6.3 Fibre Cables As we have seen, fibres themselves are generally 125 m in external diameter (very small indeed).

While they are very strong under tension (stronger than teel in fa!t) they brea" very easily when sub#e!t to lateral $ressure or any "ind of rough handling. %o ma"e $ra!ti!al use of fibre for !ommuni!ation the fibre needs to be en!losed in a !able. &ibre !ables vary widely in their !hara!teristi!s due to the differing environments in whi!h they are installed and re'uirements they must fulfill. &ibre !ables are made to suit the a$$li!ation they are to $erform and there are hundreds, $erha$s thousands of ty$es. (ndeed, if you want to !onstru!t an outdoor fibre !able lin" for a few hundred "ilometers you !an go to the !able manufa!turers and s$e!ify anything you want. All details of !able !onstru!tion are negotiable. %he ob#e!tive of the !able is to $rote!t the installed fibre from anything that may damage it) Tensile Stress While fibre itself is 'uite strong under tension, stress !auses a signifi!ant in!rease in attenuation and a number of other undesirable effe!ts. We need to $rote!t the fibre from any "ind of stress. Bends *ends in the fibre that are too small in radius !ause signal loss. +i!robends in the fibre !aused by !rim$ing of the !able also !ause signal loss. ,ne fun!tion of the !able is to $revent the fibre being bent to a radius where loss may o!!ur. With long distan!e outdoor or undersea !ables this is not a big $roblem. u!h !ables often have a minimum bend radius of a few feetPhysical Damage from Environmental Conditions .ust what is needed to $rote!t the !able varies with the $arti!ular environment. (n many indoor environments vermin (rats, et!.) !hew !able (they usually find ele!tri!al !able un$leasant but fibre is less so). (n outdoor ones, go$hers and termites also li"e eating !able. /eavy earth0moving e'ui$ment also has very little res$e!t for !able integrity. ,ne ma#or ha1ard for outdoor !ables is !able0laying ma!hines. (n many !ountries !ables are laid along defined !able 2rights0of0way3. When someone !omes to lay a new !able along a route where there are already other !ables, the existing ones tend to get !ut. Damage in the Cable Installation Process 4able doesn5t #ust have to o$erate satisfa!torily in its installed environment but it must withstand the stresses of being installed. (n some !ases these stresses !an be 'uite severe, for exam$le, being lifted u$ the !ore of a multi0story building or dragged through a long !onduit. ater (t sounds illogi!al, but water$roofing is often more im$ortant in the fibre o$ti!al environment than it is in the ele!tri!al world- 6lass immersed in water gradually $i!"s u$ hydroxyl ions. As mentioned earlier, the $resen!e of hydroxyl ions greatly in!reases the absor$tion of light. (n addition, the $resen!e of water !auses mi!ro0!ra!"ing in the glass and this !auses the s!attering of light. %he mi!ro0!ra!"s also wea"en the fibre signifi!antly. Water is the worst enemy of an o$ti!al fibre system.

