Fiber optic cable connector assembly including integrated enhanced functionality

Abstract

A fiber optic cable and connector assembly is disclosed. The assembly includes a cable optical fiber, a ferrule, a stub optical fiber having a first portion supported within the ferrule a second portion the projects rearwardly the ferrule and a signal modification structure optically coupled between the stub optical fiber and the cable optical fiber.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A fiber optic cable and connector assembly comprising:
 a cable optical fiber;   a ferrule having a front end and a rear end, the ferrule also defining a longitudinal bore;   a stub optical fiber having a first portion supported within the longitudinal bore and a second portion that projects rearwardly from the rear end of the ferrule;   a signal modification fiber optically coupled between the stub optical fiber and the cable optical fiber, the signal modification fiber being configured to support multiple transmission modes over a predetermined signal wavelength range;   the cable optical fiber and the stub optical fiber being configured to support a single transmission mode over the predetermined signal wavelength range; and   a hub supporting the rear end of the ferrule and covering the second portion of the stub optical fiber and at least a portion of the signal modification fiber.   
     
     
         2 . The fiber optic cable and connector assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the signal modification fiber functions as a bandpass filter. 
     
     
         3 . The fiber optic cable and connector assembly of  claim 1  wherein the signal modification fiber functions as an edge filter. 
     
     
         4 . The fiber optic cable and connector assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the signal modification fiber is a stepped index fiber having a having a stepped refractive index profile defined radially between a core and a cladding of the signal modification fiber. 
     
     
         5 . The fiber optic cable and connector assembly of  claim 1  wherein the cable optical fiber and the stub optical fiber have a core diameter in the range of 8-12 microns, and wherein the signal modification fiber has a core diameter of at least 20 microns. 
     
     
         6 . The fiber optic cable and connector assembly of  claim 5 , wherein the core diameter of the signal modification structure is at least 30 microns. 
     
     
         7 . The fiber optic cable and connector assembly of  claim 5 , wherein the core diameter of the signal modification fiber is at least 40 microns. 
     
     
         8 . The fiber optic cable and connector assembly of  claim 5 , wherein the core diameter of the signal modification fiber is at least 50 microns. 
     
     
         9 . A fiber optic cable and connector assembly comprising:
 a cable optical fiber;   a ferrule having a front end and a rear end, the ferrule also defining a longitudinal bore;   a stub optical fiber having a first portion supported within the longitudinal bore and a second portion that projects rearwardly from the rear end of the ferrule; and   a signal modification structure optically coupled between the stub optical fiber and the cable optical fiber, the signal modification structure being configured at a desired splice angle to reflect certain wavelengths.   
     
     
         10 . The fiber optic cable and connector assembly of  claim 9 , wherein the signal modification structure is a film. 
     
     
         11 . The fiber optic cable and connector assembly of  claim 9 , wherein the desired splice angle is between about 0° and 8°. 
     
     
         12 . The fiber optic cable and connector assembly of  claim 9 , wherein the reflected wavelengths are used to monitor the presence of optical connectors. 
     
     
         13 . A fiber optic cable and connector assembly comprising:
 a cable optical fiber;   a ferrule having a front end and a rear end, the ferrule also defining a longitudinal bore;   a stub optical fiber having a first portion supported within the longitudinal bore and a second portion that projects rearwardly from the rear end of the ferrule;   a signal modification structure optically coupled between the stub optical fiber and the cable optical fiber, the signal modification structure being configured to extract part of an optical signal; and   at least one detector for detecting the presence of the extracted optical signal.   
     
     
         14 . The fiber cable and connector assembly of  claim 13 , wherein the signal modification structure is a splice beam splitter. 
     
     
         15 . The fiber cable and connector assembly of  claim 13 , wherein the extracted optical signal is 90° from a fiber axes. 
     
     
         16 . The fiber cable and connector assembly of  claim 14 , wherein the splice beam splitter is a dielectric coating applied to a fiber. 
     
     
         17 . The fiber cable and connector assembly of  claim 16 , wherein the coating thickness is about 0.1 μm. 
     
     
         18 . The fiber cable and connector assembly of  claim 16 , wherein the coating thickness is about 10 μm. 
     
     
         19 . The fiber cable and connector assembly of  claim 16 , wherein the coating thickness is greater than about 0.1 μm. 
     
     
         20 . The fiber cable and connector assembly of  claim 16 , wherein the coating thickness is less than about 10 μm. 
     
     
         21 . The fiber cable and connector assembly of  claim 13 , wherein the at least one detector monitors bi-directional optical signals in the cable optical fiber. 
     
     
         22 . A fiber optic cable and connector assembly comprising:
 a cable optical fiber;   a ferrule having a front end and a rear end, the ferrule also defining a longitudinal bore;   a stub optical fiber having a first portion supported within the longitudinal bore and a second portion the projects rearwardly from the rear end of the ferrule; and   a signal modification structure optically coupled between the second portion of the stub optical fiber and the cable optical fiber, the signal modification structure being configured to provide a functionality selected from the group consisting of: signal splitting; signal filtration; and signal reflection.