Patent ID: 7965913

Claim:
A plastic optical fiber (POF) based reflective star coupler, comprising: a holding tube for receiving a plurality of plastic optical fibers (POFs) at a front end of the holding tube and a mixing rod at a rear end of the holding tube, wherein the holding tube is hollow and cylindrical, wherein the mixing rod is configured to uniformly mix a signal from at least one plastic optical fiber of a plurality of input plastic optical fibers, and wherein the mixing rod is configured to reflect the signal to a remaining number of plastic optical fibers of the plurality of input plastic optical fibers; wherein an inner diameter of the holding tube is substantially close to an outer diameter of the mixing rod and a second outer diameter of the plurality of plastic optical fibers, wherein a number of the plurality of plastic optical fibers depends on the inner diameter of the holding tube; wherein the plurality of plastic optical fibers and the mixing rod fit tightly within the holding tube without having to fuse the plurality of plastic optical fibers to each other in a bundle; wherein a rear end of each plastic optical fiber of the plurality of plastic optical fibers is affixed to a front surface of the mixing rod; a rear convex surface of the mixing rod is polished and coated with a highly reflective coating to form a convex reflective surface; and wherein the plurality of plastic optical fibers, the mixing rod, and the holding tube are made from same materials, having same refractive indices and material properties for reducing any signal loss during signal transmission through the plurality of plastic optical fibers.