!ightning Protection 7ightning is a $roblem for all outdoor !ables !ontaining !ondu!tive materials. %his, of !ourse, de$ends on whi!h $art of the world you ha$$en to be in. (n some $la!es lighting !an hit the ground and sever an underground tele!ommuni!ations !able u$ to 18 metres away(n addition there are other fun!tions that need to be su$$orted in some environments. &or exam$le in some !able situations (es$e!ially undersea) it is ne!essary to $rovide $ower for re$eaters or am$lifiers along a long0distan!e !able route. ,ne exam$le of this is in submarine !ables. 9le!tri!al $ower !abling is often in!luded to deliver $ower to the re$eaters. 6.3."." Cabling Environments %here are many different environments in whi!h we wish to install fibre !able. 4ables are s$e!ially designed for ea!h environment) #$tdoor B$ried Cable %!ong Distance& %y$i!al outdoor buried !ables !ontain a large number of single0mode fibres (u$ to 188). %hey !ontain very extensive water$roofing, strength members and often armouring. #$tdoor B$ried Cable %Cam'$s (rea& %hese are ty$i!ally lighter than the long distan!e variety and !ontain both multimode and single0mode fibres. %hese usually have good water$roofing and $rote!tion but it is often not as strong as long distan!e varieties.(n some $la!es !able is installed in a !onduit su!h as a 20in!h diameter steel $i$e. (n this !ase you don5t need strong armouring. #$tdoor #verhead Cable 4able intended for overhead use needs to have very great tensile strength to $revent the fibres being stressed. %y$i!ally they have a se$arate su$$ort member whi!h ta"es the stress outside of the !able itself. #$tdoor #verhead %)igh*+oltage Earth,ire& Cable ,ne very $o$ular and !reative $la!e to $ut o$ti!al fibre is inside the earth wire of a high voltage ele!tri!al transmission system. A !ommon system of this "ind might o$erate at 1:2,888 volts. %he earth wire is usually the to$ wire on the tower (relatively safe from vandalism). ;ou always have to have a name and an a!ronym. %hese !ables are !alled 2,$ti!al 6round Wire3 (,<6W) !ables. -ndersea Cable %he undersea environment is the most diffi!ult !abling environment imaginable. =ee$ing high $ressure salt water out of the !able $oses a very signifi!ant !hallenge. (n !ontrast to the large numbers of fibres in terrestrial long distan!e !ables there are usually only a small number (>028) of fibres in an undersea !able. ?ndersea !ables also often !arry ele!tri! wires to $rovide $ower to regenerators (re$eaters or am$lifiers) in the !able.

Indoor Cabling %y$i!ally indoor !ables have a very small number of fibres (most often only two) and these are generally multimode. (n the indoor offi!e environment there is less need for water$roofing or armouring than in the outdoor environment. /owever, you do need some $rote!tion from vermin (su!h as rats) and from a!!idental damage both during and after installation. (n addition, it is often desirable to ma"e the !able from materials that don5t give off toxi! fumes when they burn. %his !osts more but may save lives in the !ase of a fire. (ndoor !ables are ty$i!ally short distan!e (u$ to :88 metres or so) and need to be relatively light and flexible for installation in the offi!e environment. %hey are usually terminated with $luggable !onne!tors. .$m'er !eads and Fly Cables ,ne of the harshest environments for a fibre !able is as an end0system !onne!tor in the offi!e. %hese often tend to run a!ross the surfa!e of a floor. %hey get ste$$ed on and des"s and !hairs o!!asionally run their wheels over them. %hese are the best ways "nown to s!ien!e of brea"ing a fibre. 6.3."./ The First Stage * Coating the Fibre

&igure 2:@. <rimary 4oated ,$ti!al &ibre (<4,&) %he basi! form of o$ti!al fibre is !alled 2$rimary !oated o$ti!al fibre3 or <4,&. %his is the fibre as it emerges from the drawing tower. ;ou have the !ore and !ladding of !ourse surrounded by a $rote!tive $lasti! #a!"et. (n this form the overall diameter is 258 mi!rons. (n many a$$li!ations (su!h as in 2loose0tube3 !ables) there is a need to identify the fibre within its !able. %o allow this, either the #a!"et itself is !oloured or there is a further very thin !oloured !oating added immediately $rior to building the !able. in!e there are no standards for !olour !oding, !ablema"ers tend to $refer to !olour the fibre at !abling time to allow for flexibility in satisfying !ustomer s$e!ifi!ations. (n end0user environments <4,& is never used without further en!asement in a !able. /owever, in many o$ti!al resear!h and develo$ment laboratories it is !ommon to see <4,& running around the laboratory atta!hed to walls and !eilings with sti!"y ta$e. %his is not re!ommended in normal offi!e environments-

&igure 2A8.

e!ondary 4oated ,$ti!al &ibre ( 4,&)

&or !abling within offi!e environments, <4,& is usually further !oated with a se!ondary !oating as shown in &igure 2A8. %his is !alled 2 e!ondary 4oated ,$ti!al &ibre3 ( 4,&). %he se!ondary !oating forms a tight bond with the $rimary !oating so that when you want to stri$ the fibre to ma"e a #oin you have to deal with a !oating that is @88 mi!rons in diameter. ,ther levels of !ladding within the !able will $eel away from the 4,& relatively easily. 6.3.".3 Basic Cable Constr$ction

