Category Archives: Fiber Patch Cords

Advice on Patch Cable Selection for Optical Transceiver

Fibre optic network connection can’t be achieved without optical transceiver and patch cable. Optical transceiver varies from transmission media, interface, transmission distance, data rate, and brand, for example, SFP for 1000Mbps, SFP+ for 10G, QSFP+ for 40G, CFP and QSFP28 for 100G. It’s not difficult to identify these optical transceivers. But when you connect the optical transceiver to the patch cable, many details need to be noticed. This article will give you advice on how to choose the suitable patch cable for your optical transceiver.

Transmission Media—Copper & Fibre

According to transmission media of fibre optic and copper, transceivers can be divided into two kinds, copper based transceivers and fibre optic based transceivers. MSA has defined several copper based transceiver like: 100BASE-T, 1000BASE-T and 10GBASE-T. Copper transceivers are available in GBIC, SFP and SFP+ form factors, which usually has an RJ45 interface. So Cat5/6/7 cables are typically used to connect with the transceivers. Maybe Cat8 will be researched and developed to support higher data rate up to 40G sooner or later.

optical-transceiver-rj45-interface

As to fibre optic transceivers, things are more complex. For that fibre optic transceivers require different fibre patch cords which have more types. Fibre patch cables cover single-mode and multimode. Single-mode patch cable can be classified into OS1 and OS2. While multimode cables can be divided into OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4 cable. Different cables are used in different applications. Single-mode cable can support long distance transmission and multimode cable for short distance link. If the transmission distance is shorter than 500 metres, multimode patch cable is suggested. For long distance transmission, single-mode transmission is suggested. You patch-cable should also consider that the transmission data rate can also affect the transmission distance. Let’s look at the following point.

Supported Distance and Data Rate

MSA has defined a variety of transceivers that can support different transmission distances and data rates. When you buy a fibre optic transceiver, you will find the data rate, wavelength, distance, etc. on its labeling. The following table show the basic information of most often used transceivers and supported cable type.

Description	Wavelengh	Data Rate	Cable Type	Distance
SX	850nm	1G	MM	500 m
LX	1310nm	1G	SM	8 km
EX	1310nm	1G	SM	40 km
ZX	1550nm	1G	SM	70 km
SR	850nm	10G	MM	300 m
LR	1310nm	10G	SM	10 km
ER	1550nm	10G	SM	40 km
ZR	1550nm	10G	SM	80 km
SR4	850nm	40G	MM	100 m
SR10	850nm	100G	MM	100 m
LR4	1310nm	40G	SM	10 km

As mentioned before, single-mode patch cable is better for long distance transmission and multimode patch cable for short distance transmission. Actually single-mode patch cords can be used for different data rates in both long and short distances. But single-mode fibre optic cable will cost more. To achieve reliable performance in short distances with cost effective solutions, you should know the performance of multimode fibre optic cables. The following chart provides the detailed transmission distances and data rates information for different multimode fibre optic cables over wavelength of 850 nm for your reference.

Fibre Type	1G	10G	40/100G
OM1	300 m	36 m	N/A
OM2	500 m	86 m	N/A
OM3	1 km	300 m	100 m
OM4	1 km	550 m	150 m

Transceiver Interfaces

The selection of patch cable for transceiver should also consider the interfaces through which patch cords is connected to the transceiver. In addition, transceiver usually used one port for transmitting and one port for receiving. Generally, fibre optic transceivers usually employs duplex SC or LC interfaces. However, for BiDi transceivers only one port is used for both transmitting and receiving. Thus, simplex patch cord is used with BiDi transceiver.

Some 40G/100GBASE QSFP+ transceivers used MTP/MPO interfaces, which should be connected to the network with multi-fibre patch cords attached with MTP/MPO connectors. If these ports are used for 40G to 10G or 100G to 10G connection, then fanout patch cable should be used. For example, a MTP to 8 LC fanout cable can splitter 40G data rate to four 10G data rate.

Summary

Next time when you select patch cords for your fibre optic transceivers, you can consider these factors like transmission media, transmission data rate and distance, transceiver interfaces. FS.COM offers a wide range of fibre optic transceivers and patch cords. Custom service is also available. Any problem, please contact us via sales@fs.com.

