Corning UniCam connectors have three advantages over field-polished solution.

1. Lower installed cost. This factors in purchase price of the connectors and consumables, the installation time, expected first time successful termination percentage, and the labor rate.
2. Reliability. This is evident in the increased yield from the Continuity Test Set and the knowledge that each UniCam Connector is factory tested for insertion loss and the factory-controlled and measured polishing process.
3. Ease of installation. The installer does not have to worry with epoxies or using the right polishing films, or electrical power. UniCam Connectors can be installed as easy as strip, clean, cleave, cam and crimp.

UniCam Connectors offer equivalent insertion loss performance, but due to the factory-controlled polishing process, UniCam Connectors usually outperform hand-polished connectors.

UniCam Connectors meet or exceed the mechanical and optical performance specified by EIA/TIA 568.B.

UniCam Connectors are not reusable once the crimp tube has been crimped. If you are using CTS and the light does not significantly dim you can un-cam the connector, remove the field fiber and re-try with the same or a new fiber. Do not twist the fiber; retract slightly, twist, then re-insert. Refer to Sections 3.7 (MT-RJ), 4.7 (LC) and 5.8 (SC, ST Compatible, FC) in SRP-006-150 for further instructions.

The most critical step in terminating UniCam Connectors on fan-out cable is to leave 4 mm of the 250 µm coating extending beyond the 900 µm fan-out tubing. The 4 mm will allow the fiber to piston in the fan-out tubing and still maintain the fiber mating in the splice area of the UniCam Connector. Refer to Sections 3.5 (MT-RJ), 4.5 (LC) and 5.6 (SC, ST Compatible, FC) of SRP-006-150 for further instructions.

The difference between a SR and JR UniCam LC Connector is that JR does not have a ferrule with a spring. In other words, you can’t push on the ferrule to make it retract into the connector housing. The old LC Junior part number is 95-XXX-98 and the new LC Senior will be 95-XXX-99. Refer to the UniCam Pretium™-Performance Multimode Connectors, LC, SC, ST® Compatible specification sheet for more information.

This is certainly an issue that is occurring more often in the field. While standards bodies suggest not mixing media in a network, there are certainly cases where it is necessary, for example, when a company is migrating to new technologies or, as in the case of your client, where they are cabling an additional building. There are two ways this can be accomplished: either through an optical connection or through network electronics.

The more straightforward approach is to make the connection between the two media types through the electronics and not in the patch panel. In this scenario, if you are bringing in a 50 micron cable to connect the two buildings there are no issues as long as the 50 micron cable comes into a patch panel and you use 50 micron patch cords to connect straight into the equipment (rather than connecting the 50 micron and 62.5 micron in a patch panel). Bringing the 50 micron cable into the legacy equipment makes good sense and prevents the customer from having potential power budget issues. The launch loss from the electronics into the 50 micron will be higher, but that loss is offset with higher bandwidth, in most cases, so the system works fine. The only other issue is to make sure you have some way of identifying the 50 micron from the 62.5 micron, either through labeling or color coding.

Optical connections are trickier. Although it is technically feasible to combine 50 micron and 62.5 micron core multimode fibers in the same system, there is a one-time attenuation loss when coupling 62.5 micron fiber into 50 micron fiber. This one-time power loss is independent of the number of connectors and fiber type changes that occur in a cable run. Testing by FOLS member companies have shown that this loss is small when there is good coupling alignment and when lasers are used as the transmission source (instead of LEDs). Excess margin in the fiber (or in the transceivers) can, in some instances be used to overcome the extra coupling loss. The optimum solution for a particular system will depend on the system requirements (speed and link length) as well as the type of transceivers used.

A telecommunications enclosure (TE) can serve as a second (or third or more) telecommunications room (TR) in certain implementations as described in TIA/EIA 568-B.1 Addendum 5, approved in February 2004.

In a FTTE installation, backbone fiber is run from the entrance facility through the telecommunications room (TR) (which is still required on every floor) to active equipment housed in TEs. The TE acts as a “tiny TR”, providing consolidation, distribution, and a point of termination closer to the work area. The final link to the desktop can be via fiber, UTP cable, or wireless.

FTTE takes advantage of the extended distances offered by Centralized Cabling and adds greater flexibility for reconfiguration; critical for applications that require frequent moves, adds & changes (MACs). Current analysis also shows it to be one of the most cost-effective architectures available.

Zone Cabling is a generic term that means different things to different people. To some, it means an “active consolidation point (CP)” or an “active Multi-User Telecommunications Outlets Assembly (MUTOA)” since the CP and MUTOA are covered in the “zone” clauses of the Pathways & Spaces Standard, TIA-569B. However, active devices in the “zone” are beyond the scope of TIA-568B, Commercial Building Cabling.

While there has been some “buzz” about Optical Time Domain Reflectometer(OTDR)testing for premises cabling since the publication of TSB-140, Additional Guidelines for Field-Testing Length, Loss and Polarity of Optical Fiber Cabling Systems, many agree that the test is usually not necessary for the relatively short links found in a customer-owned network, and may merely add unnecessary expense and complexity.

When testing an optical premises network, the key measurement criterion is insertion loss, or attenuation. This is effectively measured by using a power meter and light source. If the attenuation is within the limits of the allotted power budget, the system will work. OTDRs measure Raleigh backscatter, not absolute loss.

