Introduction of pre-terminated fiber optic cable

1. What is Pre-terminated Fiber Optic Cable?

Pre-terminated fiber optic cables are relative to fusion splicing or quick connect technology. The manufacturing and testing of pre-terminated optical cables are carried out in the specific environment of the factory to ensure the accuracy and tightness of the product and to achieve rapid wiring on the engineering site.

2. Application of Pre-terminated Fiber Optic Cable

Pre-terminated fiber optic cable has the characteristics of high transmission rate, transmission safety, high bandwidth, high density, and convenient and simple construction. It is a new type of optical fiber cabling pre-terminated optical cable solution suitable for high-density, high-reliability wiring requirements. It is mainly used in data centers and can be applied to any integrated wiring project in weak current engineering. Pre-terminated fiber optic cable has been applied in the design and construction of optical fiber networks in many telecom operators, finance, education, public security, customs, enterprises, science and technology parks, etc., and has also won high recognition from integrators and end customers.

3. Pre-terminated Fiber Optic Cable Assemblies

Pre-terminated fiber optic cabling consists of six basic assemblies that are connected together to form a link and are interchangeable. Generally include:

• MPO/MTP to MPO/MTP pre-terminated fiber cable
• MPO/MTP to LC cassete
• MPO/MTP adapter plate
• MPO/MTP to MPO/MTP jumper
• LC to LC jumper
• MPO/MTP to LC cords

The main assemblies of the pre-terminated fiber optic cabling are the MPO/MTP to MPO/MTP pre-terminated fiber optic cable, which connects the other five assemblies together.

4. How to Choose a Pre-terminated Fiber Optic Cable?

• Pre terminated outdoor fiber optic cable  VS  Indoor pre-terminated fibre cables
  According to the actual needs of the site, the indoor or outdoor optical cable of PE or LSZH with pre-terminated connectors at both ends can be selected. The pre-terminated optical cable adopts special branch components to turn the bare optical fiber in the optical cable into a tensile and compressive φ3 or φ2.0 optical cable at the output end, it can eliminate the damage or safety impact of various uncertain factors on the optical fiber link in the design, construction and use of optical fiber network to the greatest extent, and fully guarantee the safety of the system and meet the purpose of design requirements.
  Compared with the traditional optical fiber terminal methods, the pre-terminated technology adopts the optical fiber straight-through method, that is, the optical fiber has no connection point. According to the requirements of customers, the products are customized by the factory, and the grinding process is carried out in standard procedures. All technical indicators comply with IEC, TIA, and related standards. At this point, the technical indicators far exceed the on-site grinding connectors. At the same time, the optical cable structure is also different from the currently commonly used indoor flexible optical cable. In order to ensure that the optical cable has sufficient mechanical properties, its structure is a central bundle of 2 cores to 144 cores. The oil-filled structure also ensures the environment and water-blocking characteristics of the optical cable. In the output part of the optical cable, there is no welding or other mechanical connection methods, which eliminates the possible adverse consequences caused by the existence of joints, and makes network design or construction easier to control.
  
