Author: Fiber-MART.COM

eShop of Fiber Optic Network, Fiber Cables & Tools

Understanding Polarity in MPO System

MPO/MTP technology has led to the adoption of 40/100GbE, however on of its challenges is with regards to proper polarity of these array connections.  Maintaining the correct polarity across a fiber network enables signals from any type of active equipment to be directed to the receive port of a second piece of active equipment – and vice versa. To ensure the MPO/MTP systems work with correct polarity, the TIA 568 standard suggests several methods.

MPO Connector

First on the list is the MPO connector usually consisting of 12 fibers. 24 fibers, 36 fibers and 72 fibers Each MTP connector has a key on one of the flat side added by the body. When the key sits on the bottom, this is called key down. When the key sits on top, this is referred to as the key up position.  In this orientation, each of the fiber holes in the connector is numbered in sequence from left to right and is referred as fiber position. The orientation of this key also determines the MPO cable’s polarity.

Three Cables for Three Polarization Methods

The three methods for proper polarity defined by TIA 568 standard are named as Method A, Method B and Method C. To match these standards, three type of MPO truck cables with different structures named Type A, Type B and Type C are being used for the three different connectivity methods respectively. In this part, the three different cables will be introduced firstly and then the three connectivity methods.

MPO Trunk Cable Type A: Type A cable is also known as straight cable, is a straight through cable with a key up MPO connector on one end and a key down MPO connector on the opposite end. This makes the fibers at each end of the cable have the same fiber position.

The issue of polarity with MPO cables can be easily addressed by selecting the correct type of MPO cables, connectors, cassettes and patch cables. Various polarity settings/methods can be applied to satisfy the requirements of the 40G environment. 

Armored Fiber Optic Cables

Fiber optic cables are a first-rate option for transmitting data, being much faster than traditional copper Ethernet lines. Fiber cable can also run for much greater distances, giving it another leg up on copper cables. However, a potential weakness of fiber is fragility. Compared to copper cables, fiber is easier to break since it contains glass. That is where armored fiber optic cables come in.

Armored fiber optic cable can do everything standard fiber can do while also carrying additional protection. Underneath the jacket, there is a metal tube protecting the delicate fibers at the core of the cable. This metal tube does not hamper performance and provides protection from heavy objects, curious rodents, and other hazards. At the same time, the metal remains flexible enough to allow the cable to bend normally.

ADVANTAGES OF ARMORED FIBER

All the options available to normal fiber (number of fibers, PVC or plenum jackets, single-mode or multimode, etc.) are also available with armored fiber. The armor allows the cable to withstand 7x the force of conventional fiber, providing a substantially larger safety margin if a heavy object is set on the cable or falls on top of it. The protection offered by armor also increases pull tension, making fiber installations easier to manage.

The extra protection provided by armored fiber means it most commonly sees use in industrial environments. Areas with heavy equipment, moving machinery, chemical or moisture exposure, and other potential hazards have a tendency to break standard fiber fairly easily. As industries start to shift towards the faster data speeds provided by fiber, cables built for any environment will transition from convenient to necessary as fiber continues to become more widespread.

TYPES OF ARMORED FIBER

There are two main types of armored fiber: interlocking and corrugated. Interlocking armored fiber uses an aluminum sheath wrapped around the fiber strands in a helix shape. This type of armor offers the best crushing resistance and is most commonly used on indoor/outdoor fiber. Typically, interlocking armor sees use in areas where the fiber cable could find itself underneath large machinery or other sources of extreme weight.

Corrugated armor is made using coated steel tape and folded around the inner portions of the cable during fabrication. This type of armor offers the best protection against rodents that like to chew on cables. As a result, it is most commonly seen on fiber cables that will be left outdoors, in-between walls, or in other rodent-prone areas like basements.

While both interlocking and corrugated fiber have their specialties, that is simply the area of protection each type of armor excels in. Interlocking can be used in areas with rodents and corrugated can be used in areas with heavy machinery. And both types of armor are equally impressive at blocking damage from dust, moisture, oil, gas, and other hazards from outdoor and/or industrial environments. If users expect crushing weight or rodents to be a major problem, then using interlocking vs. corrugated can make a difference. Otherwise, the two are fairly similar.

