Plug-and-play optical fiber distribution system

Abstract

An optical fiber distribution system is disclosed. The distribution system has a cable combiner and a splitter housing. The distribution system is a plug-and-play system.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for distributing optical fibers, comprising:
 a) a feeder cable having at least one optical fiber;   b) an outside plant (OSP) rated cable combiner comprising: a closure having a cable port and a plurality of connector ports, wherein the cable port receives the feeder cable extending from a central office, and the connector ports terminate the feeder cable;   c) an extension cable optically connected to the feeder cable at one of the connector ports of the cable combiner,   d) a splitter housing having at least one OSP rated splitter module, the splitter module comprising:
 a closure having a connection port, a splitter and a plurality of connector ports, wherein the connection port receives an optical fiber connection extending from the extension cable and extends an input optical fiber inside the closure, the splitter is optically connected to the input optical fiber and splits the input optical fiber into a plurality of output optical fibers, and the connector ports terminate the output optical fibers; 
   e) a distribution cable optically connected to at least one of the output optical fibers at one of the connector ports of the splitter module; and   f) a plurality of terminals optically connected to the distribution cable, wherein any of the terminals are configured to act as a customer optical fiber connection access point once a customer subscribes to an optical fiber network provider,   
       wherein the physical location of the splitter housing is independent from the physical location of the cable combiner. 
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the feeder cable is integrated with the cable combiner and pre-fabricated in a factory. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the connector ports of the cable combiner are configured to receive a multi-fiber connection. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the connector ports of the cable combiner are on the exterior surface of the closure and are OSP rated. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the extension cable is connectorized and terminated at the connector port of the cable combiner. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the connector of the extension cable is OSP rated. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the splitter modules and pre-fabricated in a factory. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the splitter splits the input optical fiber into n output optical fibers, wherein n is a natural number. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein n is 32. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the splitter is a planer light circuit (PLC). 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the connector ports of the splitter module are configured to receive a multi-fiber connection. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the connector ports of the splitter module are on the exterior surface of the closure and are OSP rated. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the splitter housing has sufficient space inside to accommodate a plurality of the splitter modules and optical fiber connections. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the distribution cable is connectorized and terminated at the connector port of the splitter module. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the connector of the distribution cable is OSP rated. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the splitter housing defines a pivot point that is located a distance from the cable combiner. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the cable assembly and the splitter module are factory manufactured and the system is deployed without any splicing in the field. 
     
     
         18 . A cable TV distribution system for transmitting cable TV signals to subscribed customers, comprising:
 a) a feeder cable having at least one optical fiber;   b) a splitter housing having a cable port and at least one outside plant (OSP) rated splitter module, the cable port receives the feeder cable extending from a headend and optically connects the optical fibers inside the feeder cable to corresponding splitter modules, the splitter module splits the optical fiber into a plurality of output optical fibers and terminates the output optical fibers at connector ports;   c) an optical fiber-based distribution cable optically connected to at least one of the output optical fibers at one of the connector ports of the splitter module; and   a) a plurality of terminals optically connected to the distribution cable wherein any of the terminals are configured to act as a customer cable TV connection access point once a customer subscribes to a cable TV provider,   
       wherein the cable TV distribution system is substantially free from copper cables at least between the headend and one of the customer cable TV connection access points. 
     
     
         19 . The cable TV distribution system of  claim 18 , wherein the splitter module is factory manufactured and the cable TV distribution system is deployed without any splicing in the field. 
     
     
         20 . The cable TV distribution system of  claim 18 , wherein the splitter housing is configured to fit in a space for a node used in copper-based cable TV distribution system.