&igure 2A1. 7oose %ube 4onstru!tion 4ables !an be !lassified into three ty$es de$ending on how the fibre is en!ased within them) Tight B$ffered Constr$ction %ight buffering is where the se!ondary !oated fibre ( 4,&) is en!ased firmly in surrounding material as shown in &igure 2A8. %his is similar to ele!tri!al !abling. 4onstru!tion of this ty$e is usually used for indoor a$$li!ations where the number of fibres needed in the !able is low and distan!es are relatively short. /owever, it is also used for medium distan!e outdoor a$$li!ations su!h as around a !am$us. !oose T$be Constr$ction (n loose tube !onstru!tion a small number of <4,& fibres are !arried inside a $lasti! (<B4) tube of A0> mm in diameter. %y$i!ally between one and eight $rimary !oated fibres are !arried in a single tube. %here is $lenty of room in the tube for the fibres to move loosely within it %he idea is that you use somewhat more fibre than !able (5C0 18C) in ea!h tube. &ibre !oils around inside the tube in a heli!al $attern. (f the !able is stret!hed or bent then the fibres inside do not ex$erien!e tension. !oose T$be ,ith 0el Filler (n most buried outdoor !able today we use a loose tube !onstru!tion where the tube is filled with a #elly. %his $revents the ingress of water from faults in the !able. (t also buffers the fibres from one another and hel$s to $revent losses due to mi!robends !aused by irregularities on the surfa!e of the insides of the tubes.

%he !om$osition of the gel used is a signifi!ant design issue. /istori!ally, $etroleum #elly was used but this exhibits signifi!ant !hanges in vis!osity with tem$erature. Bis!osity is very im$ortant for a number of reasons) %he fibre must be free to move within the tube to !ounter stress !aused by tem$erature !hanges andDor !able laying. %he vis!osity needs to be high enough to $rovide some me!hani!al stability to the tube. And it should allow the !able to be run verti!ally without the gel settling down to the bottom. (t needs to be reasonably well0behaved in the field when a !able has been severed and needs to be re0#oined. &or exam$le, if the gel be!ame very mobile on a hot day and the !able was severed, the gel !ould run out of the tubes for a long distan!e. ,f !ourse the gel needs to be stable during the $ro!ess of !able manufa!ture where it may be sub#e!t to high tem$eratures. ili!one gels are a lot better generally than $etroleum ones but today s$e!ially designed syntheti! gels are used whi!h all but eliminate the early $roblems with !hanges in vis!osity.

6.3.".1 Indoor Cables

&igure 2A2.

ingle04ore 4able

%he most basi! form of indoor o$ti!al !able is shown in &igure 2A2. %his is sim$ly a single strand of 4,& with a layer of strengthening aramid (or fibreglass) fibres and an outer <B4 #a!"et added. ingle0!ore !able of this nature is used in short lengths as #um$er or fly !ables but is almost never used for fixed !abling. %his is be!ause it is lower in !ost to have a !able with many fibres in it than it is to have many single0!ore !ables. (n any !ase you almost always need two !ores anyway

&igure 2A:. Eual (ndoor 4able

%he !onstru!tion shown in &igure 2A: is a very !ommon low !ost indoor !able !onstru!tion. %wo basi! single0!ore !ables are !arried together in a !ommon 2figure0 F3 sheath.

