High-Speed Internet, Telephony, and Analog TV over the Same Line

Jun 24, 2003 | Market News

Munich, June 24, 2003 – The innovative “Triport-BIDI®” optical module from Infineon is the first solution to enable the transmission of analog TV, telephony, and high-speed Internet over a single fiber-optic link. Up to now, households have usually been supplied with these services via two separate networks with copper cables used for making phone calls and browsing the Internet and a separate coaxial cable bringing analog TV to the home. The “Triport-BIDI” component from Infineon, which can be described as a three-channel bidirectional optical module, forms the ‘missing link’ to combine traditional analog TV signals and digital communications over a single optical fiber. Fiber strands are already widely available along main roads and railway lines and can easily be branched to connect the homes.

Infineon’s Triport BIDI features the transport of digital data in both directions over the same fiber at the same time, while analog TV is broadcast unidirectionally to end users, using the same optical fiber. For interactive TV, customer data and requests are transmitted digitally. The use of different wavelengths (colors) of the laser beam ensures that data and voice are kept separate during transmission.

The big advantage for service providers is the savings in cable routing and network maintenance, because a single glass fiber is sufficient to handle high-speed Internet, telephony, and analog TV applications. This is especially important for green-field installations in which lots of new homes are built and need get hooked up to the network as well as for the replacement of old networks that have reached the end of their life cycle. Based on customer information, Infineon believes that the number of affected households around the world will increase from a few tens of thousands in 2003 to over a million by 2005.

How Triport-BIDI works



The “Triport-BIDI” module is a small metal housing that contains three diodes: a laser diode for transmission and two photo-diodes for reception. The Triport-BIDI operates in a temperature range of -40 to +85 degrees Celsius. Digital data rates during transmission and reception are up to 1.25 Gbps. In passive optical networks (PONs), this bandwidth is shared by 16 to 32 users providing each user with a bandwidth that is, on the average, by several orders of magnitude higher than e.g. alternative technologies (e.g. ADSL has a maximum download rate of 768 kbps). The Infineon solution is primarily intended for networks in which the optical fiber extends from the regional metro network all the way to the home. With copper cable connections to the home, the digital data and analog signals are still transported over two separate cables.

Compatible with industry standards



The Triport-BIDI, which can span distances of up to 20 km, was designed to comply with the FSAN (Full Service Access Network) BPON (Broadband Passive Optical Networks) standard, which is widely accepted and defines the transmission wavelengths as 1310 nm (transmitter), 1490 nm (digital data receiver) and 1555 nm (analog signal receiver). In addition, Infineon provides Triport-BIDIs for the upcoming new PON standards such as GPON (Gigabit PON) as well as custom versions.

About Infineon



Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, Germany, offers semiconductor and system solutions for the automotive and industrial sectors, for applications in the wired communications markets, secure mobile solutions as well as memory products. With a global presence, Infineon operates in the US from San Jose, CA, in the Asia-Pacific region from Singapore and in Japan from Tokyo. In fiscal year 2002 (ending September), the company achieved sales of Euro 5.21 billion with about 30,400 employees worldwide. Infineon is listed on the DAX index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX). Further information is available at http://www.infineon.com

Information Number

INFCOM200306.095

Press Photos

  • The optical Triport-BIDI module from Infineon now combines traditional analog TV signals and digital communications. This enables the transport of  high-speed Internet, telephony and analog TV over a single fiber-optic link.
    The optical Triport-BIDI module from Infineon now combines traditional analog TV signals and digital communications. This enables the transport of high-speed Internet, telephony and analog TV over a single fiber-optic link.
    Triport-BIDI module

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    Triport-BIDI module

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