Guide to Choose the Right Fiber Optic Patch Cable

Now with the fibr eoptic cable being widely used in a variety of industries and places, the requests for fibre patch are being elaborated. Fibre patch cables are being required to be improved and provided more possibilities to satisfy various application environments. Actually, many special fibre patch cables have been created to answer the market demand. But do you know how to choose right fibre optic patch cable for our network system? The following passages may give you a clear guideline to choose the suitable patch cables.

Why You Need Different Fibre Optic Patch Cables?

Fibre optic patch cable, some times also called fibre optic jumper cable, are terminated with fibre optic connectors on both ends. Due to the fact that fibre patch cable can carry more data efficiently, they play an important role in telecommunication and computer networking. And they are also used in numbers of places. Therefore, when you choose fibre patch cables, the first thing you need to know is the environment that the patch cable will be used. Indoor or outdoor? In the air or buried underground? Different environments have different requirements for cables. Let’s take armored fibre patch cable for example. Armored fiber patch cable, wrapped a layer of protective “armor” outside of the fibre optic cable, is generally adopted in direct buried outside plant applications where a rugged cable is needed for rodent resistance.

What You Should Concern to Choose the Fibre Optic Patch Cable?

Single-mode vs Multimode

Single-mode fibre patch cable uses 9/125um glass fibre and multimode fiber patch cable uses 50/125um or 62.5/125um glass fiber. Generally, single-mode fiber patch cables are the best choice for transmitting data over long distances. They are usually used for connections over large areas, such as college campuses and cable television networks. And most single-mode cabling is color-coded yellow. Multmode fibre patch cables are usually used in short distances. They are typically used for data and audio/visual applications in local-area networks and connections within buildings. Multimode cables are generally color-coded orange or aqua.

Simplex vs Duplex

Simplex Fibre optic cable means the cable composes of only one fibre, then a duplex patch cable consists of two fibres. Therefore, simplex fibre optic cable is common used in a system where only one-way data transfers. And duplex fibre optic cable is applied to where requires simultaneous, bi-directional data transfer.

Connector Types

On both ends of the fibre optic patch cable are terminated with a fibre optic connector (LC/SC/ST/FC/MPO/MTP). With the rapid development of optical fibre telecommunication, many different types of fiber connectors are available. They share similar design characteristics. Different connector is used to plug into different device. If ports on the both ends devices are the same, the patch cables such as LC-LC/SC-SC/MPO-MPO can be used; if you want to connect different ports type devices, LC-SC, LC-FC and LC-ST patch cables may meet your demand.

Polishing Types

It’s known to us that whenever a connector is installed on the end of fibre, loss cannot be avoided. Some of this light loss is reflected directly back down the fibre towards the light source that generated it. These back reflections will damage the laser light sources and also disrupt the transmitted signal. In order to optimise transmitting performance and ensure the proper optical propagation, the end of the fibre must be properly polished to minimize loss. Generally, there are two common polishing types: UPC and APC. And the loss of APC connector is lower than UPC connectors. So the optical performance of APC connector is better than UPC connectors.

Cable Jacket

The cable jacket is to provide strength, integrity, and overall protection of the fibre member. When choose one kind of fibre optic cables, the environment that the cables be used should be taken into consideration. Usually there are three types of jacket: PVC, LSZH and OFNP. Which one you choose depends on where you use the cables. Here are their features.

PVC cable resistant to oxidation, it is commonly used for horizontal runs from the wiring centre.
LSZH cable has a special flame-retardant coating and it is used between floors in a building.
OFNP cable has fire-resistance and low smoke production characteristics. It usually works for vertical runs between floors.

Conclusion

In summary, there are many factors which may affect your choices of fibre optic patch cable. So it’s important to make sense which kind of patch cable can really meet your requirements. FS can provide all kinds of fibre optic patch cables to satisfy your needs!

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LC Connector for High Density Data Centres

SC duplex connector was popular a few years ago. But as time goes on, smaller and more compact cabling components are required since the packing density of optical devices keeps increasing, namely high density. The smaller the shape, the more popular the component, just like development history of cellphone. Driven by this requirement, optic manufacturers start to produce mini components. The most widely known is the LC connector, a small form factor connector. The following article will introduce various types of LC connectors in details.

