Article - Ifotec

Tropicalization of electronic boards

Posted on 28 June 20234 August 2023 by Ifotec Ifotec

To mark International Tropical Day on 29 June, we are honouring this climatic zone, the tropics, from our “business” angle.

Why are electronic boards tropicalized ?

Did you know that this environment affects the operation and durability of electronic products ? To protect our transmission equipment, we use a specific method : the tropicalization of electronic boards. That means we varnish them. The tropicalization of electronic boards is a protective measure applied to make them resistant to the specific environmental conditions of tropical or humid regions. Here are some of the reasons why electronic boards are tropicalized :

1 : Humidity 💧 : firstly, tropical regions are often characterized by high levels of humidity. Humidity can penetrate into electronic circuit boards and cause oxidation, corrosion and short-circuit. Tropicalization consists to applying special coatings to electronic boards to protect them against humidity and prevent damage caused by condensation.

2 : Heat 🔥 : tropical regions are usually hot, with high temperatures throughout the year. These high temperatures can affect the performance of electronic components and even cause them to fail. Tropicalization enhances thermal resistance of electronic boards by using specific materials and coatings to protect them from excessive heat.

3 : Dust et contaminants 🌫 : tropical regions can also be characterised by significant amounts of dust, dirt and other contaminants. These particles can infiltrate electronic circuit and lead to malfunctions or breakdowns. The tropicalization aims to hermetically seal electronic boards to protect them against external particles and ensure they operate correctly.

4 : Insects and pest 🐜 : tropical regions often harbour a large variety of insects and vermin such as termites, ants and rodents. These organisms can damage electronic boards by nibbling them or by using them as shelter. Tropicalization can include additional protection measures, such as the application of repellent coatings or the design of special housings, to deter these pest.

In conclusion, tropicalization of electronic boards is essential to guarantee their reliability and durability in tropical environments where particular conditions can represent challenges to their correct operation. All of our fibre optic transmission equipment delivered, for example, to Martinique or New Caledonia, have been “tropicalized” boards, that is to say “varnished”, to ensure its reliability and durability.

For more information, please visit our LinkedIn page.

Our eco-responsible solutions for fibre optic transmission

Posted on 16 March 20233 August 2023 by Ifotec Ifotec

IFOTEC’s commitments

Environmental conservation is an important commitment for IFOTEC. Being a company that manufactures electronic products, IFOTEC is focused on an eco-responsible approach. The major axes of this approach are :

The eco-design of our products and the respect of regulatory requirements.
The eco-responsibility of our packaging
The optimisation of sorting and the reuse of our waste.

Small gestures at IFOTEC, a big step for the planet !

1. Eco-design products

At IFOTEC, we design products that last the longest possible. We are aware of our environment’s fragility and its needs. Our R&D engineers optimise the housings of our products in order to keep the electronic boards at the most suitable temperature. For the INet range, for example : the housing is made of white-painted aluminium, which combines excellent thermal conductivity with emission (infrared emission and reception). In addition the housing has openings to facilitate natural convection of the products.

Our housings dissipate thermal energy and therefore increase their lifespan. Indeed, the less the product heats up, the longer the components last. This environmental awareness is present in all our products developments, right through to manufacture.

Our eco-design Gigabit Ethernet switch : INet 6+ — Example : *INet6+* *Gigabit Ethernet PoE+ switch housing*

2. Eco-responsible packagings

At IFOTEC, the packaging of our products is designed to have the least impact on our environment while ensuring the safety of our shipments. The same packaging can be used for different product sizes. Conservation of our resources is a fundamental commitment, and that’s why our packagings are made from recyclable cardboard.

For example, using individual packaging in recyclable cardboard for our Ethernet products doesn’t only recycle our waste, but also participates to reduce deforestation and saves other resources such as water and the necessary energy to manufacture them.