What is Armored Fiber Optic Patch Cables

An armored fiber patch cable is a fiber optic patch cable with stainless armor inside the cable jacket to protect the central unit of the cable. It is considered to be an advanced or structures improved fiber optic patch cable. Because of the special structures that the armored fiber optic patch cable has, it makes the armored fiber patch cord shares some special features compared with the standard fiber patch cables, which can be listed below:

Armored fiber optic patch cable retain all the features of standard patch cord, but they are much more strong and flexible. Because of the stainless steel armor inside, it can be resistant of high tension and pressure, even it is step by an adult person, the armored fiber optic patch cables will not get damaged. It is also almost impossible to be bent or dragged to broken. Armored fiber patch cable also shares anti-rodents features, when they are used for outdoor use, people do not need to worry about the rodent animals like rates may bite the cables and make them broken.

Usually the armored fiber optic patch cords are smaller outer diameter than the standard patch cords, this make them space saving and actually light weight. And they can be handled as easily as other electric cables. Armored fiber patch cables are with different jacket colors or jacket types like PVC, PE or OFNR and different types of termination types including SC, ST, FC, LC, MU,SC/APC,ST/APC,FC/APC,LC/APC etc.

Get the summary from the above, the armored fiber optic patch cables are designed for being used in harsh environment, in which the traditional standard fiber optic patch cable cannot fit or get good performance. It is made with special strong connector and fiber armored cable, it can protect the cable from damage caused by twist, pressure or rodent bite. Installation procedure and maintenance is also easy when use the armored fiber patch cables, which is actually an ideal choice for people who is looking for fiber optic patch cords with additional durability, protection and light weight features.

Ingellen online wholesale platform which ingellen.com supplies ranges of armored fiber optic cables for different application requirements like simplex or duplex SM9/125, OM1 62.5/125, OM2 50/125, 10G OM3 or OM4 fiber patch cables with SC, FC,ST,LC,MU,MTRJ,UPC,APC connector types. 10G OM3 fiber armored optic patch cable with 50/125 multimode is typically used in 10 Gigabit Ethernet to transmit 10G signals and the bandwidth supported is as specified IEEE802.3z. And our OM4 fiber optic patch cable assemblies are ready to meet the requirement for future 40G and 100G fiber optic networks, the flexible, light and compact features of the OM4 armored fiber patch cables makes it an ideal alternative to standard OM4 patch cables where excellent crush and kinking resistance.

Buy armored fiber optic cables no matter armored fiber patch cables or fiber armored cables from professional fiber optic cable manufacturer, fiber-mart.com.

The Basics of PM Fiber Patch Cords

Polarization maintaining (PM) fiber optic patch cord is a kind of special fiber patch cord. It can be used in many areas. Here’s what you need to know about PM fiber patch cords if your designs require them.

What Is a PM Fiber Patch Cord?

A PM optical fiber is a single mode optical fiber in which linearly polarized light, if properly launched into the fiber, maintains a linear polarization during propagation, exiting the fiber in a specific linear polarization state. PM fiber patch cord is a fiber optic cable made with PM fiber and terminated on both ends with high-quality ceramic fiber connectors. PM fiber patch cord is a base device of optical passive component.

Characteristics of PM Fiber Patch Cords

If the polarization of the input light is not aligned with the stress direction in the fiber, the output light will vary between linear and circular polarization (and generally will be elliptically polarized). And the exact polarization will also be sensitive to variations in temperature and stress in the fiber. The light shall be coupled at the fiber entrance parallel to the slow axis or to the fast axis, then the maintaining of the polarization is therefore possible. It is important to make sure that the polarization of the input light is maintained. PM fiber patch cords maintain the existing polarization of linearly-polarized light that is launched into the fiber with the correct orientation. PM fiber patch cords also feature low insertion loss, high extinction ratio, high return loss, excellent changeability over a wide wavelength range and excellent environmental stability and reliability.

Types of PM Fiber Patch Cords

There are a wide variety of PM fiber patch cords available that support different data rates and suit various connector types. According to different criteria, PM fiber patch cords can be categorized into various types. The following is some detailed information about types of PM fiber patch cords based on 4 different criteria:

Classification by connector type―PM fiber patch cords are capped at both ends with fiber connectors. FC, SC, LC and ST are the commonly used connector types for PM fiber termination. According to the connectors on the both ends, there are many different kinds of PM fiber patch cords, such as LC-FC, SC-FC, or FC-FC PM fiber patch cords.

Classification by fiber type―PM fiber patch cords are built with polarization maintaining fiber. To ensure the polarization of both the input and output light in a PM fiber, several different shapes of rod are used, and the resulting fiber is sold under brand names such as “Panda” and “Bow-tie”. With different PM fiber, there are corresponding PM fiber patch cords, such as Panda PM fiber patch cords and Bow-tie PM fiber patch cords.

