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Many fibre-optic systems installed 20-30 years ago are now approaching the end of their service life and have components that need replacing, yet often the technology implemented when the system was installed is no longer readily available. OMC can provide effective and efficient replacements for any part of these optical links.

One of the major challenges faced by engineers in such circumstances is caused by the huge difference in electro-optical properties between components produced several decades ago and those in production today. In many situations it is not simply a case of swapping out old devices for new, off-the-shelf types, as the performance of standard devices has changed hugely between then and now. OMC overcome this by setting up devices to perform within a specified performance window. The company has the facility to analyse the electro-optical characteristics of the system and can produce replacement parts specifically tailored to the application. Because OMC manufactures the devices in-house, the company has exceptional control over their performance through its proprietary active-alignment techniques, supported by its own fully-equipped optical test laboratory.

In addition to transmitters and receivers with application-specific performance characteristics, OMC also produces fibre-optic cables to specific customer requirements rather than just offering off-the-shelf data-links. This service is essential if old cables need to be swapped for new ones, especially in installations where hundreds or thousands of replacement cables featuring different lengths are required. OMC’s manufacturing facility is designed to accommodate exactly this sort of requirement efficiently and effectively. In addition, individual identification tags, unique to each cable, can be attached to cable ends to make installation faster, more cost-effective and to avoid mating errors.

Even if the connectors on existing cable sets requiring replacement have since become obsolete, engineers don’t necessarily have to rip out the whole fibre-optic system and start again. As OMC produce their own connectors and hold designs for a wide range of both old and new connector types, the company is able to remake many connector types and maintains the facilities to terminate cables with them. OMC’s engineers can even use their design skills to completely re-engineer an obsolete connector type if the application requires this.

If a complete fibre-optic system does need to be replaced or re-engineered, customers only need to provide OMC with the technical details and application requirements of the existing system. OMC can then carry out the necessary optical budget calculations to help specify the performance constraints of each component in the system. Because OMC is one of very few companies skilled in the manufacture of both cables and transmitters/receivers, they can manufacture complete new optical links that have been specifically designed for use together, offering far greater consistency and reliability over trying to mix-and-match “standard” parts. And in applications where a standard connector design won’t work for any reason, for example dimensional constraints or environmental considerations, OMC is also able to tailor and adapt the standard connector design to suit the application.

More details can be found here.