• Pre terminated armored fiber optic cable VS Pre terminated non-armored fiber optic cable
  The advantage of the armored optical cable is that it is durable and resistant to rodent bites and insects, but the price is slightly higher. The price of non-metallic optical cables is much cheaper. Pre-terminated armored cables include OM3 and OM4 laser-optimized multimode cables supporting 40Gb/s and 100Gb/s, as well as standard 62.5/125 and 50/125 multimode cables, as well as single-mode cables with spiral-packed aluminum armor. This provides durable and reliable support for trunk and horizontal installations in different environments within buildings and reduces the need for conduits commonly used to protect unarmoured fiber optic cables. Compared with the installation of non-armored optical cables and pipes, the use of armored optical cables can save more than 50% of the installation cost in materials and labor.
•  Pre terminated single mode fiber optic cable VS  Pre terminated multimode fiber cable
  All devices that contain transceivers or optics are connected through access to fiber optic cabling. There are many types of transceivers or optical devices on the market, and new types are released every year. As these new optical devices hit the market, different types of fiber optic cabling and connectors are required to make a proper working connection. Another consideration is what type of fiber is needed in the link, in other words, multimode or singlemode. Since the two types of fiber cannot be connected together in a pre terminated link, a choice needs to be made. Common parameters such as speed and distance help in choosing which type of fiber to use. OM4 multimode fiber is typically used for distances up to 100 meters and speeds up to 100Gb/s, while singlemode fiber is commonly used for speeds and distances over 100Gb/s and 100 meters.
• Duplex connector or Parallel connector
  Once the fiber type is determined, the next thing to consider is what type of optics will be connected at each end of the link. There are also two basic types of optical transmission: duplex or parallel. Duplex optical devices use 2-core optical fibers, one for sending and the other for receiving. LC connectors are the most common duplex connectors. The parallel optical device uses 8-core or 16-core optical fibers, of which 4 or 8 cores are sent, the other 4 or 8 are received, and the connectors are MPO/MTP. Pre-terminated can support both duplex and parallel optics in the link. Computing equipment goes through replacements and uses different optics over the life cycle, and connecting them to an installed MPO/MTP to MPO/MTP pre-terminated cabling system saves time, labor and spending.
  A typical duplex pre-terminated fiber cabling deployment consists of MPO/MTP-to-MPO/MTP pre-terminated fiber-optic cables with MPO/MTP-to-LC cassettes at both ends. The LC jumper is inserted from the MPO/MTP to the front of the LC cassette and then connected to the duplex optical device as shown in the figure below.
  In medium to large data centers that use both old and new computing equipment, cross-connects can be added to the link for the best service. With the cross-connect design, free ports of the spine, director, or core switches can be hopped into the data center space one at a time. This design helps minimize unused ports so as not to waste free ports that are not being utilized or plugged in, as shown in the figure below.
  The above two pre-terminated links are suitable for duplex or LC optical devices such as 400GBASE-FR4. Single-mode parallel optics became a popular choice for distances of 500 meters or less. This fiber application is called 400GBASE-DR4. The 500-meter distance limit is suitable for most data center applications.
  A typical parallel pre-terminated fiber cabling deployment consists of MPO/MTP to MPO/MTP pre-terminated fiber optic cables with MPO/MTP adapter plates at both ends. The MPO/MTP jumper is inserted from the front of the MPO/MTP adapter plate and then connected to the parallel optics as shown in the figure below. Cross-connects can also be used for parallel optics, as they are for duplex optics. Note that customers can easily migrate from duplex to parallel applications by replacing the MPO/MTP to LC cassette with an MPO/MTP adapter plate. This migration is also why we recommend using Base-8 components instead of Base-12 components, as the Base-8 option enables MPO/MTP to MPO/MTP pre-end after converting from a duplex link to a parallel link connect all core-count fibers in the fiber optic cable.
  
  With pre-terminated fiber optic cabling, one parallel optical device can be split into four duplex optical devices. Both Ethernet and fibre channel links will have this use case, such as 100Gb/s to 4x25Gb/s and 128Gb/s to 4x32Gb/s. Again, the main components of the system are the MPO/MTP to MPO/MTP pre-terminated fiber optic cable and the MPO/MTP adapter plate at both ends. One end of the link is an MPO/MTP jumper that connects to the parallel optics, and the other end is an MPO/MTP to LC fan-out device line with 4 LC connectors plugged into the 4 duplex optics, as shown in the figure below. Pre-terminated fiber optic cabling supports three types of links: duplex-to-duplex, parallel-to-parallel, and parallel-to-duplex.
  
