SBIR Phase I: An Economic Optical Fiber Solution to the Last Mile Problem

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是提供使用表面安装的光纤将服务不足或未服务的美国人连接到高速互联网的经济可靠的能力，无论他们住在郊区还是偏远的农村地区。高速互联网接入的缺乏主要是由于无法在“最后一英里”向企业、家庭、学校、医疗机构或政府机构经济地分配宽带通信。对使用这种技术的光纤安装耐久性的了解将引领在全国范围内部署表面安装光纤的新发展。更方便的高速互联网提供了更多的信息、机会和经济生产力，而不受地域的限制。美国城市和农村之间的数字鸿沟可以缩小或消除。更低成本的光纤部署将使5G天线和联网汽车等新技术的部署变得更容易，并将通过无处不在的传感器和摄像头降低城市智能化的成本。拟议的项目将证明，在受到天气和交通影响的情况下，粘在铺设表面的保护涂层下的光纤可以提供可靠的高速通信。它将允许估计预计寿命的表面安装在路面上的纤维。测试将在环境测试室中放置沥青样品，以评估竞争光纤装置，并确定一系列后续现场和实验室测试的最佳性能。这将使未来的财政资源能够集中在最有前途的材料和型材组合上。测试样品将在受控条件下经历大范围的温度和湿度循环和重复的轮胎冲击。该测试将在几个月的实际测试时间后确定以年为单位的统计寿命预测。预测寿命越长，客户池越大，潜在市场渗透率越广。了解光纤安装的预期寿命将为更多的早期采用者、更多的试点项目用户、最终为光纤安装商和长期客户打开大门。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to provide the capability to affordably and reliably connect underserved or unserved Americans to high speed internet using surface-mounted optical fiber, whether they live in a suburban neighborhood or in a remote rural area. The lack of high speed internet access is largely due to an inability to economically distribute broadband communications over the 'last mile' to businesses, homes, schools, and medical or government entities. An understanding of the installed durability of fiber using this technique will usher in new developments to deploy surface-mounted fiber nationwide. More accessible high-speed internet provides more information, opportunity, and economic productivity regardless of the locale. The digital divide between urban and rural Americans could be reduced or eliminated. Lower cost fiber deployments will make it easier to deploy new technologies, like 5G antennas and connected vehicles, and will shrink the cost to make cities smarter with ubiquitous sensors and cameras.The proposed project will demonstrate that optical fibers under protective coatings bonded to paved surfaces can provide reliable high speed communications while subjected to weather and traffic. It will allow estimation of the predicted life time of surface mounted fiber on pavement. The testing will place asphalt samples in an environmental test chamber to evaluate competing fiberoptic installations and to identify the best performers for a series of follow-on field and lab tests. This will allow the future targeting of financial resources on the most promising material and profile combinations. Test samples will undergo wide ranging temperature and humidity cycles and repetitive tire impacts under controlled conditions. This testing will identify statistical life predictions in years after only a few months of actual test time. The longer the predicted life, the larger the customer pool, and the wider the potential market penetration. Understanding the predicted lifetime of a fiber installation will open the door to more early adopters, to more pilot program users, and eventually to fiberoptic installers and long term customers.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.