In our daily life, we often notice there are different kinds of fiber optic cable, they are various in sizes, shapes, and color from outside. Moreover, there are more differences insides, from cable structure and materials.
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But when comes to an actual fiber cable project, what kind of fiber optic cable should I choose from perspectives of both mechanical and optical performance? How to Choose The Right Fiber Optic Cable?
HOC (Hone Optical Communications) has 19+ years experiences of optical communication and ODN. Let’s find out!
Optical Fiber
Fiber is the core element of a fiber optic cable. It is used as the medium to transmit optical signal. So, to get the cable right, we need to figure out which optical fiber and how many fiber counts do we need.
Fiber Type
First, we should select single mode or multi-mode optical fiber according to the network application and specification.
Generally, multimode optical fiber is mainly used in indoor and short distance applications, and single-mode optical fiber is mainly used in outdoor and long-distance applications. HOC also discuss more details about multimode vs. single mode in this article.
Fiber Counts
After we have determined the optical fiber type, we need to figure out how many fibers are required for the network construction. This depends a lot on the FTTX and ODN (optical distribution network) scale and which part the fiber optical cable is used.
A backbone fiber optic cable from data center to distribution cabinet can have fiber counts from 24 cores to 288 cores. Fiber counts for distribution fiber optic cable is like backbone fiber optic cable but normally fewer. And the last mile FTTH drop cable is normally 1 core or 2 cores. This article of how optical fiber arrives your home will give you more info on where the optical cable is in the network.
Application Environment
In addition to the fiber types and number of fiber cores, the structure and outer sheath of optical cable should also be considered based on where the fiber optic cable is used.
Outdoor
When it’s an outdoor application and cable needed to directly buried, a loose tube stranded armored fiber optic cable is the best choice. This provides necessary crush protection for optical fiber and the cable itself.
When it’s an aerial construction, a fiber cable which can support its weight is a better one. A self-supporting fiber optic cable has strength member such as an extra steel wire or FRP messenger or aramid yarn to provide performance on tensile. The most common self-supporting fiber optic cable structures are figure 8 and ADSS.
Indoor
Cable characteristics of flame retardant, low smoke, and halogen free (LSZH) should be the first thing we need to pay attention when cable is used indoors. Generally, we can check this from class of cable flame retardant and sheath material like LSZH.
In the pipelines or forced ventilation places, flame retardant but smoke-free or combustible non-toxic type (LSZH) are good solutions. In exposed indoor environment, an optical cable of flame retardant, non-toxic and smokeless type (Riser cable) is required.
A tight buffer fiber also provides good mechanical performance such as small bend diameter, soft and easy to strip for indoor application.
Building
When laying cables vertically or horizontally in the building, it is advisable to select tight buffer fiber cable, distribution optical cables or branch optical cables that are commonly used in the building.
Conclusion
Now, we have the basic knowledge to select a fiber cable from its optical fiber and application environment. Here’ s a more intuitive summary you can check when you choose a fiber optic cable.
Did we miss anything? Or you have other ideas for optical cable selection? Write us comments of email!
Fiber Optic Cable
Cable Types: (L>R): Zipcord, Distribution, Loose Tube, BreakoutCable provides protection for the optical fiber or fibers within it appropriate for the environment in which it is installed.Fiber optic "cable" refers to the complete assembly of fibers, other internal parts like buffer tubes, ripcords, stiffeners, strength members all included inside an outer protective covering called the jacket. Fiber optic cables come in lots of different types, depending on the number of fibers and how and where it will be installed. It is important to choose cable carefully as the choice will affect how easy the cable is to install, splice or terminate and what it will cost.
Cable's job is to protect the fibers from the environment
encountered in an installation. Will the cable become wet or
moist? Will it have to withstand high pulling tension for
installation in conduit or continual tension as in aerial
installations? Does it have to be flame-retardant? Ultra
flexible? Will the cable be exposed to chemicals or have to
withstand a wide temperature range? What about being gnawed
on by a woodchuck or prairie dog? Inside buildings, cables
don't have to be so strong to protect the fibers, but they
have to meet all fire code provisions. Outside the building,
it depends on whether the cable is buried directly, pulled
in conduit, strung aerially or whatever.
