JP2002023014A - Optical fiber cable and optical communication device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical communication device and an optical fiber cable capable of performing bi-directional total duplex optical digital communication by connecting a twin core and a single core optical transceiver with each other. SOLUTION: The optical fiber cable 11 is composed of a single core optical fiber 12 for transmitting optical signals by bi-directional total duplex system. The structure of the optical fiber cable 11 is such that the single core optical fiber is provided at one end 12b with a twin core optical connector 14 through an optical distributor 15 for distributing transmitting and receiving signals, and at the other end 12a with a single core optical connector 13.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical communication device for performing communication by transmitting a blinking optical signal through an optical fiber, and an optical fiber cable used in the optical communication device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the field of transmission of digital signals, for example, with the rapid spread of digital consumer devices such as digital VTRs and digital audio, and personal computers, these devices are interconnected and digitally connected. A need has arisen to transmit signals in both directions at high speed. In order to meet such demands, for example, IEEE
A high-speed serial digital communication system such as the 1394 standard has been proposed and put into practical use. By the way, for example, 100 Mb
When a high-speed digital signal of more than 1 / sec is transmitted by a copper wire such as a twisted pair wire, a noise electromagnetic wave that causes electromagnetic interference or the like may be emitted from the copper wire. Conversely, noise electromagnetic waves may be mixed into the copper wire from the outside, and these digital devices may malfunction.

For this reason, it is expected that so-called optical fiber communication, which converts a digital signal into an optical signal and transmits the optical signal via an optical communication medium such as an optical fiber, is applied to signal transmission between digital devices. Have been. Furthermore, from a consumer point of view, it is easy to lay optical fiber cables,
In addition, since optical fiber cables are required to be inexpensive, it is expected that plastic optical fiber cables will be applied to consumer optical digital communication.

As described above, conventionally, as a communication method using a plastic optical fiber, a one-way type, a two-way half-duplex type, and a two-way full-duplex type optical communication according to the form of digital communication between digital devices. The method is adopted. Among them, the bidirectional full-duplex type is used when digital devices need to transmit and receive digital signals simultaneously with each other.

In order to realize such bidirectional full-duplex digital communication, conventionally, a two-core optical transceiver and a single-core optical transceiver have been proposed. In a two-core optical transceiver, a light-emitting element and a light-receiving element are independently arranged, and are coupled to different optical fibers by a two-core optical connector, respectively. It is configured to be optically connected to the light receiving element and the light emitting element of the transceiver. Therefore, the plastic optical fiber used in the optical fiber cable is a two-pair wire, and a two-port connector for coupling each plastic optical fiber to the light emitting element or the light receiving element of the optical transceiver is required. Become.

On the other hand, a single-core optical transceiver is
Bidirectional transmission and reception are simultaneously performed by one optical fiber. For this reason, the single-core optical transceiver is configured by combining a light emitting element, a light receiving element, and optical components for spectral separation such as a beam splitter in the optical transceiver, in order to couple the optical fiber cable and the optical transceiver. A single bit connector is used.

[0007]

However, the two-core optical transceiver and the single-core optical transceiver described above are:
Despite the fact that the two-way full-duplex communication functions are the same, the number of optical connectors is different and the number of optical fiber cores of the optical fiber cables to be connected is different. It has not been possible to interconnect the type optical transceiver and the single-core optical transceiver. For this reason, in a case where digital devices including both types, that is, two-core type and single-core type optical transceivers are mixed, it is not possible to connect all the digital devices to each other and perform optical digital communication.

In view of the above, the present invention provides an optical fiber cable capable of performing bidirectional full-duplex optical digital communication by interconnecting two-core and one-core optical connectors. And an optical communication device.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a single-core optical fiber for transmitting a signal by blinking an optical signal in a bidirectional full-duplex system in an optical communication apparatus. An optical fiber cable comprising: a two-core optical connector attached to one end of the single-core optical fiber via an optical distributor for distributing transmission signal light and reception signal light. The optical fiber cable is characterized in that a single-core optical connector is attached to the other end of the single-core optical fiber.

