| Why is proper fiber optic cable management so | | | | critical in maintaining proper bend radius |
| critical? | | | | protection. The system should be designed to |
| | | | ensure that individual fibers can be |
| Service providers have deployed more and more | | | | installed or removed without inducing a |
| fiber optic cables for their high bandwidth, | | | | macrobend on an adjacent fiber. Accessibility |
| low costs, greater reliability and | | | | is critical during network reconfiguration. |
| flexibility. But just deploying is not | | | | |
| enough; a successful fiber network also | | | | 4. Physical protection of installed optical |
| requires a solid infrastructure based on a | | | | fibers |
| professional fiber optic cable management | | | | |
| system. | | | | Well defined fiber optic cable management |
| | | | system physically protects the fibers from |
| Fiber optic cable management affects a | | | | accidental damage by technicians and |
| network's reliability, performance, cost and | | | | equipment throughout the network. |
| maintenance. It provides the ability to | | | | |
| reconfigure network, restore service and | | | | Fiber optic cable management system |
| implement new services quickly. | | | | procurement |
| | | | |
| Four goals to achieve with professional fiber | | | | When making the decision on purchasing your |
| optic cable management | | | | fiber optic cable management systems, the |
| | | | goal is getting the most cost-effective |
| 1. Protect fiber optic cable from microbends | | | | system that provides the best cable |
| and macrobends loss | | | | management, flexibility, and growth |
| | | | capabilities. |
| Microbends are small deformities in the | | | | |
| optical fiber and macrobends are larger bends | | | | Going with the cheapest approaches for fiber |
| of the fiber cable. Fiber bends beyond the | | | | optic cable management can cost more money in |
| specified minimum bending radius can cause | | | | the long run. A strong fiber cable management |
| signal loss or even break the fiber, causing | | | | system will enable you to extract the maximum |
| service disruption. | | | | value from your installed optical fiber |
| | | | networks. |
| As a rule of thumb, the minimum bending | | | | |
| radius should be bigger than ten times the | | | | Specifying Fiber Cable Management Systems: |
| outer diameter of the fiber cable. Telcordia | | | | Cost and Value |
| recommends a minimum 38mm bending radius for | | | | |
| 3mm fiber optic patch cords. | | | | As a means of keeping operational costs down, |
| | | | service providers around the world are |
| Fiber optic cable management system should | | | | increasingly turning to systems integrators |
| provide bend radius protection at all points | | | | to install their networks. |
| where a fiber optic cable makes a bend. This | | | | |
| helps ensure the network's long-term | | | | This practice allows the service provider's |
| reliability; thus reduces the network | | | | technicians to focus on operations and |
| operation cost by reducing network down time. | | | | maintenance, rather than network |
| | | | installation. There is, however, an inherent |
| 2. Well defined fiber optic cable management | | | | risk in this practice. |
| routing paths | | | | |
| | | | As the purchasing decision for the fiber |
| The leading cause of fiber optic cable | | | | cable management system moves from the |
| minimum bend radius violation is improper | | | | service provider's engineering group to the |
| routing of fibers by fiber installation | | | | systems integration prime contractor, the |
| technicians. | | | | cable management features of the distribution |
| | | | system are generally not specified. |
| In a proper fiber cable management system, | | | | |
| routing paths are clearly defined and easy to | | | | What can happen, then, is the equipment |
| follow; such that the technician has no other | | | | installed may lack key features and |
| option but to route the cables properly. | | | | functionalities. In light of the importance |
| | | | of proper cable management within the ODF, |
| Well defined routing paths reduce the | | | | the service provider needs to specify the |
| training time required for technicians and | | | | basic requirements for the cable management |
| increase the uniformity of work done. It also | | | | system. |
| makes accessing individual fibers easier, | | | | |
| quicker and safer. | | | | There are several industry-standard |
| | | | specifications that can assist service |
| 3. Easy access to installed optical fibers | | | | providers in writing specifications for their |
| | | | cable management systems. |
| Allowing easy access to installed fibers is | | | | |