All cables are comprised of layers of protection for the
fibers. Most all start with standard fiber with a primary
buffer coating (250 microns) and add:
Tight buffer coating (tight buffer cables like simplex, zipcord, distribution and breakout types): A soft protective coating applied directly to the 250 micron coated fiber to provide additional protection for the fiber, allowing easier handling, even direct termination on the fiber.
Loose Tubes (loose tube cables): Small, thin plastic tubes containing as many as a dozen 250 micron buffered fibers used to protect fibers in cables rated for outside plant use. They allow the fibers to be isolated from high pulling tension and can be filled with water-blocking materials to prevent moisture entry.
Strength members and stiffeners: Usually aramid yarn, the same used in bulletproof vests, often called by the duPont trade name Kevlar, which absorbs the tension needed to pull the cable and provides cushioning for the fibers. Aramid fibers are used not only because they are strong, but they do not stretch. If pulled hard, they will not stretch but eventually break when tension exceeds their limits. This ensures that the strength members will not stretch and then relax, binding the fibers in the cable. The proper method of pulling fiber optic cables is always to attach the pull rope, wire or tape to the strength members.
Some cables also include a central fiberglass rod used for additional strength and to stiffen the cable to prevent kinking and damaging the fibers. When included, these rods should be attached to swivel pulling eyes.
Jacket: The outermost layer of protection for the fibers that is chosen to withstand the environment in which the cable is installed. Outside cables will generally be black polyethelene (PE) which resists moisture and sunlight exposure. Indoor cables use flame-retardant jackets that can be color-coded to identify the fibers inside the cable. Some outdoor cables may have double jackets with a metallic armor between them to protect from chewing by rodents or kevlar for strength to allow pulling by the jackets. Indoor-outdoor cables have a PE outer jacket that can be removed to expose a flame-retardant inner jacket for use within buildings.
Protection Against Water and Moisture: Cables installed outdoors require protecting the fibers from water. Either a gel or absorbent tape or powder is used to prevent water from entering the cable and causing harm to the fibers. Generally, this applies to loose tube or ribbon cables, but dry water-blocking is used on some tight buffer cables used in short outdoor runs, such as building to building on a campus or to an outdoor wireless antenna or CCTV camera.
Look at the pictures below to see how each type of cable
incorporates these components.
Cable Types
Tight buffer cables (Simplex, Zipcord, Distribution and
Breakout) are used where cable flexibility and ease of
termination are important, more so than ruggedness and
pulling strength which characterize loose tube and
ribbon types of cable. Generally, tight buffer cables
are used indoors and loose tube/ribbon cables outdoors.
Simplex and zip cord
These types are used mostly for patch cord and backplane applications, but zipcord can also be used for desktop connections. Simplex cables are one fiber, tight-buffered (coated with a 900 micron buffer over the primary buffer coating) with Kevlar (aramid fiber) strength members and jacketed for indoor use. The jacket is usually 3mm (1/8 in.) diameter. Zipcord is simply two of these joined with a thin web.
Distribution cables
Distribution cable is the most popular indoor cable, as it is small in size and light in weight. They contain several tight-buffered fibers bundled under the same jacket with Kevlar strength members and sometimes fiberglass rod reinforcement to stiffen the cable and prevent kinking. These cables are small in size, and used for short, dry conduit runs, riser and plenum applications. The fibers are double buffered and can be directly terminated, but because their fibers are not individually reinforced, these cables need to be broken out with a "breakout box" or terminated inside a patch panel or junction box to protect individual fibers.
Breakout cables
Breakout cable is a favorite where rugged cables are desirable or direct termination without junction boxes, patch panels or other hardware is needed. They are made of several simplex cables bundled together insdie a common jacket. This is a strong, rugged design, but is larger and more expensive than the distribution cables. It is suitable for conduit runs, riser and plenum applications. It's perfect for industrial applications where ruggedness is needed. Because each fiber is individually reinforced, this design allows for quick termination to connectors and does not require patch panels or boxes. Breakout cable can be more economic where fiber count isn't too large and distances too long, because is requires so much less labor to terminate.
