Qualified Partner Program Fiber Optic Cables basics - GOF, HCS and POF Felice Guarna, Training Program Manager Wetzikon, January 2006

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 2 Agenda Cable structure Primary coating and buffers Armouring Outer jacket GOF cables HCS cables PMMA cables

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 3 Cable structure Fiber is mechanically weak Cable adds protection and prevents physical damage during installation and use. Combination and quantity of protections and material as well as construction are strictly dependent on cable environment Indoor - Ducts - Trays - Building raiser - Plastic pipes - Raised floors - Plenum (US) Outdoor - Empty pipes - Ducts - Trays - Direct burial - Aerial

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 4 Fiber Optic Cable F.O. cable construction generalities Secondary Coating (Buffer) Fiber Armouring Outer jacket

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 5 The optical fibers we are considering PMMA Polimetilmetalcrilate HCSF Hard Clad Silica Fiber GOF Glass Optical Fiber

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 6 Seconday coating (buffer types) Tight Buffer A thermoplastic material is extruded tight on one fiber or around several fibers. They are called ribbons. Optical Fiber Tight Sheath Semi-Tight Buffer Loosely buffered with a few µm of interspaces. Optical Fiber Loose Sheath Gel-like Compound or dry

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 7 Buffer types Single Loose Tube Tube with one fiber. Loose sheath with some hundreds of millimeters of inner space. Optical Fiber Gel-like Compound or dry Loose Sheath Loose tube (2 – 4 mm) Loose sheath/tube with optical fibers. The hollow space is filled with a gel. Optical Fiber Gel-like Filling Compound Loose Sheath

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 8 Buffer characteristics TightSemi tight Single loose tube Multi loose tube Direct connector mounting n/a stripping0 – 2 cm 0 – 50 cm n/a GOF PMMA-POF n/a Perfluorinated POFn/a HCS n/a

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 9 Armoring Depending on the environment (in or outdoor) the armouring can vary: Aramid yarnfor pulling and crushing strength Glass yarnfor pulling strength and crush rodent protection Water blocking tape/gel resists longitudinal water intrusion Corrugated steel taperodent protection chemical resistant

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 10 Outer jacket protections The material also influences easy handling and flexibility for specific application such as bending, torsion, flexing, kink, repeated bending Mechanical IEC Thermal IEC Chemical Tensile forceHeatWater AbrasionColdGas ImpactShockFuels Acids The armoring and sheath material are designed to protect the fiber from the following effects

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 11 Outer jacket material properties Material propertiesPEPAPVCFRNCPUR Halogen free Flame retardant Low smoke, corrosive gases Abrasion resistance Elasticity Water absorption Fuels Petroleum Alcohol Oxidants acids Please note: depending on the recipe of the material the properties may change.

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 12 Outer jacket material fire and environmental properties (FRNC, LSOH, LSZH) In case of a fire the material should not spread fire and should not emit toxic and corrosive gas to protect first people and then equipment. Flame retardant Self extinguishing when source of fire is removed IEC (Single cable) IEC (Bundle) Smoke density Smoke density as a function of light density Visibility IEC61034 Halogen gas formation Halogen free - no toxicity or acid gas IEC Circuit integrity under fire Data transmission during a period of time under fire conditions IEC

GOF cables Glass optical fiber

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 14 Fiber primary coating and color coding Color codes for fiber and buffer Each fiber in a cable is individually marked. Country or manufacturer specific color coding order Fiber Core x m (x = 9, 50, 62.5) Primary Coating 250 m Cladding 125 m

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 15 PositionNotes Indoor cable buffered fiber (tight or semi-tight buffered ) air tube loose tube non-metallic strength member PVC-jacket jacket of halogen-free, flame-retardant material Number of fiber or number of loose tubes x no. of fiber per tube single-mode fiber (glass/glass) multi-mode fiber (glass/glass) I- V W D (ZN) Y H n bzw. nxm E G Code PositionNotes n/ n B F H n LG Field Ø (µm) at SM Core Ø (µm) at MM cladding diameter (µm) attenuation (dB/km) 850 nm at MM 1300 nm at MM 1310 nm at SM 1550 nm at SM Dispersion (ps/nm x km) at single-mode fiber; Bandwidth (MHz/km) at multi-mode fiber Layer-stranding DIN coding for fiber optic indoor Cables

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 16 PositionCodeNotes Outdoor cable metallic strength member in the center air tube Loose tube metallic twisting element filling compound in the void PE-jacket Composite layer sheath of Al-tape and PE PE-jacket with nonmetallic strain relief elements Aluminum tape and PE with nonmetallic strain relief elements Amour Amour with PVC-jacket Amour with PE-jacket A- (ZS) W D S F 2Y (L)2Y (ZN)2Y (L)(ZN)2Y B BY B2Y PositionCodeNotes n or nxm E G n B F H n LG BD u Number of fiber or number of loose tubes x no. of fiber per tube (e.g. 6x4... ) Single-mode fiber pure silica Multi-mode fiber pure silica Field diameter (µm) at SM Core diameter (µm) at MM cladding diameter (µm) attenuation (dB/km) wavelength 850 nm at MM 1300 nm at MM 1310 nm at SM 1550 nm at SM Dispersion (ps/nm x km) at single-mode fiber; Bandwidth (MHz/km) at multi-mode fibers Layer-stranding Unit stranding Non stranding DIN coding for fiber optic outdoor cables

