"Swamped. Buried, in a mound of encyclopedic knowledge."
That's too funny, Jim. Blame Dave.
"Because it still has a place in the scheme of things fibrous."
Exactly. I'm tending to think that many MSO fiber requirements will continue to be SMF, where the fiber sections of their HFCs are not excessively long. Ditto for many PON architectures, which are increasing in numbers as each day goes by.
I sense (but don't know for sure, although I should and will) that there are many situations in outside plant designs that are borderline, i.e., in between where straight SMF can be used and where LEAF of AW would be ideal. My sense is that where these exist a tradeoff analysis would point to a SMF selection, purely on the basis of price-performance. Again, this is to some extent (not purely, but nearly so) speculation on my part, about which I would welcome additional expert comment.
"Would it be safe to assume that the apparent scarcity of SMF means that less of it is being produced (relative to the new variants)?"
I don't think so, and I don't know how much weight to put, or how severe the shortage really is where traditional standard SMF is concerned. My sources are out of town. But I'd like to get a clearer understanding, perhaps a clearer breakdown of where the shortages are by type. If I'm able to come up with that information, I'll post it here. But it will be another week or so.
"... would it mean, down the road, that there might be a niche market, producing "legacy" fiber, much the same as there was a need, until recently, for vacuum tubes for equipment that had not yet gone solid-state?"
Wow, vacuum tubes.. you must be in some way connected with the FAA. Either that, you are a holdout audiophile who insists on only the best that vacuum tubes can deliver. But seriously, yes I do see an ongoing need to continue supplying and replenishing SMF supply down the road, since it will not be altogether outmoded (no pun intended there) for some time to come, IMO.
FAC
ps - if the folks from the optical section within TLABs who lurk in here from time to time would care to comment on any of this, it would be highly appreciated. You don't have to identify yourselves as such. We know who you are. BTW, if you have trouble gaining the board's attention, try using the keyword, rainbow. And Curtis, you've been too quiet about all of this for too long. Pull out your text references and start critiquing. And it seems to me that there is an outstanding question embedded in all of this, concerning solitons. To reiterate what that was, What kind of fiber would be used to support transcontinental and transoceanic fiber routes which support soliton transmission, when soliton technology matures? |