Loose tube cables
Loose tube cables are the most widely used cables for outside plant trunks because it offers the best protection for the fibers under high pulling tensions and can be easily protected from moisture with water-blocking gel or tapes.These cables are composed of several fibers together inside a small plastic tube, which are in turn wound around a central strength member, surrounded by aramid strength members and jacketed, providing a small, high fiber count cable. This type of cable is ideal for outside plant trunking applications, as it can be made with the loose tubes filled with gel or water absorbent powder to prevent harm to the fibers from water. It can be used in conduits, strung overhead or buried directly into the ground. Some outdoor cables may have double jackets with a metallic armor between them to protect from chewing by rodents or kevlar for strength to allow pulling by the jackets. Since the fibers have only a thin buffer coating, they must be carefully handled and protected to prevent damage. Loose tube cables with singlemode fibers are generally terminated by spicing pigtails onto the fibers and protecting them in a splice closure. Multimode loose tube cables can be terminated directly by installing a breakout kit, also called a furcation or fan-out kit, which sleeves each fiber for protection.
Micro Cables
Microcable is a term applied to a new class of cables that are very high density cables. Two fiber developments make a microcable feasible. Bend insensitive fiber allows fibers to be packed into cables with much higher density since the fibers are not as sensitive to the stress caused by the crowded fibers. In addition, the bend insensitive fibers can be coated with smaller diameter primary buffer coatings, 200 microns or less compared to 250 microns for conventional fibers, allowing more fibers to be packed into a smaller space.
The differences between conventional and micro cables are substantial. A 144 fiber loose tube cable is typically 15-16mm diameter while a comparable micro cable is only about 8 mm diameter - half the size and about one-third the weight. The smaller size allows for much larger fiber counts, over 3,000 fibers in some designs.
Microcables are available for both premises and outside plant installations. Their small size allows a different installation technique where the cable is "blown" into micro ducts, plastic tubes much smaller than conventional fiber innerducts or conduits. The cable is not really blown into the duct but floated on air to reduce friction then pushed into the duct.
More
on MicroCables
Ribbon Cable
Ribbon cable is preferred where high fiber counts and small diameter cables are needed.This cable has the most fibers in the smallest cable, since all the fibers are laid out in rows in ribbons, typically of 12 fibers, and the ribbons are laid on top of each other. Not only is this the smallest cable for the most number of fibers, it's usually the lowest cost. Typically 144 fibers only has a cross section of about 1/4 inch or 6 mm and the jacket is only 13 mm or 1/2 inch diameter! Some cable designs use a "slotted core" with up to 6 of these 144 fiber ribbon assemblies for 864 fibers in one cable! Since it's outside plant cable, it's gel-filled for water blocking or dry water-blocked. Another advantage of ribbon cable is Mass Fusion Splicers can join a ribbon (12 fibers) at once, making installation fast and easy. Ribbon pigtails are spliced onto the cable for quick termination.
Some
manufacturers have introduced "flexible ribbons" that are
not solid 12 fiber ribbons but are 12 fibers joined with
periodic connections to the fibers next to it. These ribbons
are more flexible and allow ribbon cables of new
construction types, including rolled up ribbons in loose
tubes instead of hard ribbons that have to be stacked up and
can bend in only one direction.
High
Fiber Count Cables
This 1728 fiber cable is under 25mm or 1" diameter. It uses 200 micron buffer fibers Below are two cables with 1728 and 3456 fibers.
These
high fiber count cables are very high density and often use
regular or flexible ribbons since ribbon splicing is
necessary to splice these cables in any reasonable time.
They are usually made with smaller diameter buffer coatings,
200 instead of 250 microns, and bend-insensitive fibers that
allow more densely packing fibers into smaller diameter like
microcables above, but with very large numbers of fibers,
1728, 3456 or 6912 fiber cables now being available. They
are primarily used for short runs in data centers or
metropolitan areas.
