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Andy Extance finds that remote work, 5G and FTTH are driving demand for denser and easier-to-deploy fiber

High-density optical fiber can open up a new world of communications (Image source: Corning)

Jitendra Balakrishnan, CTO of Sterlite Technologies (STL) Connectivity Solutions, said that by 2021, we will face a new world of communications, partly due to Covid-19. He said that every network provider must "transform almost overnight to meet the dramatic increase in demand for "reliable, robust, and resilient broadband connections," and emphasized that "this ubiquitous connection will require Increase bandwidth and symmetrical uplink and downlink". 

Although the bandwidth requirements seem endless, the space for installing fiber optic cables is not. Therefore, companies such as Sterlite are forced to provide higher-density fiber products to help solve this problem. 

The demand brought by remote work has exceeded existing expectations, that is, fiber to the home (FTTH) and 5G wireless network technologies will soon be adopted globally. For example, each 5G small cell antenna site needs to be connected by fiber optic cables. The American Optical Fiber Broadband Association estimates that in the 25 largest metropolitan areas in the United States alone, nearly 1,400,000 miles of optical fiber are needed. In order to meet these needs at the lowest cost, suppliers now offer the densest fiber ever-but face challenges in further development. 

John George, senior director of OFS solutions and professional services, explained that there is a strong business case to push these restrictions. "Service providers who use the right high-density fiber technology can reach customers faster and at a lower cost," he said. If deployed in a place where there is already a network, any additional cost of higher-density fiber is a worthwhile investment. "The cost of a new building is usually very high," George said. 

However, reliable and durable high-density wiring requires higher levels of manufacturing, materials and fibers, George revealed. "Whenever we reduce the thickness of the protective coating and sheath that wraps the fiber itself, more pressure is applied to the fiber," he explained. "We design, develop and manufacture optical fibers, optical cables, connection and fusion splicing equipment to work together." 

Ian Griffiths, Prysmian Group’s Director of Telecommunications Research and Development, explained that putting optical fibers into high-density cables causes lateral stresses, bending them and attenuating more light. He said, "If the fiber type is not selected properly, the attenuation may be very high." Prysmian improved its optical fiber by optimizing the glass coating to reduce the fiber's sensitivity to this bending. 

In the past ten years, the company has also worked to reduce the diameter from 250 microns to 180 microns. "Last year, we launched the first cable using this new optical fiber technology," Griffiths said. 'There are many new cable developments underway and will be launched using this fiber. The development of these optical fibers and special coatings is very time-consuming. 

However, he added that this helps minimize the cost of civil engineering for laying new infrastructure, which accounts for almost 50% of the total cost of ownership of network operators. "Being able to use the remaining duct space and load as much fiber as possible into it is essential to avoid or reduce these costs," he said. 

Griffiths continued that this motivation applies to converged metropolitan area network applications, where 5G, FTTH, and fiber-to-the-enterprise (FTTB) network traffic is aggregated. In such networks, densification may be applicable to cables with low fiber counts, such as micro-conduit cables. "Smaller pipes and micro-pipe cables are also driven more densely," Griffiths said. "Our most dense optical cable to date is a 576-core optical fiber micro duct optical cable, which provides 10.9 optical fibers per square millimeter." He emphasized that this shows the importance of density for outdoor networks. 

The data center uses Prysmian's 6,912 fiber optic FlexRibbon cables because they require absolute bandwidth. However, technologies such as these are also being used in some operator networks. "We do see the use of smaller FlexRibbon fiber optic cables in carrier networks," Griffiths said, "because it can provide faster splicing than traditional single fiber optic cables. Compared with existing ribbon cables, it The advantage is that it is easier for installers to use because it can bend on any axis. 

"We are currently seeing the balance remaining similar, and global data center applications may be more adopted to replace standard ribbons, but most operator networks outside of the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia still use standard cable technology."  

The installation advantage is because ribbon cables are easier to handle than flat ribbon cables, and they can splice 12 fibers at a time. Griffiths admits that even so, very high count fibers can take a long time to splice. "You need to remember that the benefit of installing 6,912 fiber optic cables compared to four 1,728 fiber optic cables is that it saves installation time-in the end, the splicing time is the same," he said. "In other words, we are currently studying solutions that can reduce this situation in order to provide customers with huge benefits in terms of installation time." 

OFS also offers rollable ribbon cables with up to 6,912 fibers, with a density of 10.5 fibers per square millimeter. "Ultra-large-scale data center customers deploy this type of product to connect buildings over short distances, and each building has hundreds of thousands of fiber connections," George said. 'In North America, we have customers deployed 1,728 AccuTube Rollable Ribbons, and even consider using 3,456 optical cables in metro loops. In European metropolitan areas, the main demand is for fiber optic cables of 432 or smaller. We offer MiDia loose tubes, up to 432 loose fiber duct cables with 250 micron outer diameter fibers, or use our 200 micron fibers to double the density to 864. 

George said this loose tube cable still represents the vast majority of operator designs. "This is usually driven by loose tube cables becoming smaller and smaller and following traditional ribbon designs not suitable for micropipe applications." However, the new crimpable ribbon design, coupled with the increasing number of higher fibers Demand, "forcing operators to re-evaluate the benefits of the belt," George added. To meet this demand, OFS recently introduced the RollR200 Micro cable. 