&igure 2AA. >04ore %ight *uffered (ndoor 4able &igure 2AA shows the !ross0se!tion of a ty$i!al heavy0duty, tight buffered indoor !able. u!h a !able might be installed verti!ally in a building riser !onne!ting many floors. +any sim$le single0!ored !ables are en!ased in a !ommon sheath. %he !entral strength member (in this !ase $lasti!) su$$orts the weight of the total !able. %ight buffering ensures that individual fibres are not $ut under tension due to their own weight. 4ables of this "ind !ommonly !ome with u$ to 12 fibres ea!h of whi!h is individually sheathed and !oloured. 6.3.".2 (ir Blo,n Fibre %(BF& (n a 2blown3 fibre installation instead of installing fibre !ables you install narrow $lasti! tubes or !onduits. 7ater, very lightly !lad fibre bundles are installed into the tubes (blown in) using a system of !om$ressed air (or !om$ressed nitrogen). %here are various blown fibre systems available but one of the $o$ular ones allows bundles of between 2 and 1F fibre strands (either + or ++) to be inserted into the already installed tubes. %his !an be a!hieved for distan!es of u$ to about two "ilometers (or about >888 feet). %he fibre bundles blown into the tube !onduits are really very lightweight !ables s$e!ifi!ally designed for their aerodynami!s. (n the installation $ro!ess the fibre floats within the tube and there is very little !onta!t between the bundle and the tube. %he installation $ro!ess is 'uite fast with drawing s$eed a$$roa!hing 58 metres $er minute. %he idea of blown fibre originated in the 1@F85s as a $otential solution to the fa!t that fibre s$e!ifi!ations were ra$idly !hanging and $eo$le didn5t want the ex$ense of installing fibre !able "nowing that they would want to re$la!e it in the near future. (n today5s world, fibre s$e!ifi!ations have stabilised signifi!antly and there is less em$hasis on the $otential need for !hange later. /owever, there are some very im$ortant advantages in the blown fibre te!hni'ue. 1. When you install the tubes you !an install them in se!tions as !onvenient and #oin them together later. %y$i!al tubes !an be #oined using very sim$le 2$ush0fit3 !onne!tors within s$e!ially designed #un!tion boxes. (n some offi!e environments

it is very diffi!ult to install a long, unbro"en fibre !able. (n this situation installation of the !onduit tube in se!tions !an save substantial !ost. When the fibre is 2blown in3 ea!h single strand is unbro"en from end0to0end. %hus you don5t have the $roblem (and !ost) of #oining the fibre. (n addition, be!ause the fibre is installed in long, unbro"en lengths you don5t get losses or refle!tion $roblems from the #oins. %his $oint is $arti!ularly im$ortant in the !ase where some $arts of the fibre !onne!tion are indoor and other $arts outdoor. ,n!e the !onduits are !onne!ted between the indoor and outdoor se!tions, the fibre is blown in as a single unbro"en !able eliminating the need for ma"ing fibre #oins (or having !onne!tors) between indoor and outdoor se!tions. 2. ;ou !an install tubes with multi$le !avities so that additional fibres !an be installed later as the o!!asion demands. %his saves some fibre !ost but is more signifi!ant in the additional flexibility $rovided. :. (t is $ossible to remove fibre from the tubes and re0install it into other tubes on other routes as demands !hange. in!e installing the tube (or regular fibre !able) is the ma#or $art of the installation !ost, this allows for very low !ost !hanges as the installation evolves. A. %he original reason for blown fibre while $erha$s de0em$hasised these days has not gone away. As mentioned in other $arts of this boo", there is a strong differen!e of o$inion among fibre o$ti!al engineers on the future of multimode fibre. As s$eeds in!rease the bandwidth limitations of 6( ++ fibre be!ome more and more restri!tive. ingle0mode fibre itself (#ust the fibre) is intrinsi!ally lower in !ost than multimode fibre but devi!es that !onne!t to it are very mu!h more ex$ensive. (t seems generally agreed in the industry that sometime we will have to !hange from ++ fibre in the offi!e to + and when that ha$$ens those with blown fibre installations will be able to effe!t the !hange for very signifi!antly lower !ost than those with more !onventional fibre !abling. 6.3.".6 #$tdoor Cables A ty$i!al outdoor (buried) !able is shown in !ross0se!tion in &igure 2A5 on $age 2@2 above. (t !onsists of six gel0filled loose tubes su$$orted by other !able elements designed to $rovide strength, me!hani!al $rote!tion and $rote!tion against the ingress of water. Gote that in addition to the gel filling in the tubes !arrying the fibres there is gel surrounding these tubes within the !able. %he illustrated !able has six fibres $er tube for a total fibre !ount of :>. %his general !able geometry is used with u$ to twelve tubes su$$orting as many as eight fibres ea!h for a total of @> fibres in the !able. (f an ele!tri!al $ower su$$ly is needed, !o$$er wires !an re$la!e the fibres in one or more of the tubes.