Classification by cable type―PM fiber patch cords can also be categorized according to the cable types. There are mainly three kinds of cable types, 250um bare fiber, 900um loose tube jacket and 3mm loose tube jacket. So based on the cable types, there are 3 kinds of PM fiber patch cords.

Classification by fiber length―The standard length is 1 meter. It can vary for special requirements. The length of PM fiber patch cords can be custom made.

Applications of PM Fiber Patch Cords

PM fiber patch cords are often used in polarization sensitive fiber optical systems for transmission of light that requires the PM state to be maintained. PM optical patch cord is a special optical component using the properties of optical fibers specially manufactured so that its transmission parameters can support a particular application. They have a large number of uses, including high-data-rate communications systems, polarization sensitive components, and interferometric sensors. They are also widely used in PM fiber amplifiers, fiber lasers, high speed communication systems, testing equipment and instrumentation applications. Area of use of PM fiber patch cords is very broad and includes equipment such as instrumentation, spectroscopy, aerospace, medical diagnostics and many other industrial applications.

Conclusion

Understanding polarization has become a necessity in today’s fiber optic communication systems and applications. One must understand how to characterize and handle the effects of polarization in order to maximize the performances of systems involving polarization-sensitive devices. PM fiber patch cord is based on a high precision butt-style connection technique to preserve polarization. It has many types and applications. Knowing more about it can help you to choose.

Fiber Patch Cords vs Fiber Pigtails

Fiber optic patch cord and fiber optic pigtail are two commonly used components in fiber optic network. They have many things in common and they also differ in distinct ways. Knowing both the similarities and the differences between them will help you make the best selection for your project. The passage mainly talks about their similarities and differences in both structures and applications.

Structures of Fiber Patch Cords and Pigtails

Fiber patch cord, also known as fiber optic patch cable or fiber jumper cable, is a short length of optical fiber cable with a connector on each end. Connector types on each side of the fiber patch cable can be different and they can also be the same. Fiber optic pigtail is a piece of cable terminated with a fiber optic connector at only one end of the cable and leaves a length of exposed fiber at the other end, so that the connector side can link to the equipment and the other side can be melted with optical cable fibers or stripped and fusion spliced to a single fiber of a multi-fiber trunk. The following picture shows a fiber patch cord and a fiber pigtail.

Fiber optic patch cords and pigtails structurally have much in common. They are both available in single mode and multi-mode, and they can be made into simplex and duplex. Besides, both fiber patch cord and pigtail can terminate with many kinds of fiber optic connectors, including FC, SC, ST, LC, MTRJ, MPO, MU, SMA, FDDI, E2000, DIN4, and D4.

The major physical difference between fiber patch cord and pigtail is that fiber patch cord is a fixed length piece of cable with fiber connectors on each end while fiber pigtail has fiber connectors on only one end of the cable. Fiber optic patch cords can be cut into shorter lengths to make two pigtails.

Applications of Fiber Patch Cords and Pigtails

Fiber optic patch cords and pigtails provide interconnect and cross-connect of applications over installations in entrance facilities, telecommunications rooms, and data centers. They are available in OM4, OM3, OM2, OM1, or OS1/OS2 fiber types to meet the demands of Gigabit Ethernet, 10 Gigabit Ethernet and high speed Fibre Channel. However, they have their respective application areas, too.

Fiber patch cords are commonly used to connect ports on fiber distribution frames. They support network applications in main, horizontal and equipment distribution areas and are available in optical fiber riser cable (OFNR), and low smoke zero halogen (LSZH) rated jacket materials to comply with local cabling ordinances. They also support high speed (10/40 Gbs) telecommunications. Fiber optic patch cords can be used in many areas, such as integrated optics, laser detection and display, and materials processing.

Fiber optic pigtails support fusion splice field termination applications. They should be installed where they will be protected and spliced, so they are usually used with fiber optic management equipment like optical distribution frame (ODF), splice closures and cross cabinets. Pigtails are found anywhere, but most commonly in optical assemblages or optical components. There are waterproof fiber optic pigtails used for outdoor applications, which is with thick poly ethylene (PE) jacket and big diameter.

fiber-mart.com produces high quality fiber optic patch cords and pigtails using a variety of commercially available connectors and fibers. We provide various single mode and multi-mode fiber patch cords and fiber pigtails. These patch cords and pigtails offer low insertion losses, and excellent repeatability. And they can be manufactured to custom length.

