As peripheral device speeds increase, copper wire cables struggle to keep up with the corresponding bandwidth demands. Current device communication specifications based on copper wire are updated by increasing the number of wires in interconnecting cables, restricting cable length, and adhering to strict signaling standards in order to keep pace with evolving peripheral devices.
The use of light transmissions as a communication medium and as an energy medium is increasing, and thus so has the use of optical fiber cable as a transmission medium to guide light transmissions. There are a number of advantages optical cables have over their copper counterparts. Optical fibers can transmit data at a higher rate, over longer distances and in a smaller volume compared to copper wires.
Current optical cable connector solutions, specifically optical fiber termination and lens coupling, consist solely of through-hole and refractive index-matching adhesive solutions. These solutions are not suitable for mass production or extended use. In particular, it is understood that through holes are relatively circular holes formed for an optical fiber to be “threaded” through; the circular shape of these holes means that there will be manufacturing inconsistencies (i.e., defects) that occur during mass production (e.g., abnormal curvatures preventing precise optical alignment). Therefore it is undesirable to rely solely on through holes to optically align optical fibers to lenses. What is needed is an optical fiber termination solution that reduces potential manufacturing issues, eases quality control concerns, and improves connector housing durability as optical cable use becomes more common.
Descriptions of certain details and implementations follow, including a description of the figures, which may depict some or all of the embodiments described below, as well as discussing other potential embodiments or implementations of the inventive concepts presented herein. An overview of embodiments of the invention is provided below, followed by a more detailed description with reference to the drawings.