&igure 2A5. %y$i!al ,utdoor &iber 4able (7oose %ube 0 6el &illed) %he !entral strength member is often made from a hard $lasti! material rather than steel. (ndeed the whole !able is often !onstru!ted from non0metalli! materials. %he outer layer of armouring wire is a !ustomer o$tion whi!h is only added to !able destined for use in $la!es where there is a signifi!ant danger of damage from the environment. %he use of stainless steel is unusual (but o$tional) as this is a high0!ost material. ,rdinary steel is mu!h lower in !ost but will rust if the outer sheath is $enetrated and water gets in. (n some lo!ations (su!h as tro$i!al areas) it is !ustomary to add an outer nylon !overing to $revent atta!" by termites.

&igure 2A>.

egmented04ore 4able Eesign

An alternative loose tube !onstru!tion is shown in &igure 2A>. /ere the !able si formed from an extruded $lasti! member in the sha$e of a gear0wheel. (ndividual $rimary !oated fibres are !arried in the indentations (!hannels) around the outside. (n the illustrated !ase there are six !hannels for fibres and u$ to eight fibres may be !arried in ea!h. (n some geometries u$ to twenty or so !hannels are used with as few as one fibre $er !hannel. ,uter elements of the !able are the same as for the regular loose0tube !onstru!tion. %his is a sim$ler and thus lower !ost way of ma"ing the !able.

&igure 2AH. ,utdoor Aerial 4able Aerial !ables are designed to be su$$orted from towers and there is a signifi!ant $roblem with stress. ,ne alternative is to have a very strong !entral strengthening wire. /owever, if you do this there is often a lot of !rushing $ressure on the !able at the $oints of su$$ort. %he design shown in &igure 2AH shows a ty$i!al !able designed for overhead installation. (t is not very different from underground !able ex!e$t it is

en!losed in a !ommon sheath with a strong se$arate su$$ort wire. %he weight of the fibre !able is su$$orted evenly all the way along its length and stresses are minimised.

&igure 2AF. 1204ore ,$ti!al &lat 4able %he basi! !onstru!tion shown in &igure 2AF was used extensively in the ? in the early 1@F85s for medium distan!e !ommuni!ation (u$ to 18 "m or so) with multimode fibre. A flat !able !ontaining 12 fibres is !onstru!ted by sandwi!hing the fibres between two layers of mylar ta$e with a glue (to hold the fibres in $la!e) in0between. %he flat !able is only about 5 mm in width. A sta!" of 12 of these flat !ables forms a s'uare !ross0se!tion whi!h is then embedded within a strong $rote!tive !able stru!ture. %he "ey to this !onstru!tion was the use of a metalli! !onne!tor whi!h terminated all 12 fibres of one flat !able in one o$eration. While this wor"ed reasonably well for multimode fibre it didn5t have suffi!ient $re!ision for single mode fibres and the system is no longer used. 6.3.".3 -ndersea Cables

&igure 2A@. %y$i!al ?ndersea 4able Eesign ?ndersea !ables are signifi!antly different from other ty$es of !able. %hey usually have a very small number of fibres (between $erha$s A and 28). %his !ontrasts with terrestrial !ables whi!h often have u$ to 188 fibres in them. At great de$ths water is under very high $ressure and su!h !ables have to $revent water ingress. &or this reason all s$a!es in the !able are filled with very dense $lasti! or $olymer material ex!e$t for the !avity immediately around the fibres themselves. %his is a gel0filled tube as in terrestrial !able !onstru!tion. %he !o$$er sheath shown in the figure is an unbro"en tube intended to hel$ "ee$ water out. (n !ontrast to what we might ex$e!t, under the sea is not a !om$letely safe $la!e. hi$5s an!hors and fishing trawlers !an do signifi!ant damage to undersea o$ti!al !ables. %hus the undersea o$erators !ommonly ma"e a distin!tion between 2shallow3 and 2dee$3 water. Water is !onsidered 2dee$3 if the bottom is more than 1888 metres from the surfa!e.

Eee$ water is a relatively safe $la!e to situate a !able and in this environment it is ty$i!ally laid on the sea floor without s$e!ial armouring. %hus !able o$erators $lan the !able route to maximise the amount of !able laid in dee$ water. (n shallow water it is !ommon to dig a tren!h in the sea floor and bury the !able. Also, !ables laid in shallow water are ty$i!ally heavily armoured.