Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1219491
April/May/June 2020 I 9 Loose Tube Cable CABLE TYPE FIBER COUNT 144F 288F 432F 864F 1,728F 3,456F Ribbon Loose Tube Cable Flexible Ribbon Cable Example 16.0 mm 18.9 mm 19.8 mm 12.0 mm 21.0 mm 19.8mm 25.1 mm 35.4 mm 13.5 mm 17.5 mm 23.0 mm 30.0 mm 13.9 mm 10.5 mm all fiber cross-section. This translates to the ability to sup- port higher density, less overall weight, and a smaller bend radius that supports an overall easier installation. Choosing a ribbon solution that maintains a 250 µm pitch enables backward compatibility to existing infra- structures built on 250 µm SMF with 250 µm pitch (Figure 3). This is most important within the data center facili- ties where the need to maximize connections is pitted against the need to minimize overall infrastructure size. The smaller diameter cabling translates directly into FIGURE 3: Comparison of 200 µm and 250 µm ribbon fiber. 250 μm 200 μm Fiber / 250 μm Pitch Flexible Ribbon 250 μm Fiber / 250 μm Pitch Encapsulated Ribbon 250 μm the benefits of ribbon and loose tube designs. Choosing a gel-less ribbon solution removes the typical mess asso- ciated with gel-filled cable solutions. This, alone, can remove hours from installation time. These modern, flexi- ble cable designs enable the fiber to be pulled together easily in groups of 12 and as individual fibers. Because size reduction is one of the greatest differenti- ators, cable manufacturers know that it is critical to reduce the size and weight of the cabling infrastructure. As shown in Figure 2, today's flexible ribbon solutions can provide 864-fiber cable in the similar space once required for 144- fiber loose tube or 288-fiber traditional ribbon solutions. With these new innovations, 100 to 200 percent density increase in the same space can be reached. This translates to less used space in ladder racking, less weight for easier handling and installation, and smaller holes and con- duits between data center halls and campus buildings due to the smaller diameter cable. Without these break- throughs in optical fiber and cable manufacturing, the demands of tomorrow's data center could not be achieved. New flexible ribbon designs, the technical enabler of 200 µm singlemode fiber (SMF), has allowed for the significant breakthrough in density-per-square-inch. The 200 µm fiber provides over a 35 percent reduction in over- FIGURE 2: Cross-section comparison of different cable technologies.