Supporters of OTDR testing in the premise environment believe that testing with an OTDR can help identify microbends that could potentially cause a problem; as well as help document the system for future verification. However, visual inspection is usually the best way to locate breaks or bends. While there may be some minor advantages in performing OTDR testing on premise cabling, the added cost usually outweighs the benefits.

Companies that are installing fiber today should consider the new 50-micron laser-optimized multimode fiber as it will fully support 10 Mbps or 100 Mb/s legacy applications as well as provide 1 and 10 Gb/s future-proofing. In addition, laser optimized 50-micron multimode fiber supports low-cost multimode opto-electronics and low-cost, easy-to-install connectors.

However, if your company already has 62.5 micron or standard 50-micron installed in its network there’s no need to panic — or to pull out the fiber and recable. Both of these fiber types offer the ability to support application up to Gigabit levels and are likely to meet your company’s networking needs for many years to come.

FO-4 Subcommittees and Working Groups

FO-4.1 Optical Systems

Objectives:

The FO-4.1 Engineering Subcommittee on Single-Mode Systems addresses several types of single-mode systems and parameters for both point-to-point and point-to-multipoint transmission. It is responsible for:

• Fiber-Optic Test Procedures (FOTPs) for the measurement of:
• Optical amplifier parameters.
• Optical path attenuation, reflections, chromatic dispersion, polarization mode dispersion, and non-linear effects.
• Digital Systems: bit-error ratio, optical eye pattern, extinction ratio, jitter, power penalties.
• Analog Systems: carrier-to-noise ratio, composite second-order distortion, composite triple-beat noise, cross modulation.
• Network optical performance monitoring
• Design guidelines concerning physical layer photonic aspects of:
  • Single-mode fiber optic systems,
  • Multichannel (multiwavelength/WDM) systems,
  • All-optical networks.

FO-4.1.2 Multimode Transmission Systems

FO-4.2 Optical Fibers and Cables

Objectives:

The FO-4.2 Engineering Subcommittee on Digital Multimode Systems addresses multimode aspects of fiber, components, sub-systems, systems and networks. It is responsible for:

• Characterization of multimode fiber, components, sub-systems, and systems, particularly from the viewpoint of launching condition effects on loss and bandwidth.
• Establishment of physical-layer optical and opto-electronic aspects of digital multimode systems, including on-premise and campus-wide spans.
• Development of test methods to support physical-layer media-dependent design, installation, and conformance to established LAN standards.

FO-4.2.3 Single-Mode Fibers and Standards Harmonization

FO-4.2.4 Color Coding of Fiber Optic Cables

FO-4.2.5 Products for (Air Assisted) Installation by Blowing

FO-4.3 Passive Optical Devices and Components

Objectives:

The FO-4.3 Engineering Subcommittee on Interconnecting Devices and Related Components is responsible for the development and maintenance of standards for fiber optic interconnecting devices and related components such as connectors, cable assemblies, splices, splice closures and similar types of components. Particular emphasis will be placed on harmonizing the technical content with standards being developed by the IEC for the purpose of adoption/back adoption.

FO-4.3.1 Passive Components

FO-4.3.2 Interconnecting Devices

This WG prepares and maintains performance related standards and associated test methods for fiber optic interconnecting devices such as connectors and splices.

FO-4.3.3 Reliability

This WG prepares and maintains reliability standards and associated test methods for fiber optic interconnecting devices, materials and similar types of passive components.

FO-4.4 Fiber Optic Amplified Systems, Active Components and Reliability

Objectives:

The FO-4.4 Subcommittee on Reliability and Characteristics of Active Optical Components addresses reliability standards issues related to fiber optic systems and active optical components and the characteristics of active optical components. It performs the following functions on these issues:

• Developing guidelines on the translation of system applications
• Reliability requirements into discrete system elements
• Developing standard reliability parameters and their associated definitions
• Developing reliability guidelines
• Confirming and developing standard test procedures
• Developing reliability assessment procedures and requirements
• Discussing and coordinating US positions for standards bodies such as IEC and ITU
• Developing performance and test standards for optical transducer elements and subsystems, such as light-emitting diodes, injection laser diodes, photo-detectors and hybrid microcircuit transmitters, receivers and transceivers

FO-4.5 Fiber Optic Metrology

Objectives:

The FO-4.5 Engineering Subcommittee on Fiber Optic Metrology addresses fiber optic test, measurement and inspection instrumentation functionality and related calibration issues in support of other fiber optic standards groups, test procedures and test methods. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Determine instrument parameters or attributes that require specification.
• Propose and approve standards and specifications.
• Propose, review and approve test methods and procedures relevant to calibration, usage and maintenance.
• Coordinate with other standards bodies, and form joint task groups to resolve test and measurement issues of mutual interest.

FO-4.5.1 Round Robin Testing and Calibration

Coordinates, monitors, and analyzes industry round robins (interlaboratory comparisons) for validation of fiber optic test procedures and development of calibration resources. The objective of round robins is to determine measurement reproducibility and repeatability across industry, for purposes of trade and commerce.

The chair of this WG is empowered to develop and/or coordinate a round robin in support of another SC or WG. In general, the sponsoring SC or WG shall be responsible for developing framework and details of the round robin while FO4.5.1 shall supply the additional expertise to ensure a useful and meaningful result.