Common LC Connector

LC small form factor connector has just 1.25mm ferrule, half the size of the standard connector (compared with SC connector). Because of the high density design, LC connector solution can reduce the space needed on racks, enclosures and panels by approximately 50% throughout the network. So LC connector is a good solution for high density data centres. The LC connector uses RJ45 push-pull style plug that offers a reassuring, audible click when engaged. It makes moves, adds and changes easy and saves costs for you. Besides, the protective cap completely covers the connector end, which prevents ferrule end face from contamination and impact and enhances the network performance.

lc-lc-duplex

LC Uniboot

LC uniboot connector includes a finger latch release that there is no need for tools when making the polarity change. Some LC uniboot connectors are color-coded and labeled “A” and “B” to provide visual references when making a polarity change. The uniboot design is compatible with transceivers using the LC interface. The LC uniboot patch cords use special round cable that allows duplex transmission within a single cable, and it greatly reduces cable congestion in racks and cabinets comparing to standard patch cords. LC uniboot patch cord is perfect for high density applications. FS.COM LC uniboot patch cords are available in SM, OM3 or OM4 multimode fibre types to meet a wide variety of configurations and requirements.

uniboot-lc

Push-Pull LC Connector

If you have tried to release LC connectors in patch panels with high density, you must know how difficult it is. As to high density panel, thumbs and forefingers can not easily access to pull the connector. So some manufacturers start to offer a special LC connector which can be easily dealt with. And that’s push-pull tab LC connector.

Push-Pull-Tab-Patch-Cable

LC push-pull connectors offer the easiest solution for installation and removal. The special design is available in a compact model, ideal for minimizing oversized panels. With this kind of connector, you don’t need to leave additional space at the top or bottom to allow room for engaging the latch. The structure of the LC push-pull compact is designed as the latch can be slid back, instead of being pushed down, to facilitate smooth removal. It’s simple for installation and removal. Push-Pull LC patch cable allows users accessibility in tight areas when deploying LC patch fields in high density data centres. Push-Pull LC fibre patch cords are available in OM4, OM3 or single-mode fibre types to meet the demands of Gigabit Ethernet, 10 Gigabit Ethernet and high speed Fibre Channel.

Secure Keyed LC Connector

Secure keyed LC connectors are designed for network security and stability. 12 colors are available in FS.COM, including red, magenta, pink, yellow, orange, turquoise, brown, olive, etc. Connections only work when the color matches. The color-coded keying options provide design flexibility and facilitate network administration. It reduces risks and increases the security of network from incorrect patching of circuits. Secure keyed LC connectors feature low insertion loss, excellent durability.

Conclusion

This article tells different types LC connectors, including common LC connector, LC uniboot, push-pull LC and secure keyed LC connector. The design of those LC connectors keeps improving to adapt to high density data centrers. Nowadays, the trend of network is high speed and high density. So effective cable management is significantly important. And the key concern is how to manage more cables within less space. Thus, among so many kinds of interfaces, LC connector is the most frequently used and the most effective solution for space saving in data centres.

Do You Know About Mode Conditioning Patch Cord?

The great demand for increased bandwidth has prompted the release of the 802.3z standard (IEEE) for Gigabit Ethernet over optical fiber. As we all know, 1000BASE-LX transceiver modules can only operate on single-mode fibers. However, this may pose a problem if an existing fiber network utilizes multimode fibers. When a single-mode fiber is launched into a multimode fiber, a phenomenon known as Differential Mode Delay (DMD) will appear. This effect can cause multiple signals to be generated which may confuse the receiver and produce errors. To solve this problem, a mode conditioning patch cord is needed. In this article, some knowledge of mode conditioning patch cords will be introduced.

What Is a Mode Conditioning Patch Cord?

A mode conditioning patch cord is a duplex multimode cord that has a small length of single-mode fiber at the start of the transmission length. The basic principle behind the cord is that you launch your laser into the small section of single-mode fiber, then the other end of the single-mode fiber is coupled to multimode section of the cable with the core offset from the center of the multimode fiber (see diagram below).

