 44th European Conference on Optical Communication (ECOC) held from September 23 to 27 in Rome, Italy. Data Speed Control is a data center services provider domiciled in Eisenberg, Germany.
“The expanded beam technology would have a whole range of benefits for the installation, operation and maintenance of passive FO infrastructures,” explains Dr. Thomas Wellinger, Market Manager Data Center and Study Lead at R&M.
The lenses made of high purity fused silica do away with the need for physical contact between the ends of the optical fibers. “With the development of the fused silica lenses, we are really pushing the physical limits of optical connectivity,” added Dr. Thomas Wellinger.
In conventional FO connections, springs forcefully press the ends of the optical fibers together. This is the only way they can exchange the light signals with minimal attenuation loss. The contact surfaces have to be free of dust and aligned to the exact micrometer.
The QXB is like an MPO connector. It can be planned with 12, 24 and 32 parallel fibers. MPO connectors always have to be completely removed if an individual fiber has to be cleaned or tested. All links are then offline. The performance of the MPO links can be negatively impacted from the plugging in and unplugging. “You simply don’t have that problem with the QXB,” says Dr. Wellinger, and that means networks work much more reliably.
R&M also highlights the benefits in terms of operating expenses. Alongside installation, recurring cleaning, inspection and measurements play a major role for FO connectors. They increase with the number of fibers thus inflating maintenance costs. With QXB, this cost factor does not even exist.