According to the configuration of the first aspect, the two-core optical connector is attached to one end of the single-core optical fiber via the optical distributor for distributing the transmission signal light and the reception signal light. A single-core optical connector is attached to the other end of the single-core optical fiber. Thereby, the single-core optical connector at one end of the single-core optical fiber is connected to, for example, a two-core optical transceiver, and the single-core optical connector at the other end of the single-core optical fiber is connected, for example. It can be connected to a single-core optical transceiver. Therefore, for example, a digital device equipped with a two-core optical transceiver and a digital device equipped with a single-core optical transceiver can be connected to each other via the single-core optical fiber. Heavy light communication will be performed.

Preferably, according to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the optical fiber cable according to the first aspect, wherein an optical distributor is housed in the two-core optical connector.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the optical distributor is accommodated in the two-core optical connector, the overall structure is reduced in size and the cost is reduced by a simple configuration. become.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical communication apparatus for transmitting a signal by blinking an optical signal through an optical fiber cable comprising a single-core optical fiber in a bidirectional full-duplex system. A two-core optical connector for connecting to a two-core optical transceiver via an optical distributor for distributing transmission signal light and reception signal light to one end of the single-core optical fiber. This is achieved by an optical communication device, wherein a single-core optical connector for connecting to a single-core optical transceiver is mounted on the other end of the single-core optical fiber. Is done.

[0014] According to the above configuration, the single-core optical fiber is connected to one end of the single-core optical fiber via the optical distributor for distributing the transmission signal light and the reception signal light to the two-core optical transceiver. The two-core optical connector is attached,
A single-core optical connector for connecting to a single-core optical transceiver is attached to the other end of the single-core optical fiber. For this reason, the double-core optical connector at one end of the single-core optical fiber is connected to the double-core optical transceiver, and the single-core optical connector at the other end of the single-core optical fiber is connected to the single-core optical fiber. Type optical transceiver. Therefore, a digital device or the like equipped with the double-core optical transceiver and a digital device or the like equipped with the single-core optical transceiver can be connected to each other via the single-core optical fiber. Heavy light communication will be performed.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. still,
Since the embodiments described below are preferred specific examples of the present invention, various technically preferred limitations are added.
The scope of the present invention is not limited to these embodiments unless otherwise specified in the following description.

FIG. 1 shows an optical communication device 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, an optical communication device 10 performs optical transmission by a so-called bidirectional full-duplex communication system, and is connected between one digital device 20 and the other digital device 30 via an optical fiber cable 11. The optical transmission is performed in the direction.

The optical communication device 10 includes one digital device 2
0, and a two-core optical transceiver 31 connected to the other digital device 30
And an optical fiber cable 11 for optically connecting these optical transceivers 21 and 31 to each other.

As shown in FIG. 2, the optical fiber cable 11 is entirely composed of a single-core plastic optical fiber 12, and has a two-core optical connector 14 at one end 12b and another end 12b. 12a is provided with a single-core optical connector 13. This single-core optical connector 1
3 is used for connection with a digital device 20 having a single-core optical transceiver 21, and the double-core optical connector 14 is used for connection with a digital device 30 having a double-core optical transceiver 31. It is used for Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the two-core optical connector 14
The optical distributor 15 includes a single-core transmission optical fiber 15a for guiding the transmission signal light to the optical fiber 12, and a single-core reception optical fiber 15b for extracting the reception signal light.

Here, as the optical fiber 12, for example, a step index type optical fiber made of acrylic resin is used, and its core wire diameter is 1000 μm. Also,
The transmitting optical fiber 15a and the receiving optical fiber 15
b is a multi-core optical fiber composed of a plurality of optical fiber cores in parallel with the propagation direction of light, for example, about 110 optical fibers having a core diameter of 85 μm are bundled to have an outer diameter of about 1000 μm. Thus, the optical signal is not leaked to the adjacent core. As a result, the signal light that has entered the optical distributor 15 from the optical fiber 12 is distributed to the transmitting optical fiber 15a and the receiving optical fiber 15b. On the other hand, the signal light enters the optical fiber 12 from the transmission optical fiber 15a.
Due to the multi-core structure of the optical distributor 15, almost all of the reflected light generated on the bonding surface between the optical fiber 5 and the optical fiber 12 is incident on the transmission optical fiber 15a.

Therefore, while an optical signal is being transmitted from the transmitting optical fiber 15a, the signal light enters the receiving optical fiber 15b as noise light and interferes with the signal light from the optical fiber 12. Has no configuration. Therefore, the quality of the signal light incident on the receiving optical fiber 15b is not reduced. Since the transmitting optical fiber 15a and the receiving optical fiber 15b are configured as a multi-core type as described above, it is possible to reduce a bending loss generated at the time of processing deformation. .