This offset point creates a launch that is similar to typical multimode LED launches. By using an offset between the single-mode fiber and the multimode fiber, mode conditioning patch cords eliminate DMD and the resulting multiple signals allowing use of 1000BASE-LX over existing multimode fiber cable systems. Therefore, these mode conditioning patch cords allow customers an upgrade of their hardware technology without the costly upgrade of their fiber plant.

Some Tips When Using Mode Conditioning Patch Cord

After learning about some knowledge of mode conditioning patch cords, but do you know how to use it? Then some tips when using mode conditioning cables will be presented.

Mode conditioning patch cords are usually used in pairs. Which means that you will need a mode conditioning patch cord at each end to connect the equipment to the cable plant. So these patch cords are usually ordered in numbers. You may see someone only order one patch cord, then it is usually because they keep it as a spare.
If your 1000BASE-LX transceiver module is equipped with SC or LC connectors, please be sure to connect the yellow leg (single-mode) of the cable to the transmit side, and the orange leg (multimode) to the receive side of the equipment. The swap of transmit and receive can only be done at the cable plant side. See diagram below.

Mode conditioning patch cords can only convert single-mode to multimode. If you want to convert multimode to single-mode, then a media converter will be required.

Besides, mode conditioning patch cables are used in the 1300nm or 1310nm optical wavelength window, and should not be used for 850nm short wavelength window such as 1000Base-SX.

Conclusion

From the text, we know that mode conditioning patch cords really significantly improve the data signal quality and increase the transmission distance. But when using it, there are also some tips must be kept in mind. Fiberstore offer mode conditioning patch cords in all varieties and combinations of SC, ST, MT-RJ and LC fiber optic connectors. All of the Fiberstore’s mode conditioning patch cords are at high quality and low price. For more information, please visit fs.com.

FTTH Indoor Cable

FTTH has been widely deployed as the high demand for bandwidth of video, audio and data signals transmission. More and more FTTH networks have been and will be installed in subscribers’ houses due to growing requirements for them and enhancements on their technologies. A variety kind of FTTH cables are accordingly designed including in-duct cables, direct-buried cables, drop cables and indoor cables, etc. FTTH indoor cables are mostly difficult to be installed among those cables for the complex indoor environment. Today, this article will introduce FTTH indoor cables in details.

What Is FTTH Indoor Cable?

FTTH indoor cable is used inside a building or house to connect the FTTH user end equipment. Its fibre count typically is 1, 2 or 4 optical strands commonly combined with two non-metal enhanced FRP/Metal/KFRP which can provide sufficient tensile strength and good resistance to lateral crushing to protect the fibre inside. In addition, its outer sheath is universally consist with LSZH material with good flame-retardance in white or black. Its simple convenient structure makes it perfect for indoor cabling. FRP Strength member FTTH indoor cable

Installation of FTTH Indoor Cable

FTTH indoor cable is usually installed along the walls, behind moldings, around corners or through ceilings. The local environment including building styles, existing ducts, owners’ personal requirements and life security control decides the specific operation like the length and bend amplitude of the indoor cable. And nowadays the cables need to have both mechanical strength and flexible installation capacity for smaller subscribers’ houses as the rapid development of FTTH. The bend-optimised cables are prevailing in FTTH indoor installation for its great bend performance around the sharp edges and corners in smaller houses. The following pictures show the installation of FTTH indoor cable. FTTH indoor cable installation

Advantages of FTTH Indoor Cable

Due to its simple structure and installation requirements, FTTH indoor cable is designed to have size and quality advantages over a common indoor fibre. It is small diametre, soft and bendable, easy to deploy and maintenance, allowing a reduction in the physical size of connection equipment such as splice closures and termination boxes. And special FTTH indoor cable is even able to be thunder-proof, anti-rodent or waterproof for life security. With its extraordinary advantages, FTTH indoor cable is widely applied, pushing the development of FTTH as well as guaranteeing people’s life securities as much as possible.

Applications of FTTH Indoor Cable

Access network, fibre to the home
Used end users directly cabling
Indoor cabling and distribution

For more information about FTTH indoor cables, please visit www.fs.com.