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 17 Mini-Breakout cable Distribution cable Easy direct connector mounting Small dimension flexible Outer sheath Armoring/strength members Tight or semi-tight buffer (up to 900µm) Fiber

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 18 Full-breakout cable Patch Cord Distribution cable Direct connector mounting Strain relieve for individual fiber Outer sheath Armoring/strength members Tight or semi-tight buffer (up to 900µm) Fiber Zipcord Figure-0

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 19 Loose tube cable Corrugated steel tape Tube with up to 24 fibers (250µm) Strength members Outer sheath Tube with up to 24 fibers (250µm) Strength members Outer sheath

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 20 Stranded loose tube cable Tube with up to 24 fibers (250µm) Central strength member Strength members Outer sheath Several layers of tubs for 432 fibers

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 21 Aerial cables (figure 8 design) Installation load should be calculated. Wind, ice and snow load as well as possible electrical fields should be considered during planning. Steel suspension wire Central strength member Tubes with fibers (250µm) Outer sheath

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 22 Aerial cables (all dielectric, self supporting - ADSS-design) Installation load should be calculated. Wind, ice and snow load as well as possible electrical fields should be considered during planning. Central strength member Strength member Tubes with fibers (250µm) Outer sheath

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 23 Metallic cables Aerial cable Aerial ground wire Stainless steel loose tube Fibers Aldrey, steel or ACS wires Installation load should be calculated. Wind, ice and snow load as well as possible electrical fields should be considered during planning.

PCF cables Polymer clad fiber

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 25 POF (Plastic Optical Fiber) terminology Core Acrylic AcrylicGlass Cladding Fluorinated Polyperfluoro Fluorinated butenylvinylether PMMA PCF traditional perfluorinated PROCESS Plasma OVD draw extrusion extrusion

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 26 Cables Basically similar or same construction as GOF Larger core Simplex and Duplex figure 8 or round cable Loose tube Applications Medical Industrial/Scientific Laser surgery Angioplasty Lithotripsy Urology Dermatology Photodynamic therapy Spectroscopy Remote illumination Sensors Thomson scattering

PMMA plastic optical fiber Plastic optical fiber

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 28 Index profiles PMMA Step Index core = Constant refractive index PMMA Graded Index Core = several layer of material with different refractive indexes Perfluorinated Polymer Graded index Core = parabolic index

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 29 Overview - POF (PMMA and perfluorinated) Index profileType of fiberCore ØNAAttenuationBandwidth SI-POF (PMMA) SI-POF low NA 980µm dB/km ~ 50 MHz. 100m ~ 100 MHz. 100m DSI-POF980µm0.3180dB/km~ 100 MHz. 100m GI-POF (PMMA) 980µm 500µm dB/km~1.5 GHz. 100m GI-POF (PF) 62.5/ / / dB/km~ 3 GHz. 100m

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 30 Step Index polymer optical fiber (SI-POF) Core Ø980 μm Cladding Ø 1000 μm Attenuation180 dB/km Bandwidth10 MHz. 100m (100 MHz. 100m) Wavelength650nm N.A.0.5 (Low N.A. 0.3) Adertight buffer Advantageeasy, fast and inexpensive connection technology commercially available (Mitsubishi, Toray, Fuji, Optimedia) Disadvantagehigh attenuation, low bandwidth

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 31 Attenuation spectra of PMMA fiber Light Wavelength nm Attenuation dB/km red amber57066 green52073

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 32 Multistep Index Plastic Optical Fiber (GI-POF) Core Ø900 μm Cladding Ø 1000 μm Attenuation180 dB/km Bandwidth100 MHz. km Wavelength650nm Cabletight buffer Advantageeasy, fast and inexpensive connection technology commercially available (Mitsubishi, Fuji, Optimedia) Disadvantagehigh attenuation

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 33 Graded Index Plastic Optical Fiber (GI-POF) Core Ø120 μm Cladding Ø 500 μm Attenuation50 dB/km Bandwidth1000 MHz*km Wavelength1330nm Cableloose buffer (extra strength members) Advantagelow attenuation, high bandwidth Disadvantagetermination, expensive, similar to GOF commercially not available (Asahi, Nexans, Chromis)

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 34 Attenuation spectra of perfluorinated POF Light Wavelength nm Attenuation dB/km infrared

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 35 Plastic optical fiber IEC – Specification for category A4 multimode fiber A4aA4bA4cA4dA4eA4fA4gA4h Core Ø (µm) **** Cladd Ø (µm) NA Buffered yes no cabled yes Operating wavelength (nm) , 850, , 1300 * Typically 15 to 35 µm smaller than the cladding diameter

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 36 Simplex and Duplex cables (PMMA fiber) Tight Buffer Tightly buffered with a thermoplastic material. PMMA POF - Step Index, Multistep, Graded Index Tight buffer Cladding Core Tight buffer Cladding Core

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 37 Duplex cables (perfluorinated fiber) lose buffer Cladding Core Outer sheath Strength member Single loose tube Loose sheath with air cap (µm up to mm). Dry – no gel Perfluorinated POF Graded Index

Jan Fiber Optic Cables / Page 38 Cable for harsh environment (PMMA fibers) Tight buffer Cladding Core Outer sheath Strength member Filling element Tight Buffer Tightly buffered with a thermoplastic material. PMMA POF - Step Index, Multistep, Graded Index Outer sheath and strength members e.g. PUR outer sheath and aramid yarns for drag chain and harsh industrial environments