Good With Colours

In today's crowded world – where news is received on multiple platforms instantly, sports results are consumed and digested in parallel with one's daily life, and peer-to-peer communication is aggressively pursued – bandwidth is key.

We talk about the interconnectedness of things. High-speed communications networks are expected everywhere. It can be a real shock when there is no mobile phone coverage, or worse still, "What, no Wi-Fi…?"

Behind all this need for speed, telco companies, broadcasters, and IP providers are all building business models based on cramming as much data down their networks as possible.

Sir Isaac Newton said that mass X velocity = momentum. We are all striving for more and faster data – that is, heavier payloads of data at faster bit rates – and we can achieve it by using a higher fibre count or by applying a different science called wave division multiplexing (WDM).

By transmitting data on different colours (wavelengths) of light on the same fibre core, it is possible to increase the volume of data very substantially. In its simplest form, a single core will do the work of two cores of fibre. Therefore, it is possible to run two camera channels on one SMPTE hybrid cable.

Scale WDM up, and you get course wave division multiplexing (CWDM), which uses 16 colours per fibre. So, with a Bluebell multiplexer that relies inherently on CWDM, you can run 16 camera channels on a single SMPTE hybrid cable.

Scale it up one more time, and you get dense wave division multiplexing (DWDM). We can chop the light spectrum up into 80 different slots. Imagine the possibilities with that. Although DWDM is a technology typically applied to the telco world, Bluebell has used it very successfully for broadcast applications.

Take the example of a pre-existing network in, say, a post-production house. The fibre network was most probably installed by the IT department, so there will be fibre to each workstation, server, and editing device. Using the Bluebell technology, we can load multichannel 4K UHD onto the network and patch it to any or all areas within the network, effectively layering over an existing IT installation for easy transfer of video, audio, and data.

One thing to note with WDM/CWDM/DWDM transport is that each wavelength, with its given data payload, will not clash with, interfere with, or get corrupted by any of its neighbouring wavelengths. They all work quite happily together. And because they are different wavelengths, they can travel in the same direction or in opposite directions on the same fibre. Pretty neat, eh?

So, if you have a fibre network or a SMPTE hybrid cable that is maxed out, give us a call. We can unlock its potential and put some momentum behind it.

Years ago, I went to a meeting at a large corporation in London, where the people we met with said they were going to "sweat their assets". I always found that amusing. To me it is natural to get the most out of what you have. Using some form of WDM technology is a cost-effective way of increasing your payload without digging up the road and laying more cable.

So Bluebell Opticom really is good with colours.

bluebellcomms.co.uk