Build Fibre Transport Services With The Help Of FS And IBM

Given the many different types of fibre-optic data links in a modern enterprise data centre, the design of an optical cable infrastructure that will accommodate both current and future needs has become increasingly complicated. For example, IBM Site and Connectivity Services have developed structured cabling systems to support multi-gigigabit cable plants. In this section, we briefly describe several recent innovations in fibre-optic cable and connector technology for the IBM structured cabling solution (FS can provide the fibre cable assemblies), known as Fibre Transport Services (FTS) or Fibre Quick Connect (FQC).

A central concept of FTS is the use of multifibre trunks, rather than collections of two fibre optic patch cords, to interconnect the various elements of a large data centre. FTS provides up to 144 fibres in a common trunk, which greatly simplifies cable management and reduces installation time. Cable congestion has become a significant problem in large data centres, with up to 256 ESCON channels on a large director or host processor. With the introduction of smaller, aircooled CMOS-based processors and the extended distance provided by optical fibre attachments, it is increasingly common for data processing equimpment to be rearranged and moved to different locations, sometimes on a daily basis. It can be time consuming to reroute 256 individual jumper cables without making any connection errors or accidentally damaging the cables. To relieve this problem, in 2007 FTS and S/390 introduced the Fibre Quick Connect system for multifibre trunks.

Fiberstore

The trunks are terminated with a special 12-fibre optical connector known as a Multifibre Termination Push-on (MTP) connectors. Each MTP contains 12 fibres or 6 dulpex channels in a connector smaller than most duplex connections in use today (barely 0.5 inches wide). In this way, a 72-fibre trunk cable can be terminated with six MTP connectors (buy the MTP/MPO cables with MTP to MPO fibre connector); relocating a 256-channel ECSON director now requires only re-plugging 43 connections. Trunk cables terminated with multiple MTP connectors are available in four versions, either 12 fibre/6 channels, 36 fibre/18 channels, 72/36 channels, or 144 fibre/72 channels. Optical alignment is facilitated by a pair of metal guide pins in the ferrule of a male MTP connector, which mate with corresponding holes in the female MTP connector. Under the covers of a director or enterprise host processor, the MTP connectors attach to a couple bracket (similar to a miniature patch panel); from there, a cable harness fans out each MTP into 6 duplex connectors that mate with the fibre optic transceivers. Since the qualifications of the cable harness, under the covers patch panel, and trunk cable strain relief for FTS are all done in collaboration with the mainframe server development organization, the FTS solution functions as an intergral part of the applications.

Fiberstore

At the other end of the FTS trunk, individual fibre channels are fanned out at a patch panel or main distribution facility (MDF), where duplex fibre connectors are used to re-configure individual channels to different destinations. These fanouts are available for different fibre-optic connector types, although ESCON and Subcriber Connection (SC) duplex are most common for multimode and SC duplex for single mode. Fanning out the duplex fibre connections at an MDF also offers the advantage of being able to arrange the MDF connections in consecutive order of the channel identifibres on the host machine, greatly simplifying link reconfigurations. As the size of the serves has been reduced and the number of channels has increased , the size of the MDF has become a limiting factor in many installations. In order to keep the MDF from occupying more floor space than the processors, a dense optical connector technology was required for the Fibre Quick Connect system. To meet this need, IBM Global Services has adopted a new small form factor fibre-optic connector as the preferred interconnect for multimode patch panels, the SC-DC. Structured cabling solutions similar to this are available from other companies as well; they may include overhead or underfloor cable trays and raceways, as well as cabinets or rack-mounted enclosures (standard units are compatible with either 19-or 23-inch wide equimpment racks, with heights between 1 and 7 U tall).

About FS:

FS is a largest manufacturer & supplier of fibre optic network solutions in China. The company has been providing fibre optic cables, patch cables, transceivers, media converters and testers & tools for nearly ten years. Now you can custom your own optical networking devices and assemblies directly on the website.

