Belden – Belden Completes Acquisition of Precision Optical Technologies, Inc.

EMR Analysis

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More information on Precision Optical Technologies, Inc. by Belden: https://www.precisionot.com/ + Precision Optical Technologies is a system engineering and integration company focused on optical transceivers and related active/passive optical components. For over a decade, we have helped build networks around the globe by providing high quality, custom-engineered optical solutions.

We know the pain points, we speak the language, and we understand the value of a reliable system. By applying first-hand knowledge and critical expertise to each and every custom solution, our System Engineers take a true hands-on approach to replicating networks, identifying challenges, resolving issues, maintaining reliability, and providing the highest level of service.

At Precision OT, we are recognized globally as a premier supplier of optical transceivers and related active/passive optical networking equipment. Through product quality, technical support, responsiveness, and long-term benefits to our customers, we have gained respect, trust and loyalty in the industry.

Within the different network applications, Precision OT has developed specific solutions for each network service including FTTx, PON, DAAS, Mobile backhaul and Data center.

Each customer network architecture has specific requirements and needs. We customize and advise our customers on the best products to fit their use case. Our focus is not only on transceivers, but also the network architecture system as a whole including Host Platforms, Physical connections (via Fiber Jumpers and Fiber panels), Chassis enclosures, MUX/DEMUX, and troubleshooting tools like fiber and connector cleaners and remote troubleshooting tools, like our TN100 box.

More information on David Halladay (President and Chief Executive Officer, Precision Optical Technologies, Belden): See the full profile on EMR Executive Services 

EMR Additional Notes:

• Optical Transceiver:
  • An optical transceiver is a small yet powerful device that can both transmit and receive data. In fiber optics, this data is sent in the form of pulses of light over an optical fiber, at very high speeds and across long distances.

• Broadband Connectivity:
  • Broadband refers to various high-capacity transmission technologies that transmit data, voice, and video across long distances and at high speeds.
  • Broadband refers to telecommunications in which a wide band of frequencies is available to transmit information. Because a wide band of frequencies is available, information can be multiplexed and sent on many different frequencies or channels within the band concurrently. Multiplexing enables more information to be transmitted in a given time, much as more lanes on a highway support more cars.

• Optical Cable:
  • An optical cable transfers audio digitally, but instead of copper wire, light is used. This is a variation of fiber optics, which is used in a variety of applications.
  • The biggest difference between Optical Cables and HDMI is that HDMI can pass higher-resolution audio, including the formats found on Blu-ray: Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio. These formats can’t get transmitted across optical. In terms of simplicity, HDMI also passes video signals.

• Types of Network Cabling:
  • Coaxial Cable:
    • Coaxial cables or coax, have a single copper conductor at the center, while a plastic layer provides insulation between the center conductor and braided metal shield. The metal shield blocks outside interference from fluorescent lights, motors, and other computers.
  • Twisted Pair:
    • Twisted pair uses copper wires that are, as the name suggests, twisted together in pairs. The twist effect of each pair in the cables ensures any interference presented or picked up on one cable is canceled by the cable’s partner that twists around the initial cable. Twisting the two wires also reduces the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the circuit.
      • Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) Cable:
        • In STP, copper wires are first covered by plastic insulation. A metal shield, which consists of metal foil or braid, surrounds the bundle of insulated pairs. Where electromagnetic radiation is a serious issue, each pair of wires may be individually shielded in addition to the outer shield. This is known as foil twisted pair (FTP).
      • Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Cable:
        • UTP cables typically contain four pairs of copper wires, with each pair containing two wires twisted together. These pairs are covered by plastic insulation. They do not have any shielding and just have an outer jacket.
        • Most categories of twisted-pair cables are available as UTP. But some newer categories are also available in combinations of shielded, foil shielded and unshielded.
  • Fiber Optic Cable:
    • Fiber optic cables consist of a thin optical fiber surrounded by cladding. Cladding is made from glass that is less pure than the core and has a lower refractive index than the core. The difference in refractive indices causes light to be reflected at the boundary. Additional layers, such as the buffer layer and jacket layer, surround the cladding to add strength and protect the cable against damage.
    • Data rates have increased throughout the network, and in some cases, fiber optics is the only option. While Cat8 twisted-pair cables can carry up to 40 Gbps of data, fiber supports data rates up to 400 Gbps.
    • Fiber has a low error rate. Network data is encoded in a light beam. Unlike with twisted-pair cables, the light beam neither generates nor is affected by electronic interference. Additionally, multiple frequency data streams can be multiplexed over a single fiber to increase the total data rate.

• FTTx:
  • Fiber to the Home (FTTH), Fiber to the Building (FTTB), Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) and Fiber to the Curb (FTTC), termed as FTTx are various technology and deployment options developed to enable reach of fiber as close to the user location as possible to provide high speed data and voice services.
  • Fiber to the home (FTTH) is the delivery of a communications signal over optical fiber from the operator’s switching equipment all the way to a home or business, thereby replacing existing copper infrastructure such as telephone wires and coaxial cable.
  • FTTP and FTTH are two different abbreviations for the same thing. FTTP stands for ‘fibre to the premises’ and FTTH stands for ‘fibre to the home’. … Unlike FTTC, FTTP broadband is delivered via fibre-optic cables not only as far as the cabinet, but across the entire span to your home or business.
  • Fiber-optic cables are less susceptible to glitches than traditional copper wires and can withstand the shock and vibration from inclement weather. FTTH is considered “future proof” and offers the flexibility to deliver additional services in the years to come.

• Key Differences Between Copper Cable and Fiber Optics:
  • Data transmission speed of a fiber cable is comparatively more than that of copper cable. Copper cables are nearly 31% slower in data transmission than fiber cable.
  • A copper cable transmits the data through it in the form of electrical pulse i.e., due to the movement of electrons. As against in a fiber optics, the data transmission is the result of movement of photons thus it transmits in the form of light pulses.
  • The bandwidth provided by a copper cable is less than that of the fiber optics. Thus, a copper cabling meets the industry standards and provides a performance of up to 10 Gbps.  However, a fiber optics due to its large bandwidth possess better performance of up to 60 Tbps and above.
  • The energy consumed by a copper cable during its operation is somewhat greater than 10W but on the other side, fiber optics consumes less energy i.e., around 2W per user.
  • The lifespan of a copper wire is approximately 5 years as it gets easily affected by temperature variations and other environmental factors. However, fiber optics possess a lifespan of 30 to 50 years.
  • As fiber optics are difficult to be tapped as compared to copper cables thus proves advantageous from the security point of view. Due to this reason fiber optics are widely used for data transmission at present time.
  • A fiber optics allows transmission of data at a much faster rate as compared to copper cable.
  • The installation and maintenance cost of a fiber cable is more than copper cable.

• POL / PON:
  • Passive Optical Network (PON) is an umbrella industry term for fiber-based access networking architecture that is used in both 1) enterprise passive optical local area network inside buildings and across campus and 2) residential fiber-to-the-premises network that can connect a home, apartment and a business across a city.
  • Passive optical LAN (POL) is the application of passive optical network (PON) technology in a local area network (LAN) environment.

• MSO (Multiple System Operator):
  • Designation often used for cable companies that offer services beyond television broadcast. Many MSOs offer a “triple play” of internet and telephone service alongside their traditional cable television offerings.