If two fiber cores come close enough together, the light wave can shift from one fiber to the other. Engineers use this technique to redistribute the optical signal. Generally, a splitter has specific split ratios. For example, a 1x4 splitter takes one input and creates four. A fiber optic splitter is a passive optical component that divides a single incoming optical signal into two or more outgoing signals, or combines multiple incoming signals into one. This type of device plays an important role in passive. A fiber broadband provider typically determines and overall split ratio for the network, such as 1x32 or 1x64, and uses combinations of splitters to meet that ratio with each PON port.