As shown in FIG. 3, one end of the transmitting optical fiber 15a and the receiving optical fiber 15b is bonded to the end of the optical fiber 12 by an adhesive, for example, a cyanoacrylate-based instant adhesive. Are bonded mechanically and optically so that no gap is generated.

Here, the single-core optical transceiver 21 shown in FIG. 1 has a connection portion having a single-port structure, as is well known.
The light emitting element (not shown) of the transmitting unit emits light based on the input signal from the digital device 20, and the optical fiber cable 11
The light is condensed on one end surface of the optical fiber 12. Conversely, the single-core optical transceiver 21 detects light emitted from one end surface of the optical fiber 12 by a light receiving element (not shown) of the receiving unit, and outputs an output signal to the digital device 20. Is also configured.

On the other hand, the two-core optical transceiver 3 shown in FIG.
As is well known, 1 includes a connection unit having a two-port structure, and emits a light emitting element (not shown) of a transmission unit based on an input signal from a digital device 30, and connects the optical fiber 12 of the optical fiber cable 11 to Light is condensed on one end face. Conversely, the two-core optical transceiver 31 detects light emitted from one end surface of the optical fiber 12 by a light receiving element (not shown) of the receiving unit, and outputs an output signal to the digital device 30. It is configured.

The optical communication device 10 according to the present embodiment is configured as described above, and optical transmission is performed as follows. First, the digital device 20 to the digital device 30
With respect to the optical transmission to the optical device, the light emitting element of the transmitting unit of the single-core optical transceiver 21 emits light based on the input signal from the digital device 20, and the optical signal from the light-emitting device is transmitted The light enters the optical fiber 12. And
The optical signal further enters the receiving optical fiber 15b of the two-core optical connector 14 from the other end face of the optical fiber 12, and is received by the two-core optical transceiver 31 via the receiving optical fiber 15b. Incident on the light receiving element of the section. As a result, the light receiving element receives the optical signal and outputs an electrical signal (detection signal) corresponding to the optical signal, and the electrical signal is output to the digital device 30 as an output signal.

Similarly, based on an input signal from the digital device 30, the transmission section of the two-core optical transceiver transmitter 31 sends out an optical signal, and this optical signal is transmitted to the two-core connector 14.
From the transmission optical fiber 15a through the optical fiber 12, and from the single-core connector 13 to the single-core optical transceiver 21.
And outputs an output signal to the digital device 20 in response to the optical signal received by the receiving unit. Thus, optical communication is performed between the digital devices 20 and 30 by bidirectional optical transmission.

In this case, when the optical signal incident on the transmission optical fiber 15a is reflected by the adhesive surface between the optical fiber 12 and the end face of the optical fiber 12, the transmission optical fiber 15a and the reception optical fiber 15b have a multi-core structure. Therefore, almost all of the reflected light enters the transmission optical fiber 15a. As described above, according to the present embodiment, the single-core optical transceiver 2
Digital device 20 equipped with 1 and two-core optical transceiver 3
By using the optical fiber cable 11 between the digital devices 30 provided with the communication device 1, bidirectional full-duplex optical communication can be performed. Further, in this case, the optical fiber cable 11 for connecting the digital devices 20, 30 and the like only needs to have the single-line optical fiber 12, so that the cost of the optical fiber cable 11 can be reduced and the conventional optical fiber cable 11 can be reduced. Since the paired wire in which the two optical fibers are bundled is not used, the workability of routing the optical fiber cable 11 is improved.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an optical communication device 40 according to the second embodiment. The optical communication device 40 according to the present embodiment includes the optical communication device 10 according to the above-described first embodiment.
And many of the configurations are common, the following description focuses on the differences from the first embodiment.
The description is omitted by assigning the same reference numerals and the like. In FIG. 4, an optical communication device 40 performs optical communication by connecting a consumer digital device. The optical communication device 40
A bidirectional full-duplex optical communication is performed between a device 50 called a set-top box as a consumer digital device and a portable recording device 60.

The optical communication device 40 is connected to one set-top box 50 via the two-core optical connector 14 using the optical fiber cable 11 shown in FIG. The recording device 60 is connected to the recording device 60 via a single-core optical connector 13.

