A Passive Fiber Optic Network Designed for Automotive Applications

Fiber optic networks in the telecommunications and Local Area Network (LAN) applications are typically active networks (point to point fiber optic links interconnected using active devices). Short distance automotive networks have a sufficient optical flux budget to allow passive optical distribution. This paper reviews the differences between Telecommunications, LAN, and automotive network applications. The benefits of a passive star architecture will be described and a passive star network implementation, based on large diameter plastic fibers, will be described.