  

•  The length of the application
  MPO/MTP to MPO/MTP pre-terminated cables are built to the length of the application and are available in options from 8 to 144 fibers/strand. Base-8 and Method B polar MPO/MTP pre-terminated cables are recommended to best support duplex and parallel optics. It is also recommended that MPO/MTP pre-terminated cables have pinned (male) connectors so that they can be coupled with pinless (female) MPO/MTP patch cords. The MPO/MTP to LC module box that plugs into the MPO/MTP terminated fiber optic cable is pinless (female) and Method B polarity. MPO/MTP jumpers are pinless (female) Method B polarity and can directly connect two parallel optical devices. LC to LC jumpers are A-B type and can directly connect two duplex optical devices together. The MPO/MTP to LC fan-out cable is also pinless (female), allowing direct coupling to MPO/MTP pre-terminated cables and splitting parallel fibers into four duplex LC connections. Once the pre-terminated fiber optic cabling components have been selected, the stock (such as optical distribution boxes, MPO/MTP to LC cassette, MPO/MTP adapter plate, MPO/MTP and LC jumpers) can easily add new links repeatedly. The length of MPO/MTP pre-terminated cables varies depending on the link distance.

5. The Advantages of Pre-terminated Fiber Optic Cabling Systems

Pre-terminated fiber optic cabling systems, that is, the termination and testing of fiber optic cabling products are all completed in the factory, and 100% tested. Compared with field-terminated fiber optic cabling solutions, pre-terminated fiber optic cabling solutions have the following advantages:

• Improve the efficiency of wiring at a lower cost
  The current data center is developing towards 40G/100G. If the traditional on-site termination method is used for data center wiring, there will be a lot of fiber splicing and cable management work, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive. The wiring effect is also not satisfactory. The pre-terminated optical fiber cabling products have the characteristics of plug-and-play and do not need any other tools during installation, so the time and labor cost of cabling can be minimized. Most importantly, the use of pre-terminated fiber optic cabling products can ensure stable and reliable performance of the cabling system.
• It is easier to achieve high-density wiring
  Now there are a variety of pre-terminated fiber optic wiring products on the market. These products have a modular design, which greatly saves the space occupied by wiring ports and cables, so that higher-density wiring can be achieved in a certain space.
• Simple operation, easy installation, saving installation time. Just plug and play as needed.
• The optical fiber link is fully protected. There are no fusion splices and bare fibers exposed to the air, and there will be no worries about aging and connector breakage.
• Easy and safe maintenance. The mechanical properties of the pre-connected fiber optic splitter are excellent, and the maintenance or operation process will not affect the normal use of the fiber.
• Ensure the quality of the wiring system
  Pre-terminated fiber optic cabling products can not only improve the efficiency of data center cabling, but also ensure the performance of the network. The quality of on-site termination and welding is closely related to the skill level of the construction personnel, so the final effect cannot be guaranteed. The pre-terminated optical fiber cabling products have been tested at the factory to ensure the reliability and performance stability of the products from production to deployment.
•  Ensure the flexibility of the wiring system
  The pre-terminated fiber optic product can be quickly and safely plugged and removed and reinstalled as needed.  It has great flexibility and scalability, and can better adapt to the needs of future network upgrades.

6. Summary

The pre-terminated fiber system has the characteristics of simple installation, fast construction, compact design, high precision, and plug-and-play. It is an ideal solution in the context of the growing demand for high-capacity cabling in data centers.

Bonelinks is a pre-terminated fiber optic cable manufacturer, our pre-terminated fiber system completes the termination and testing of high-density optical fiber connectors MPO/MTP and optical cables in the factory, realizing plug-and-play on-site and supporting rapid deployment in user data centers.

Bonelinks pre-terminated fiber optic cable system includes pre-terminated trunking cable, pre terminated patch cable, pre terminated patch panel etc. Our pre-terminated cable products are custom-made to specific requirements. We can meet any customer needs for product specifications, including connector type, fan-out type, fan-out length/tolerance, fiber optic cable structure, etc., for a wide range of applications, including FTTC, FTTB, FTTH, FTTA, data center, industrial, robotics, health care, etc.

Contact us if you have any needs.