Panduit Corp. will present a technical paper at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference (OFC) later this week, on the methodology that is at the heart of Panduit’s innovative OptiCam 2 Fiber Termination Tool.

The paper, “Novel image processing methods for IL estimation of field terminated connectors,” looks at new methods of estimating insertion loss in field-terminated optical connectors. These new methods are used in the OptiCam 2 tool, which provides an insertion loss readout at the time of termination, increasing the speed and reliability of the installation.

The paper details how Panduit engineers developed algorithms that use infrared images to estimate the degree of contact between the field and stub fiber inside the connector during and after the termination process to quantify insertion loss.

The paper will be presented by Jose M. Castro, fiber optics research manager at Panduit, who authored the paper with Panduit colleagues Paul Huang, Rick J. Pimpinella, Bulent Kose, Asher Novick, Alex Berian, and Brett Lane.

“Our fiber engineering team is always looking for innovative ways to improve the ease of use of our fiber optic products,” said Brett Lane, chief technology officer, Panduit. “As optical engineers, we are passionate about applying our expertise to solve our customer’s most difficult challenges. In this case, we designed a tool that has revolutionized fiber termination. The tool is easy to use in the field, yet built on an extremely complex optical measurement methodology that speeds installation.” Panduit introduced the OptiCam 2 Fiber Termination Tool last year. It remains the only termination tool on the market that provides a calculated insertion loss at termination so installers know they have terminated the connector correctly.