In recent years, fiber optic cable access market has shown a good momentum of development, and fiber optic cable access has become a hot spot in the field of optical communications. In fiber optic cable access projects, indoor wiring close to users is the most complicated link. The bending performance and tensile performance of conventional indoor optical cables can no longer meet the requirements of FTTH (fiber to the home) indoor wiring. The FTTH fiber optic drop cable and its derivative products came into being.
What is FTTH drop cable?
FTTH (Fiber to the Home) is the final form of the development of optical access networks. The fiber access network is divided into FTTH (fiber to the home), FTTB (fiber to the building), FTTP (fiber to the premises) and FTTC (fiber to the roadside) based on the location of the optical network unit. The optical fiber cable access networks mainly use PON (Passive Optical Network) technology, which uses splitters to distribute optical signals and provide services to multiple users at the same time.
Fiber optic cables used in FTTH networks are divided into feeder fiber optic cables, fiber optic distribution cables, and household fiber optic cables according to their positions in the network.
Figure 1 FTTH optical cable type distribution diagram
Among these types of fiber optic cables, the FTTH fiber optic drop cable is a more complicated link. The traditional FTTH fiber optic drop cable has problems such as high price and low reliability. The new type of FTTH fiber optic drop cable includes two types: armored fiber optic cable and FTTH drop cable. Armored fiber optic cables are more suitable for mobile occasions with higher protection requirements. They are generally used as active jumpers between wall sockets and desktop optical user terminals. FTTH drop cable is more suitable for fixed, tightly spaced wiring, and can be used for open wire or short-distance pipeline laying.
The basic structure and characteristics of drop cable
Single-core and double-core structures of FTTH drop cables are widely used, and can also be reach 12 cores. The cross-section is in the figure 8 shape. The reinforcement is located in the center of the two circles. Metal or non-metal structure can be used.
Figure 2 The structure of the drop cable
The FTTH fiber optic cable adopts G.657 small bending radius optical fiber, which can be laid with a bending radius of 20mm. It is suitable for entering the house in the building by way of pipe or bright line. The unique figure 8 structure of the FTTH drop cable can be completed on site in the shortest time. The Fiber optic field connectors can be adapted to the standard size of 2.0mm×3.1mm FTTH drop cable and are widely used in the world.
The FTTH fiber optic cable can be divided into two types according to the type of reinforcement: metal reinforcement and non-metal reinforcement. The FTTH fiber optic drop cable with metal reinforcement can achieve greater tensile strength and is suitable for long-distance indoor horizontal wiring or short-distance indoor vertical wiring. UnitekFiber’s metal reinforcement FTTH drop cable is not reinforced with conventional phosphating steel wire, but with a special copper-clad steel wire material, which can avoid damage to the cable caused by springback and winding during engineering construction. The non-metallic strength member's FTTH drop cable uses FRP as the reinforcing material, which can realize all non-metallic access to the home, with superior lightning protection performance, and suitable for introduction from outdoors to indoors.
Figure 3 The structure of the self-supporting drop cable
The outer sheath of FTTH drop cable is generally made of PVC or LSZH material. The flame retardant performance of LSZH material is higher than that of PVC material. At the same time, the use of black LSZH material can block ultraviolet erosion and prevent cracking, and is suitable for introduction from outdoor to indoor.
UnitekFiber is fiber optic cable manufacturer.If you need more information or support on fiber optical products, please don’t hesitate to contact us sales@unitekfiber.com, we will try our best to support you.
