One of the questions I often get from fiber optic cable manufacturers is: "What specs must I meet?" Also, I often hear: "Why isn't this particular spec good enough? Why can't one spec meet all of them?" Unfortunately, In today's fiber optic world, a "one size fits all" approach won't work.
Why create so many different specifications?
To understand why the various specifications were created, we have to go back to the basics. The earliest specifications were written in the fiber optic era. At that time, fiber optics were considered fragile, with a bit of "black magic." For example, when these early specifications were created in the 1980s, the number of people in the world who could actually handle and install fiber optic cables was in the hundreds. In today's world, if you will, many fiber optic cables are commodities handled by thousands of skilled technicians around the world. Many specifications are evolving, but some are already set. And, over time, new specifications have been added.
One of the reasons why so many different specifications are created is that each application seems to have special needs. Originally, we used fiber optic cables for long distance telecommunications. Now, we have expanded into the field of data communication. We have Fiber To The Office (FTTO) as well as Cable TV and Internet - Fiber To The Home (FTTH). In the 1980s and even the 1990s, these applications were only discussed in a very "future" way. Each application has its own set of requirements, and a new set of requirements is slightly different and results in a new specification – a specification that is particularly relevant to the application.
tactical fiber optic cable
Plus, we have industries and institutions that say, "We have special needs, and we're going to ask you to meet those needs." Of course, the first major specifications are related to military applications. The military requirements for tactical fiber optic cables are very different - very non-standard to other requirements. It makes sense that military applications require manufacturers to develop robust, flexible, safe and "disposable" fiber optic cables that can be buried because you don't want someone to find, tap or cut them.
The main development of the secondary industry and the government is the entry of optical cables into new application areas. Once the old REA (Rural Electrification Authority) became the Rural Development Utilities Program, the approach changed. They suddenly announced: "We need fiber optic cables that can be installed on existing networks – on poles or buried in the middle of the steppe or in sparsely populated areas." So their specs called for different requirements: easier to handle, easier to handle, and to behave Close to the copper cables these guys have been using. Next, fiber optic cables begin to enter areas such as oil and gas fields to maintain instruments. With each new application, organizations add new requirements specific to their industry. these years,
Fiber Cables Then and Now: Why 10- or 20-Year-Old Fiber Optic Cables Require Different Specs
Two things have happened in the past decade or so. The first is that fiber optic cable designs have evolved. Fiber optic cables made 20 years ago (or even 10 years ago) are inherently less versatile. In the past decade, the advent of bend-insensitive fibers (single-mode and multi-mode) has made fiber optic cables easier to use. So the truth is, manufacturers' cable designs may become more lax, so specifications start to call for different types of testing.
fiber optic cable
Second, the knowledge and methods and tools of those who install these cables are evolving and evolving. For example, many years ago, it was common to draw copper cable drawing equipment that draws fiber optic cables with very small radii. At the time, these cables couldn't handle the narrow end radii.
The installation method at the time was a problem. No one really knows how to specify the bend radius of a fiber optic cable (not 10 or 20 times the diameter of the fiber optic cable), and no one realizes that if it is wound around multiple fiber optic cables under tension, as in various pulling devices, it may will cause problems. Well, over the years there has also been a lot of development in the traction devices for fiber optic cables.
The installation method is very different today than it was then. As a result, the specification may be "loose" in some areas, as can be seen from the fact that over the years we have manufactured strong and durable reinforced stranded core fiber optic cables, loose tubes, central GRP reinforcements, outer yarns wire or fiberglass and pull it through the conduit through armor and jackets. Over time, we've greatly reduced this approach to a central tube design that's much less expensive, reducing the price of fiber optic cables. It also means termination is easier.
Fiber optic cable designs are constantly evolving. Fiber optic cable installation methods and tools are constantly evolving. Today, the way we install fiber optic cables has changed significantly. It's much simpler and much more forgiving. The training and required skills are very different from 10 or 20 years ago. In addition, the cable is more accessible with new tools and new cable designs, so termination has become simpler.
