Broadband Communities

2014 Summit Special Preview

BROADBAND COMMUNITIES is the leading source of information on digital and broadband technologies for buildings and communities. Our editorial aims to accelerate the deployment of Fiber-To-The-Home and Fiber-To-The-Premises.

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42 FUN FIBER FACTS: Light Brigade's Larry Johnson L arry frst got involved with fber optics in the mid-1970s when fber was just coming out of the labs and was being funded by cold war weapons research. "I was working with military and aerospace applications. At the time, a problem was how to communicate with a remotely controlled vehicle after a neutron bomb blast. Te military would send a vehicle to analyze the air before it sent boots in, as the bomb was a very "dirty" weapon. (A neutron bomb produces more radiation than a garden-variety A-bomb.) Fiber optics was only way to control this type of vehicle." Larry was sent to Boulder, Colo., to be trained by a Ph.D. on applying optical theory for terminations, integration and installation. "Tis was very critical due to the exacting tolerances fber demanded in comparison with copper technology," he says. Tere was a commercial side as well, which seemed a lot more fun to Larry. "I got involved with telcos with their frst feld trials of fber optics and was able to work on a lot of exciting projects, including at the Xerox PARC facility. At the time, every application was a challenge, as we really did not have standards or standardization, which led to my being involved with writing many of the early fber test and measurement standards. Standards are the foundation of the fber industry. Tis is why test and measurement standards had to pass by all participants, not just by a majority vote, which can be popular rather than correct." Te frst fber deployment Larry worked on was a secure link between buildings at a Lockheed missile and space complex in Sunnyvale, Calif. Along with Boeing and GTE, he was also part of the Fiber Optic MX intercontinental ballistic missile team, "which used a self- healing ring before it was popular for anything. While Boeing talked about fber on aircraft Above: An early version of Larry Johnson with assistant, working on an AT&T; project, their frst statewide efort. Above right: Larry Johnson Founder & President Te Light Brigade Larry will be running a workshop, a panel on optical LANs, and a two-day course. Register Now www.bbcmag.com BBC_SummitPromo_Feb14.indd 42 2/12/14 5:52 PM

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