Intrasystem interconnection in telecommunication platforms using plastic optical fiber

Large telecommunication switching and transmission platforms have massive interconnection requirements which are in the 1 Tb/s range and growing rapidly. Plastic optical fiber technology shows promise as a replacement for both metallic interconnection and glass optical fiber interconnection. The high bandwidth characteristics of graded index plastic optical fiber (GI POF) are particularly attractive in these applications which require high reliability and high bandwidth interconnection over short distances.