Multimode Fibre Patch Leads from Fiberstore

Fiberstore has been providing quality fibre optical cabling and connectivity solutions to datacomm and telecommunication industries to worldwide customers for over ten years. As a specialized fibre optic cables and patch cables manufacturer, we have conducted rigorous quality controls on each manufacture steps, to make sure that all of our fibre optic cables are completely ROHS and REACH compliant. Our fibre optic patch cables are classified to common multimode fibre cables (OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4 patch cables), armoured fibre patch leads, related fibre cables, MTP/MPO trunk cables, multi-core fibre patch leads as well as many other fibre patch leads. This article is set up to mainly introduce the multi-core fibre patch cords.

Multi-core fibre patch lead get its name as it is consist of multi core fibre, which also called multimode fibre patch lead. Multi fibre patch lead is most commonly used for trunk cable plant and can be as the distribution or breakout patch cable. We offer the fibre trunk patch cables with SC, LC, FC, ST, MTRJ, MU, E2000 connectors, 2-288 cores/fibres are optional to be customised and the sub-branch can be 0.9 mm and 2.0 mm.

12-fiber-mtp-om4-patch-cable

For each connector type, like LC, there are LC to FC, LC to SC, LC to ST, LC to MTRJ, LC to MU, LC to E2000, LC to SMA and LC to LC fibre cable, all of which are optically and electrically inspected and tested using accepted industry test procedures as recommended by the most current version of ANSI/TIA-455B standard test procedure for standard fibre optic lead, cables, transducers, sensors, connecting & terminating devices, and other components.

The multi fibre patch leads features include:

Multi-fibre channel options
Various option of fibre and connector types
Standard or custom configurations
Easy to use, easy to install and maintain
Low insertion loss and back reflection
Custom defined specifications
Environmentally stable
Complete with orange OFNR rated riser/jacket
100% optically tested to ensure high performance
According to different requirements, 4 to 966 cores are available

Applications:

FTTH, LAN, Test equipment, Military industry
CATV
Outside plant
Premise networks
Aerial distribution
Measuring equipment
Fibre optic communication system
Optical active component and equipment

We offer custom service for customers with options of any fibre type, any connectors, and lengths and even customer logo and label on fibrepatch leads. Fibre types is selectable from 10G OM3, OM4 optical fibre, single mode 9/125 optical fibre, OM1, OM2 multimode 50/125 fibres.

E2000 to ST fiber patch cable

E2000 to ST fiber patch cable information:

ST part of the fiber optic cable is the ST connectors. ST is probably still the most popular connector for multimode networks, widely used in the optical distribution frame (ODF), like most buildings and campuses. It has a bayonet mount and a long cylindrical 2.5 mm ceramic (usually) or polymer ferrule to hold the fiber. Most ferrules are ceramic, but some are metal or plastic. ST connectors are constructed with a metal housing and are nickel-plated, can be inserted into and removed from a fiber-optic cable both quickly and easily. They have ceramic ferrules and are rated for 500 mating cycles. From a design perspective, it is recommended to use a loss margin of 0.5 dB or the vendor recommendation for ST connectors.

E2000 part of the fiber optic cable is the E2000 connectors. E2000 fiber optic connector has a push-pull coupling mechanism, with an automatic metal shutter in the connector as dust and laser beam protection. One-piece design for easy and quick termination, used for high safety and high power applications. E2000 connector available for Singlemode PC, APC and Multimode PC. The E2000 Connector is one of the few fiber optic connectors featuring a spring-loaded shutter which fully protects the ferrule from dust and scratches. The shutter closes automatically when the connector is disengaged, locking out impurities which could later lead to network failure, and locking in potentially harmful laser beams.

Fiberstore E2000 to ST fiber patch cable is made and custom to order worldwide and are fully tested to guarantee top performance. Each assembly is serialized for easy idenfication ans sealed in individual Ziploc bags. Test results are included in each order. They are constructed with high quality fiber glass abd high grade connectors with ceramic ferrules for increased durability and accuracy.

Options:

Simplex, duplex or multi fiber assemblies
Jacket types: Riser, PVC, Plenum rated, or LSZH (Low Smoke Zero Halogens) and are all RoHS cables available
Custom fiber optic cable lengths and jacket colors
Various fiber types and wavelengths, typical 9/125 single mode, 50/125 multimode and 62.5/125 multimode
0.9mm / 1.8mm / 2.0mm / 3.0mm outer diameter fiber optic cables
PC, UPC, and APC polish types

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