Author: Ron Stark (Ron Stark)

The challenge for VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) where the antenna (Dish) and the command center are not collocated has always been the limited reach of the RF cabling.  Using a RF over Fiber link, the distance between the antenna and the operation center can be extended from a few meters to few kilometers without any signal degradation.  The VSAT location / Operating Center often requires building modifications, but using a fiber based VSAT system offers the following benefits:  The…

Attenuation, Reflection, Reflectance, Optical Return Loss (ORL) and Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) Part I: Optical properties utilized by the new Micro-OTDR ORL/SNR Measurement feature. The new ORL/SNR Measurement feature of the Micro-OTDR SFPs measures the optical fiber link ORL during the normal Micro-OTDR start-up “handshaking” routine of the SFPs, before the data link is…

Driverless cars and RF over Fiber  Really? What is the link, if any?  The challenges for driverless cars where RF over fiber can provide solutions are at least in two areas:  Test ranges and setups will require very accurate timing signals to experiment, check, and validate the usability of satellite signals and the compatibility of…