Here, the set-top box 50
Is configured to convert a digital broadcast signal received from a digital satellite broadcast receiving antenna 51 into an analog signal, and output the analog signal from an analog output terminal 52 to a video monitor 53 or an audio playback device 54. The set-top box 50 is, for example, an IEEE13
A two-core transceiver 55 is provided as a bidirectional optical digital interface for outputting digital signals of the H.94 standard.
Asynchronous digital communication can be performed via a protocol. On the other hand, the portable recording device 60 is, for example, a mini-disc recorder or the like, and similarly has a single-core optical transceiver 61 as a digital interface, and performs asynchronous digital communication with other digital devices via, for example, the IEEE1394 protocol. Can be performed.

The two-core optical connector 14 of the optical fiber cable 11 is connected to the two-core optical transceiver 55 of the set-top box 50, and the single-core optical connector 13 is connected to the portable recording device 60. It is connected to the core type optical transceiver 61. As a result, the set-top box 50 and the portable recording device 60 are connected to each other so that bidirectional full-duplex digital communication is possible.

Using the optical communication apparatus 40 having such a configuration, a digital satellite broadcast is received by the set-top box 50, converted into an analog output, and converted into an analog output.
3 and output to the audio playback device 54,
Video and audio of satellite broadcasting can be reproduced. Further, by transmitting a digital audio signal from the two-core optical transceiver 55 of the set-top box 50 to the portable recording device 60 via the optical fiber cable 11, the digital audio signal is recorded by the portable recording device 60. be able to.

In each of the above embodiments, the optical fiber 12 is a step index type optical fiber made of an acrylic resin. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and an optical fiber made of any material can be used. In each of the above-described embodiments, the digital devices 20 and 30, the set-top box 50, and the portable recording device 60 are provided at both ends of the optical fiber cable 11 of the optical communication devices 10 and 40.
Are connected, but the present invention is not limited to this, and other digital devices or other devices may be connected. Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the other end 1 of the optical fiber 12 is used.
The optical splitter 15 attached to the optical fiber 2b is composed of the transmitting optical fiber 15a and the receiving optical fiber 15b, but is not limited thereto, and the transmitting light and the receiving light are distributed by the other end 12b of the optical fiber 12. An optical distributor having an arbitrary configuration can be used as long as the optical distributor can be used.
The configuration of each of the above embodiments may be partially omitted or changed to any other combination not described above.

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention, two-core and one-core optical connectors are connected to each other so that bidirectional full-duplex optical digital communication can be performed. An optical fiber cable and an optical communication device can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an optical communication device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an optical fiber cable in the optical communication device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view showing the vicinity of a two-core optical connector in the optical fiber cable of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an optical communication device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10, 40 optical communication device, 11 optical fiber cable, 12 optical fiber, 13 single-core optical connector, 14 double-core optical connector, 15 optical Distributor, 15a: optical fiber for transmission, 15b: optical fiber for reception, 20, 30, digital equipment, 2
1,61 ... Single-core optical transceiver, 31,55 ...
・ Two-core optical transceiver, 50 ・ ・ ・ Set top box, 60 ・ ・ ・ Portable recording device

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An optical fiber cable comprising a single-core optical fiber for transmitting a signal by blinking of an optical signal in a bidirectional full-duplex system in an optical communication device, comprising one end of the single-core optical fiber. A two-core optical connector is attached to the unit via an optical distributor for distributing transmission signal light and reception signal light, and one end is connected to the other end of the single-core optical fiber. An optical fiber cable having a core type optical connector attached thereto. 2. The optical fiber cable according to claim 1, wherein an optical distributor is accommodated in the two-core optical connector. 3. An optical communication apparatus for transmitting a signal by blinking of an optical signal through an optical fiber cable comprising a single-core optical fiber in a bidirectional full-duplex system, wherein one end of said single-core optical fiber is provided. A two-core optical connector for connecting to a two-core optical transceiver via an optical distributor for distributing transmission signal light and reception signal light, wherein the single-core optical fiber An optical communication device, wherein a single-core optical connector for connecting to a single-core optical transceiver is attached to the other end of the optical communication device. 4. The optical communication device according to claim 3, wherein an optical distributor is accommodated in the two-core optical connector.