Our eco-responsible packaging for different product sizes — *Example : *Mini Giga PoE++ 90W* packaging*

3. Optimisation of the life cycle of our electronic products

Our commitment continues throughout the life cycle of our products. For example, the pieces of our products are easy to dismantle, and consequently easy to repair. As a result, their lifespan is extended. And once a product has reached the end of its life, IFOTEC has optimised its disassembly to enable the product to be recycled more effectively, by separating the electronic board from the housing. We try to reuse as much of our waste as possible, because eco-responsibility is a priority.

The integration of environmental criteria must be at the heart of every company approach. Designing our products with ecological criteria, preventing pollution and limiting the ecological impact of our activities, are all part of our fundamental commitments.

Optimisation of the life cycle of our electronic products, Mini Giga PoE++ 90W example — *Example : recycling of the Mini Giga PoE++ 90W*

For more informations on our eco-responsible approaches, follow us on IFOTEC’s LinkedIn page.

Radio frequency transmission on FO

Posted on 14 February 202314 February 2023 by Ifotec Ifotec

The basics to understand radio frequency transmission over optical fibers

Celebrated every February 13, World Radio Day is there to remind us of the importance of this information tool which, according to international reports, remains the most used today. Pascal Brand, an R&D engineer specialized in the field of radio frequencies, chose to give us a technical overview on how radio frequency transmission on optical fibers works, an IFOTEC specialty.

The choice of optical fiber to deport a radio signal, an antenna signal or television channels has advantages, but the quality of a radio frequency deport is also based on parameters and values that must be taken into consideration.

Why RF over optical fiber ?

The RF (Radio Frequency) transmission on optical fiber allows a fast deportation of an RF signal from few meters to several kilometers without any external perturbation.

RF deport system

It is possible to transmit several RF signals on the same optical fiber at the same time using WDM (Wavelength Division Multiplexing). This technique allows for example to transmit up to 18 wavelengths simultaneously in one optical fiber with a spacing between each wavelength of 20nm. This is called CWDM (Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplexing).

The 4 parameters to control for an optimal radio transmission

Optical emission

The optical emission is performed by lasers that offer a much smaller spectral width than LEDs. A DFB laser (Distributed FeedBack laser) has a spectral width below 0.4nm and can emit optical powers of several milliwatts up to several Gigahertz.

OMI (Optical Modulation Index)

To ensure a good transmission, it is necessary to adjust the OMI (Optical Modulation Index) of the laser. If the OMI is too high, distortion phenomena such as intermodulation (IP2/IP3) between the transmitted signals will appear, creating spurious signals. If the OMI is too low, the signal will be very close to the noise level and the quality of the transmitted signal will be affected.

Optical reception

Photodiodes typically used in reception are PIN diodes (InGaAs) which allow a faithful reproduction of the signal thanks to their high linearity and their wide optical bandwidth.

Carrier to Noise Ratio

The quality of a transmission is characterized by the C/N (Carrier to Noise Ratio) which determines if the transmitted signal is exploitable by the receiving terminal.

The required C/N value depends on the modulation technology and the bandwidth of the RF channel that supports the service.

A QAM256 (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) modulation will therefore be more restrictive than a QAM64 modulation.

The noise power is proportional to the bandwidth occupied by the channel, which defines the bandwidth penalty Pbw= 10 log bw. For example, in DVB-T (Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial), standard for broadcasting digital terrestrial television (DTT), the width of a channel can be 6, 7 or 8MHz.

Radio frequency transmission over optical fiber is reliable and has a very good quality but requires to control several factors and parameters as well as having expertise in high frequency technology. This particular knowledge allows us to offer technical solutions for “outdoor” or “indoor” applications such as:

Radio coverage (FM, INPT)
Mobile network (GSM,3/4G, LTE, TETRA,… )
CWDM solutions, multi-frequency band
Satcom, GNSS (GPS, Galileo, …) and Radar deport
CATV, Analog and digital TV type DVB (TNT, UHF-VHF)

To learn more about IFOTEC’s radio frequency and telecom services continuity solutions, click here.