Tài liệu Challenges of Cold Temperatures on OSP Cable Assemblies for FTTP ppt

Insertion loss IL failures, for instance, are a direct result of cable and cable assembly component shrinkage due to low temperatures.. Cold Temperature Challenges Exposing cable and cab

Challenges of Cold

Temperatures on

OSP Cable Assemblies

for FTTP

Fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) architectures are presenting both new challenges and new opportunities regarding the use of connectors in the outside plant (OSP) At

no other time have connectors been as necessary in OSP architectures – and they are destined to become even more prevalent in the days ahead as the FTTP networking market continues to gain momentum Service providers competing for the FTTP market require the same flexibility in test access and the ability to provision that they have typically enjoyed in the central office They need to scale service in a cost-effective manner

Splicing is expensive and, since it is basically hard-wiring, is not very flexible Therefore, to achieve the flexibility required for FTTP networks, it simply makes sense to use connectors at several key points of the network architecture So for the first time, network architects will be using more connectors – and cable assemblies with connectors attached – to gain the best flexibility for the OSP portions of their FTTP networks This creates some significant challenges for connectors, particularly their effectiveness in harsher outside environments

Challenges of Cold Temperatures

on OSP Cable Assemblies for FTTP

Connectors in the OSP

Meeting the unique challenges of FTTP requires the

production of components that are cost effective, yet still

perform to OSP standards under austere temperature

conditions In this paper, ADC will address one important

performance measurement issue for outside plant (OSP)

cable assemblies – how well they can adapt to cold

temperatures

Insertion loss (IL) failures, for instance, are a direct result of

cable and cable assembly component shrinkage due to

low temperatures If this shrinkage isn’t somehow

addressed in the manufacturing process, the optical fibers

can eventually break ADC assemblies are designed to

overcome the challenges of low temperature effects and

the associated problems Through proven manufacturing

techniques, these assemblies prevent shrinkage and the

problems – including fiber breakage – that can otherwise

result

The environmental operating requirements for cable

assemblies in the North American market are defined by

industry standards Telcordia GR-326, Issue 3, requires

cable assemblies to be subjected to two one-week thermal

cycle tests from -40 degrees C to +75 degrees C 21 times

Each temperature extreme is held for a minimum one-hour

period, at which time the insertion loss and return loss are

measured To meet the GR-326 requirement, insertion loss

cannot change more than 0.3dB at any time during the

test Telcordia GR-20 defines similar requirements for

non-terminated OSP cable The minimum operating

environment in this standard is also -40 degrees C

Cold Temperature Challenges

Exposing cable and cable assemblies to low temperatures

is typically the most common cause of insertion loss

failures in OSP architectures Figure 1 shows a typical

ribbon OSP cable assembly at normal temperatures But as

temperatures approach -40 degrees, the thermoplastic

components in the cable breakout, jacketing, and fiber

fanout sections will tend to shrink more than the optical

fiber These are the potential problem areas that are

addressed in this paper

As temperatures decrease to -40 degrees, the effect on the

cable assembly becomes significant as it begins to shrink

The optical fiber in the cable, however, remains at its

original length This can cause the optical fiber to bunch

up inside the temporarily shortened assembly, causing microbends and high insertion loss at 1550 nm

The bends generally recover once the cable assembly is brought back to room temperature This failure mode normally occurs in two places – the cable breakout (the point at which the ribbons break out of the OSP cable), and the fiber fanout (the point where the ribbons break out into individual fibers)

Fiber fanout splits the ribbons into individual fibers and up-jackets them to 900mm for termination to the fiber with

a connector Because it is made of plastic, the 900mm up-jacket tube shrinks more than the optical fiber at -40 degrees Since the optical fiber itself does not bend inside this tube, it will “piston” back into the fiber fanout housing because the 900mm up-jacket tube is smaller

A typical fiber fanout failure caused by cold temperatures

is shown in Figure 3

Figure 3 shows the housing with the cover removed However, with the cover in place, severe bending will occur as the fibers are pushed back into the open space of the fiber fanout In this particular non-ADC example, all 12 fibers broke at -40 degrees

OSP Cable

Cable Breakout

Ribbons

Ribbon up Jacketing

Fiber Fanout

OSP Cable

Cable Breakout

Ribbons

Ribbon up Jacketing

Fiber Fanout

OSP

Cable

Cable

Breakout

Up-jacketed Ribbons

.900mm Up-jacketed Fibers Fiber

Fanout

Figure 2: The OSP cable assembly is shown at room temperature (above) and cold temperature (below) Since the cable assembly tends to shrink while the optical fiber remains

at its original length, microbends and high insertion loss result.

Figure 3: A typical fiber fanout failure shown with the housing cover removed In this non-ADC example, every individual fiber broke under the stress caused by the shrinking jacket tube.

A similar problem occurs at the cable breakout point

where the ribbons are split out of the cable At -40

degrees, the entire OSP cable will shrink up to 5% as

allowed by GR-20 Again, since the ribbons do not shrink

relative to the plastic cable components, they will bend

within the cable breakout, causing microbends and

insertion loss problems as they approach -40 degrees A

failure similar to that depicted in Figure 2 can occur

ADC’s Cold Temperature Solution

ADC’s ribbon OSP cable assemblies are designed with

special features that enable them to endure temperature

changes without failure and meet all GR-326 requirements

at -40 degrees C This is accomplished by selecting

low-shrink plastic components and filling the fiber fanout and

cable breakout sections with a silicone adhesive This

process prevents the fibers from being pushed into an

open space where bending can occur

Since the 900mm up-jacketing has a small inside

diameter, bending will not occur The fiber is effectively

under a small amount of compression because the

.900mm tubes will shrink about 1% at -40 degrees

However, since there are no open spaces for the fiber to

bend – in neither the 900mm tube or the fiber fanout –

insertion loss remains low

Fiber bend is similarly prevented at the cable breakout

point The ribbons are prevented from bending in the

cable breakout housing because it is also filled with

silicone adhesive This procedure forces any excess ribbon

length caused by low temperatures to be taken up within

the OSP cable Inside the OSP cable, there is adequate

room for the ribbons to adjust at -40 degrees

Summary

To summarize, ADC OSP cable assemblies meet the

insertion and return loss requirements of GR-326 at low

temperatures for the following three reasons:

• ADC only uses optical cable that is GR-20 compliant;

• ADC’s optical connectors meet the requirements of

GR-326, Issue 3; and

• ADC deals with the issues surrounding cable assembly

components at -40 degrees C

Components used to construct OSP cable assemblies are

typically made of plastic and, therefore, tend to shrink at

cold temperatures ADC’s cable assemblies are factory

designed to compensate for cold temperature shrinkage –

preventing microbends, high insertion loss, and fiber

breakage at -40 degrees C

ADC Telecommunications, Inc., P.O Box 1101, Minneapolis, Minnesota USA 55440-1101 Specifications published here are current as of the date of publication of this document Because we are continuously improving our products, ADC reserves the right to change specifications without prior notice At any time, you may verify product specifications by contacting our headquarters office in Minneapolis ADC Telecommunications, Inc views its patent portfolio as an important corporate asset and vigorously enforces its patents Products or features contained herein may be covered by one or more U.S or foreign patents An Equal Opportunity Employer

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