How do I order Fiber Optic Cable Assemblies?

Many of our customers contact Fiber Solutions and indicate they are looking to purchase fiber optic cable assemblies, but they often don’t know what that means. They sometimes don’t necessarily understand the “Lingo” of the industry in which Fiber Solutions exists. So the goal of this article is to articulate the “Lingo” of fiber optic cable assemblies, and what issues need to be considered or researched when attempting to order fiber optic cable assemblies.

Do I require, pigtails, or jumpers?
1) Pigtails: These are cable assemblies terminated on one end with a connector, and typically the other side is spliced to OSP (Outside Plant Cable). The may be simplex: (single fiber), or multi-fiber sometimes up to 144 fibers. Essentially these cable assemblies or pigtails are used to make connection between patch panels in a Central Office or Head End and OSP cable. Often times they may also provide connection to another splice point outside of the Head End or central office. The purpose of this is because various jacket materials may only be used a limited distance inside the building.
2) Jumpers: These are double ended cable assemblies, terminated on both sides with connectors. These cable assemblies are typically simplex (single fiber), or duplex (two fibers) and make connection from a patch panel to a network element. These cables provide a benefit allowing an expendable connection that can be easily replaced easily if it becomes damaged.

• CONSIDERATIONS to make the correct purchase:
i. Fiber Type
1. Singlemode (Yellow)
2. Multimode (Orange)
a. 50/125
b. 62.5/125
ii. Connector Style
1. ST, FC, SC (2.5mm Ferrule)
2. LC, MU (1.25mm Ferrule)
3. MT, MTP, MPO (Multi-Fiber)
iii. Connector Polish
1. Flat Polish- Typically multi-mode
2. PC- Physical Contact
a. Essentially refers to a Physical contact between the end faces of the two fibers when mated in a connector.
b. Sometimes referred to as UPC as well
3. APC- Angled Physical Contact (Green)
a. Essentially the end faces of the fibers are polished at an 8 degree angle. This allows for the faces to meet closer together essentially eliminating any extra reflection being able to interfere with the transmission. This reduces the return loss and making the performance much better.
iv. Fiber Count
v. Jacketing material
1. 900um Just the basic protection of a secondary buffer material on the cable. This is typically used in the back of a patch panel. This cable configuration significantly reduces the cable congestion in the back of a patch panel.
2. 2mm Jacket: A reduced jacket diameter that allow more cables to be placed in a smaller space. Often the 2.0mm, or 1.8mm diameters are used on Small form factor connectors such as LC, and MU connectors. However because of larger density patch panels the use of the smaller diameter cables is increasing.
3. 3.0mm Jacket: Standard “Jumper” jacket. The style has been utilized for many years and represents either an orange or yellow jacket material reinforced with Kevlar materials.
Again the goal of this article is to outline some of the basic information necessary to request the appropriate cable assemblies to fulfill your requirements. Most of the information is not difficult to determine. For instance: Singlemode or Multimode can typically be determined by the color of the jacket. Jacketing material can be determined by the diameter. Some of the things that are more difficult is the polish type. The flat polish can be determined by looking at the fiber face. If it is rounded it’s a UPC, or angled it is APC. Then the color will complete the determination: Blue-UPC, and Green-APC.
Fiber Solutions is available to help with all of your selection. Give us a call at 800-743-4237, or e-mail info@fibersolutionsinc.com and let us know how we can help. Our customer service staff is available to help you walk through the selections that we have discussed, and assist you in making the correct selections.

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