But all of these specifications still exist because of the different categories of fiber optic cables used, whether for telecommunication specifications, or indoor/outdoor fiber optic cables, or fiber optic cables installed in oil fields, there may be strict requirements for chemicals.
Global differences in safety requirements lead to different specifications
Safety requirements have developed differently in the US and Europe, and as a result, specifications are constantly increasing. For example, in terms of fire and flammability, fiber optic cables are required in many parts of the world to have a low-smoke, zero-halogen composition. In other words, no halogenated gas is produced when the fiber optic cable burns. In the U.S., we take a different approach to risers and pressurized products – we look at flame spread and smoke generation. Therefore, in the US and Europe, there are different requirements for how materials are used and how to evaluate fiber optic cables installed in buildings or processes. Various Asian countries follow the American or European model.
Another example involves air tension requirements. Globally, decisions about air tension requirements for self-supporting or drop cables depend on country-specific or culture-specific practices. In some developing countries, these cables must be able to support a ladder against the cable and a person's weight (usually 120 or 150 kg). In the US, you will be expected to use a truck or other method to access these cables.
Other cables with air tension requirements are also used in different applications, such as detachable cables for remote self-support. When we talk about "long-haul self-supporting fiber optic cables" we mean fiber optic cables on transmission towers or cables that may have embedded steel slashes in a figure-of-eight or shotgun configuration. These cables are very strong and typically have a breaking strength of 3,000 to 5,000 pounds (or more).
A major question is whether the fiber optic cable crosses the road. Here's what actually happened in Texas: After a storm, a fiber optic cable sagged, causing it to sag when traffic was too low. The truck catches the fiber optic cable, and the fiber optic cable peels off the entire top of the trailer. Likewise, the fiber optic cable is pulled about ½ km away from the pole. This incident shows that there are good reasons to develop specific breakaway values, for example, very different from telecom fiber optic cable requirements, which typically have a breaking strength of 2700 Newtons or 600 lbs.
Let's look at another example of why different specifications have different air tension requirements: ice and wind conditions. Even during a major storm, the amount of wind and weather required for fiber optic cables is small compared to the Northeast (for example, southern California). Ice storms in New England can deliver sub-zero temperatures with sustained winds of 40 to 60 miles per hour -- and an inch of ice on fiber optic cables. Obviously, these two different environments require different requirements.
Evolving optical transmission requirements and optical hardware have impacted specifications
We used to have a spec that said, "You'll be operating at the following specific wavelengths: 850 and 1300 nanometers for multimode, and 1310 and 1550 nanometers for singlemode." With Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplexing (CWDM) and Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing The emergence of (DWDM), we have to study a wider range of applications. In fact, we measure cables differently depending on where they go. For example, it will be very rare to have a large number of DWDM applications on short-haul fiber optic cables in a data center (which may require a kilometer or two). But this is very common on 20km or 50km long telecom fiber optic cables. Over the past few years, changing optical transport technology requirements have had a significant impact on specifications.
Another reason for the wide range of specifications: fiber optic cables go where no fiber optic cable was before!
To paraphrase Gene Rodenberg (creator of "Star Trek"), we're going places no one else has traveled before. In the fiber optic world, we put fiber optic cables in places we never imagined. We embed fiber optic cables in concrete with sensors that monitor the strength and stress of buildings and bridges. We embed fiber optic cables in aircraft wings to measure stress on the aircraft. We're bringing fiber optic cables into your living room. We lay it underground in the oil and gas industry, and of course on the sea floor. We are using fiber optic cables in the subway to monitor the pressure on the tunnels. We do a lot of things with fiber optic cables and put them in places no one could think of. Of course, these very different applications and environments require very different specifications.
So the real question is: which market will your cable serve?
Remember, our original question in the discussion was: "What specifications should you conform to?" Some people think the answer is to cover all common specifications that apply to telecommunications and data communications. However, any fiber optic cable that exactly meets all of these specs ends up looking like the old adage: "The camel is a horse designed by the committee." In other words, your results are simply not up to par. As applications become more diverse, I think fiber optic cables will continue to become more specialized. So I think specs will continue to proliferate because of different material needs, different optical performance needs and different physical environments.