Armored Cable
Armored cable is used in direct buried outside plant applications where a rugged cable is needed and/or rodent resistance. Armored cable withstands crush loads well, needed for direct burial applications. Cable installed by direct burial in areas where rodents are a problem usually have metal armoring between two jackets to prevent rodent penetration. Another application for armored cable is in data centers, where cables are installed underfloor and one worries about the fiber cable being crushed. Armored cable is conductive, so it must be grounded properly.
Aerial cable
Aerial cables are for outside installation on poles. They can be lashed to a messenger or another cable (common in CATV) or have metal or aramid strength members to make them self supporting. The cable shown has a steel messenger for support. It must be grounded properly.A widely used aerial cable is optical power ground wire (OPGW) which is a high voltage distribution cable with fiber in the center. The fiber is not affected by the electrical fields and the utility installing it gets fibers for grid management and communications. This cable is usually installed on the top of high voltage towers but brought to ground level for splicing or termination.
Even More Types Of Cable Are Available
: There's double-jacketed indoor/outdoor, dry water-blocked, simple jacketed POF, etc. Every manufacturer has it's own specialties and sometimes their own names for common cable types, so it's a good idea to get literature from as many cable makers as possible. And check out the smaller cable companies; often they can save you a bundle by making special cable just for you, even in relative small quantities.Air-Blown Fiber
Hybrid and Composite Cables
: There's double-jacketed indoor/outdoor, dry water-blocked, simple jacketed POF, etc. Every manufacturer has it's own specialties and sometimes their own names for common cable types, so it's a good idea to get literature from as many cable makers as possible. And check out the smaller cable companies; often they can save you a bundle by making special cable just for you, even in relative small quantities.Another "cable" type is not really cable at all. By installing a "cable" which is just a bundle of empty plastic tubes, you can "blow" fibers into the tubes using compressed gas as needed. If you need to upgrade, blow out the old fibers and blow in new ones. Both indoor and outdoor versions of air-blown fiber cables are available and its even been used for FTTH. Special fibers are required that have been coated for easier blowing through the tubes, but any singlemode or multimode fiber is available. It's more expensive to install since the tubes must be installed, special equipment and trained installers are needed but can be cost effective for upgrades.These two types of cables are often confused.
In standards, the distinction between hybrid and composite cables has flipped several times in the history of fiber optics and differed among standards bodies.
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A hybrid cable originally meant a cable with two types of fibers, usually MM and SM, or a hybrid patchcord with, for example, a SC connector on one end and LC on the other end.
In the beginning a composite cable was defined per the US National Electrical Code:More recent standards like the ones from IECA (Insulated Cable Engineers Association) use the term hybrid for cables with fiber and conductors. Two examples: Hybrid Cables and FTTA cables
Cable Design Criteria
Choosing a cable requires consideration of all the environmental factors involved during installation and during the cable's lifetime. Here are some of the most important factors.
Pulling Strength
: Some cable is simply laid into cable trays or ditches, so pull strength is not too important. But other cable may be pulled thorough 2-5 km or more of conduit. Even with lots of cable lubricant, pulling tension can be high. Most cables get their strength from an aramid fiber (Kevlar is the duPont trade name), a unique polymer thread that is very strong but does not stretch - so pulling on it will not stress the other components in the cable. The simplest simplex cable has a pull strength of 100-200 pounds, while outside plant cable may have a specification of over 800 pounds.: Some cable is simply laid into cable trays or ditches, so pull strength is not too important. But other cable may be pulled thorough 2-5 km or more of conduit. Even with lots of cable lubricant, pulling tension can be high. Most cables get their strength from an aramid fiber (Kevlar is the duPont trade name), a unique polymer thread that is very strong but does not stretch - so pulling on it will not stress the other components in the cable. The simplest simplex cable has a pull strength of 100-200 pounds, while outside plant cable may have a specification of over 800 pounds.The normal recommendation for fiber optic cable bend radius is the minimum bend radius under tension during pulling is 20 times the diameter of the cable. When not under tension, the minimum recommended long term bend radius is 10 times the cable diameter. Always check the cable specifications for cables you are installing as some cables such as the high fiber count cables have different bend radius specifications!Under tension (top) and after pulling (bottom)Bend radius example: A cable 13mm (0.5") diameter would have a minimum bend radius under tension of 20 X 13mm = 260mm (20 x 0.5" = 10") That means if you are pulling this cable over a pulley, that pulley should have a minimum radius of 260mm/10" or a diameter of 520mm/20" - don't get radius and diameter mixed up!