"In the distribution part of the FTTH network, we can install more fibers in the pipe, and we can also reduce the bending radius to accommodate smaller hand holes and housings to reduce excavation and reduce the visual footprint," George said. Small outer diameter cables allow the number of cables on a single reel to be farther. This reduces the number of junctions in the metro or long-distance network. George added: "If you don't need to lay new pipelines in densely populated urban areas, you can save millions of euros per kilometer." "For rural FTTH, our AllDielectric Self-Supporting (ADSS) design uses 200µm fiber to reduce the weight of the cable. , Reduce sagging and increase the span length between rods." High-density technology uses OFS's EZ-Bend 2.5 mm bend radius fiber to help the fiber pass through narrow spaces and enter the building. The fiber can be nailed around sharp corners. 

STL's Balakrishnan added that thinner cables can not only make more efficient use of pipe space, but also allow faster network deployment. "Balance tends to use more fiber in any given part of the network," he said. "This also requires a faster deployment method, and this requires ribbons." STL's Celesta fiber ribbon cable series contains up to 6,912 fibers, and its densest cable uses fibers with a coating diameter of 200 microns. Balakrishnan emphasized that the density of the 432 fiber optic cable is 4.5 times that of the traditional loose tube fiber optic cable, but the diameter is the same. He added that operators can install up to 2 kilometers of this cable per hour. He said another way to make thinner cables is to switch to multi-core fiber (MCF). "The capacity of a quad-core MCF is four times that," he emphasized. 

STL's crimpable ribbon has both bending insensitivity and backward compatibility with traditional optical fibers. Balakrishnan explained: “The cables are not bent preferentially, which makes them easy to handle. To further help smooth installation, STL Academy has trained a team of employees to assist in the end-to-end installation and deployment of all our optical cables, including the dense and Complex fiber optic cables. "We have also witnessed the exciting development of low-diameter fibers and multi-core fibers, as well as various aspects of fiber optic cable design that make the fiber optic cable slimmer and easier to use. " 

As the cable with the highest number of optical fibers, ribbon cables have received special consideration from glass science giant Corning, explained Mohamad Farhat, external factory cable market and technology development manager. "When dealing with the high number of fibers in the cable, there are several features that can support efficient connections," he explained. 'The ability to identify individual fibers and subunits in an optical cable is essential for efficient connections. In addition, the ability to easily route these subunits and fibers in the network hardware reduces installation time and increases system flexibility.

Corning's RocketRibbon cables provide routable sleeves or color-coded subunits to improve identification. "The wireable casing and sub-unit bundle design allows for direct and easy wiring to the splicing pallet without the need for additional materials, ribbon crafting or bifurcation kits," Farhart said. "These unique subunits make the optical fibers in RocketRibbon cables easy to manage, identify, and track, which significantly reduces installation time and reduces ongoing maintenance costs." 

Farhat asserts that bundling RocketRibbon with Corning's data center interconnection can significantly reduce installation time. This is partly because the installer does not need to separate the cables, but arranges the sub-unit bundle in the optical connector housing. "In carrier network applications, the cable is combined with the company's fiber optic connector closure 2178 series to create a future-proof solution that provides simpler installation, excellent system flexibility, and reliable protection for all deployments," he added road. 

Farhat revealed that Binderless FastAccess technology can also be used to easily access cables for connection. The company has combined it with armored cables in RocketRibbon products with up to 864 fibers. Farhat said that FastAccess has reduced installation time compared to existing solutions, and its compact design means it can install twice as much fiber in each duct. It also retains the "backward compatible and proven industry standard ribbon design." 

But Farhat emphasizes that high fiber count is not always the same as high density. 'Some of the densest cables are miniature cables with a relatively small number of fibers. The density in this case allows more fibers to be installed in a limited space. An example of these types of cables is the MiniXtend HD cable, which uses a smaller outer diameter optical fiber to provide a smaller outer diameter cable. This can achieve faster installation, because the narrower fibers can be quickly installed in a narrow pipe, blown in and lifted by compressed air. 

In a high-density optical cable, the optical fiber must not only be small, but also be able to adapt to the bending that occurs in a smaller form factor. "The splice compatibility needs to be maintained to ensure effective deployment," explains Roshene McCool, Corning's single-mode fiber and bent fiber market and technology development manager. "Some bending-resistant fibers will compromise on splicing compatibility to provide bending flexibility, thereby reducing deployment efficiency and potentially costly and time-consuming rework of mismatched splices." McCool said, Corning's SMF-28 Products can ensure fusion compatibility with each other and with traditional optical fibers in the network. 

STL's Balakrishnan emphasized that all these types of next-generation optical fiber and cable products address the new phase of today's global communications network growth. However, he warned that with this growth comes "a lot of practical challenges." New fiber products are essential to meet these challenges. Balakrishnan said: "There is a clear excitement about the reorganization of the traditional order." "The progress we will see in the next few years will be huge. This is a decisive moment and we are very happy to be part of it.

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