The Various Applications of Couplers and Splitters

Coupler manufacturers are most often faced with the question “what is the difference between power splitter and coupler?” Well, although it may not show much of a difference to laymen, the two have vast differences between them. 

The main purposes of couplers and splitters are to divide, route, or combine multiple signals. However, in the case of the former, it is named after its working principle, while for the latter it is named after its function. 

Defining a Coupler 

When asked coupler manufacturers in India to define couplers, they said, a coupler is a device that splits optical signals into multiple paths or may even merge multiple optical signals on one path. However, since optical signals are far more complex than electrical signals, optical couplers are quite different in terms of design. Optical signals are comprised of photons but unlike electrical signals, they do not move through the receiver to the ground. Instead, there’s a detector that is placed at the receiver to absorb the signal flow. Since many receivers connected together would end up absorbing the entire signal, thus multiple output ports are placed parallelly, dividing the signals between the ports, overall minimizing the magnitude of the signal. 

Defining a Splitter

Fibre optic splitters are used split to fibre optic lights into various parts in a certain ratio. The simplest forms of couplers are are the fibre optic splitters. These usually contain three ports but may contain up to 32 in case of complex splitters. These devices are passive components but hold a lot of importance. The most popularly used fibre splitters are the traditional fused type fibre optic splitter (the FBT splitter) and the PLC Fibre Optic Splitter. While the former features cost-effectivity, the latter is compact and most suitable for density applications. 

The Various Applications of Couplers and Splitters 

Coupler manufacturers in India, guide you to find an application of couplers in devices that need links other than point-to-point links, like bi-directional links and local area networks. It is also used as an important component in WDM systems to aid in routing and splitting signals, monitoring the network and even combining signals. 

On the other hand, splitters find applications in FTTx/ PON application. This minimizes the physical fibre usage. Here, a single fibre can be split into multiple branches so that it can support multiple end-users. Fibre optic splitters reduce the strain fibre backbone through the application. Furthermore, fibre optic splitters are also used in maintaining long-haul networks, Cable TV ATM Circuits and even Local Area/ Metro Area Networks. 

Fibre optic couplers and splitters are manufactured in various styles and sizes by coupler manufacturers in India, like us, so that they can disburse or merge light with minimum loss. Hope this article came of help you and will aid you in selecting the right coupler or splitter as per your needs.