How to Use and Maintain Fiber Patch Cables

Fiber patch cables are common assemblies seen in optical communications to link devices and network components. To ensure normal optical transmission and fiber durability, it is necessary to get familiar with the user instructions and precautions. This post will introduce the precaution for taking care of fiber patch cables from the perspectives of connecting, disconnecting, and routine maintaining, which is recommended for you to prevent a series of possible harmful consequences.

Connecting and Disconnecting Fiber Patch Cables

Fiber patch cables can be used with many network devices, such as optical transceiver modules, fiber adapter panels, fiber cassettes, media converters, and other products having fiber optic interfaces. The following part will introduce the general steps for connecting and disconnecting fiber patch cords, taking connecting a fiber patch cable to a transceiver installed in a network switch as an example.

Connecting Fiber Patch Cables

Remove the rubber safety caps covered on the fiber optic connectors at both ends of fiber patch cables and remember to keep these caps well.

Remove the cap from the optical transceiver.

Insert the cable connector into the optical transceiver.

Fix and fasten the fiber patch cables by placing fixing elements on a loop to help cables maintain their shape.

Disconnecting Fiber Patch Cables

Disable the interface in which the optical transceiver is installed by running a command.

Carefully unplug the cable connector from the transceiver.

Cover the transceiver with a rubber safety cap.

Cover the cable connector with a rubber safety cap.

There are some points that should be noted during the connecting and disconnecting process:

The installation personnel needs to be skilled enough with an understanding of the network layout so as to ensure the quality and safety of the installation.

Always wear safety glasses and protective glasses to avoid electric shock or touching fiber shards. Anti static wrist strap band is necessary to reduce static electricity when operating with active devices.

Pay attention to the bending radius of the fiber patch cords. Excessive pulling or squeezing will possibly cause damage to fiber jumpers.

Do not let the jumpers hang free from optical transceivers or run free on the floor randomly. It is very likely to stress the cables at the fastening point or break the cables once pulling the cables accidentally

Never look directly into the end of fiber cables when there is a laser coupled to it for the safety of your eyes.

Avoid frequently inserting or removing fiber patch cables from devices or the fiber end face will produce wear.

Thoroughly clean the working area after the completion of installation.

Maintaining Fiber Patch Cables

The daily maintenance for fiber patch cables matters a lot in the fiber optic system. There are two main aspects to which you should pay attention during routine maintenance.

Keep Fiber Patch Cables Clean

It is often heard that special attention should be given to the fiber optic patch cable cleaning, but are you clear why it is so important? In brief, for reliable and robust fiber optic networks. According to an industry survey by a major telecom company, contamination is the number-one reason for troubleshooting optical networks. Fibers are so fragile that once they are covered by dust or other contaminations, the optical signal can be degraded. What’s more, the metallic particles worn by the bodies and fiber housings of the fiber optic connectors will block a fiber, which will cause signal loss, thus eventually reducing the network performance and causing a great loss for businesses that rely on fiber-optic networks.

Generally, fiber optic cleaning refers to cleaning fiber connectors. How to ensure you clean fiber connectors using correct ways? There are two main cleaning methods: dry cleaning and wet cleaning, each performing different functions. Reel-type fiber cleaners, pen cleaners, fiber cleaning wipes, and foam swabs are the common fiber connector cleaning solutions. More information about these solutions and cleaning steps is available in How Much Do You Know About Fiber Connector Cleaning?

Store Fiber Patch Cables Properly

No matter a fiber cable is in use or out of use, there is one significant point to be considered: Do not bend or stretch your fiber cable too much. It is often the case when working with fiber optic cables, people stretch or bend them. For this reason, the worst case is the fiber may get damaged. Some breakage caused by bending can be visible, but some loss may not, such as microscopic fiber deformations caused by very low temperature, displacement of a few millimeters caused by buffer or jacket imperfections, poor installation practice or other factors. Since such loss can not be seen by the human eyes directly, it will be overlooked and things can get even worse over time. In case of a huge loss when the fiber patch cords must be replaced, the following essential elements need attention:

Design your fiber cable pathway using proper tools or components to protect fibers, such as horizontal cable managers.

Do not bend fiber patch cables beyond their minimum bend radius, especially in those tight spaces of high-density fiber patching areas.

Make sure not to hit the fiber connector against anything! On the one hand, those ends may get abraded or broken. On the other side, broken glass at the fiber end can cut someone’s skin. It is suggested to use protective caps when storing or pulling fibers.

OTDR and optical fiber microscopes are recommended if you need equipment for measuring and identifying any faults such as breaks within the fiber cable or overall attenuation.