Water Protection
: Outdoors, every cable must be protected from water or moisture. It starts with a moisture resistant jacket, usually PE (polyethylene), and a filling of water-blocking material. The usual way is to flood the cable with a water-blocking gel. It's effective but messy - requiring a gel remover (use the commercial stuff - it's best- -but bottled lemon juice works in a pinch!). A newer alternative is dry water blocking using a miracle powder - the stuff developed to absorb moisture in disposable diapers. Check with your cable supplier to see if they offer it.Crush Loads or Rodent Penetration
: Armored cables are used because their strong jackets withstand crushing and rodent penetration. Direct burial OSP cables are usually armored or installed in conduit. Armored indoor cables are available with NEC rated jackets for placement with other cables under false floors, as in data centers.
Fire Code Ratings
: Every cable installed indoors must meet fire codes. That means the jacket must be rated for fire resistance, with ratings for general use, riser (a vertical cable feeds flames more than horizontal) and plenum (for installation in air-handling areas. Most indoor cables use PVC (polyvinyl chloride) jacketing for fire retardance. In the United States, all premises cables must carry identification and flammability ratings per the NEC (National Electrical Code) paragraph 770.NEC Rating
Description
OFN
optical fiber non-conductive
OFC
optical fiber conductive
OFNG or OFCG
general purpose
OFNR or OFCR
riser rated cable for vertical runs
OFNP or OFCP
plenum rated cables for use in indoor air-handling spaces or plenums
OFN-LS
low smoke density
Grounding and Bonding
Cable Color Codes
Cables without markings should never be installed indoors as they will not pass building inspections! Outdoor cables are not fire-rated and can only be used up to 50 feet indoors. If you need to bring an outdoor cable indoors, consider a double-jacketed cable with PE jacket over a PVC UL-rated indoor jacket. Simply remove the outdoor jacket when you come indoors and you will not have to terminate at the entry point.Any cable that includes any conductive metal must be properly grounded and bonded per the NEC for safety. Indoor cables rated OFC, OFCG, OFCR or OFCP and outdoor cables with metallic strength members or armor must be grounded and bonded. All composite cables must be properly grounded and bonded also.Outdoor cables are generally black but premises cables are color-coded. De facto standard color codes for cable jackets have been yellow jackets for singlemode and orange jackets for multimode. With two multimode fibers now in common use, 62.5/125 and 50/125, and four versions of 50/125 fiber, a more comprehensive industry standard for color codes was required. It's important to follow the color code conventions and TIA 598 standards to prevent mixing up cables.
Fiber Color Codes
Fiber Number
Color
1
Blue
2
Orange
3
Green
4
Brown
5
Slate
6
White
7
Red
8
Black
9
Yellow
10
Violet
11
Rose
12
Aqua
Choosing Cables
Videos on cable design, pulling and preparation on the FOA Channel on General Guidelines For Installing Fiber Optic Cable Here are some general guidelines for installing fiber optic cables that should be read by everyone before installing any cable.
Since the cable plant design will call for a certain number of fibers, consider adding spare fibers to the cable - fibers are cheap compared to installing more cables. That way, you won't be in trouble if you break a fiber or two when splicing, breaking-out or terminating fibers. And consider future expansion needs. Most users install many more fibers than needed, especially adding singlemode fiber to multimode fiber cables for campus or premises backbone applications.
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