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US 11,733,470 B2Granted
Wave division multiplexer arrangement for small cell networks
AssigneeCommScope Technologies LLC
InventorsErik J. Gronvall, Trevor D. Smith, Timothy G. Badar, Anthony L. Lefebvre
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A passive optical network includes a central office providing subscriber signals; a fiber distribution hub including an optical power splitter and a termination field; and a drop terminal. Distribution fibers have first ends coupled to output ports of a drop terminal and second ends coupled to the termination field. A remote unit of a DAS is retrofitted to the network by routing a second feeder cable from a base station to the hub and coupling one the distribution fibers to the second feeder cable. The remote unit is plugged into the corresponding drop terminal port, for example, with a cable arrangement having a sealed wave division multiplexer.
Claims22
A cable arrangement comprising:
- a protective enclosure extending along a length between opposite first and second ends, the protective enclosure being elongate along the length, the protective enclosure defining an environmentally sealed interior;
- a wave division multiplexer disposed within the environmentally sealed interior of the protective enclosure, wherein a majority of the environmentally sealed interior of the protective enclosure is the wave division multiplexer;
- a plurality of single-fiber optical connectors disposed external of the protective enclosure;
- a plurality of optical fibers optically coupled to the wave division multiplexer, the plurality of optical fibers extending outwardly through the second end of the protective enclosure to respective ones of the plurality of single-fiber optical connectors;
- an input single-fiber optical connector disposed external of the protective enclosure;
- and
- an input fiber extending from the input single-fiber optical connector to the first end of the protective enclosure, the input fiber also being optically coupled to the wave division multiplexer so that optical signals carried over the input fiber are divided onto the plurality of the optical fibers.
4 more elements
A cable arrangement comprising:
- a protective enclosure having a first end and an opposite second end, the protective enclosure defining an interior that is sealed from an outside environment;
- a wave division multiplexer disposed within the protective enclosure and between the first end and the second end;
- a single optical fiber at least partially extending within the protective enclosure from the first end of the protective enclosure towards the wave division multiplexer, the single optical fiber optically coupled to the wave division multiplexer;
- and
- a plurality of optical fibers extending through the second end of the protective enclosure such that each of the plurality of optical fibers have a proximal portion disposed within the protective enclosure and a distal portion disposed outside of the protective enclosure, wherein the proximal portion of each of the plurality of optical fibers are optically coupled to the wave division multiplexer and the distal portion of each of the plurality of optical fibers include ruggedized connectors, and wherein the distal portion of each of the plurality of optical fibers between the protective enclosure and the ruggedized connector is ruggedized.
2 more elements
A cable arrangement comprising:
- a protective enclosure having a first end and an opposite second end defining a longitudinal axis, the protective enclosure defining an interior that is sealed from an outside environment;
- a wave division multiplexer disposed within the protective enclosure and between the first end and the second end;
- a single optical fiber at least partially extending within the protective enclosure from the first end of the protective enclosure towards the wave division multiplexer, the single optical fiber optically coupled to the wave division multiplexer;
- and
- a plurality of optical fibers extending through the second end of the protective enclosure, a proximal end of each of the plurality of optical fibers optically coupled to the wave division multiplexer and a distal end of each of the plurality of optical fibers include a connector disposed outside of the protective enclosure, wherein a fiber routing pattern within the protective enclosure is linear along the longitudinal axis such that the single optical fiber, the wave division multiplexer, and the plurality of optical fibers are aligned along the longitudinal axis within the protective enclosure and are the only components with the protective enclosure.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.