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
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