Category: FOTC

Short-Reach Singlemode Puts Reflectance on the Radar

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Insertion loss budgets have gotten tighter as we have moved from 10 to 40/100 Gig for multimode fiber applications. One would think that we can’t say the same for singlemode applications that have historically meant larger loss budgets – 6.3 dB for 100 Gig over singlemode (100GBASE-LR4) versus just 1.9 dB for 100 Gig over multimode (100GBASE-SR4). But that’s no longer the case with new short-reach singlemode applications. And it’s not just insertion loss that matters with these applications; you now need to also be concerned with reflection.

Shared infrastructure for smart cities

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Most people think of 5G as a new wireless service for faster smartphones, but it is also a medium that enables a city to become smarter. In the future, cities will use new applications and the Internet of Things (IoT) to enrich the lives and safety of their residents and visitors. In fact, citizens and visitors will experience new, 5G-enabled technologies such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and autonomous vehicle applications by using smartphones in their daily lives. They will demand these technologies from cities as well. We’ll see an increasing expectation for integration of technology into city services and capabilities.

Four trends that benefit data centers

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What are the key trends that are impacting data centers so deeply? Growth. By 2021 global internet traffic will increase up to three times. The role of hyperscale data centers pushing speed and innovation.New network architectures are required to support virtualization and unimagined transmission speeds.; and FOG Computing, which extends the cloud to the edge.

New and emerging cabling standards from the TIA

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The Telecommunications Industry Association’s (TIA) TR-42 Telecommunications Cabling Systems Engineering Committee is perpetually developing and refining standards documents to guide the specification, design, installation and administration of cabling and related communications systems. TR-42’s most recent meeting took place June 9-13. Based on subcommittee-meeting minutes and other reports, here is a rundown of some of the current and recent activity from TR-42.

Correct Fiber Cleaning Critical to 5G Success

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To provide the kind of faultless multi-gigabyte service promised by 5G, the fibre used in networks must be properly installed and maintained correctly. Therefore, it is important to address the need for the effective training of technicians. The deployment of 5G networks will only be successful if a skilled workforce is created who understand the correct way in which to carry out all of the processes.

Data center planning

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Data centers are the control hubs of businesses and organizations. Complex architectures and operating workflows, as well as a range of different applications, all pose a challenge for the network infrastructure. The quality requirements that are placed on structured, application-neutral cabling are correspondingly high. Individualized planning and a high level of automatic cable management play an important role. Transmission paths and attenuation budgets must be considered right from the start in the design of a modern data center. This is because efficient cabling forms the basis for the trouble-free operation of all the processes and this factor must therefore be taken into account during the data center planning phase.

Cabling Mistakes #9: Rely on Duplex Tester for MPO Cable Certification

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Let’s take a look at the #9 Dumb Thing that smart people do when testing network cabling systems—relying on a duplex tester for certifying MPO trunks. Field testing is the only way to ensure that MPO links meet the application performance requirements. Despite the fact that pre-terminated MPO fiber cables are manufactured and tested by vendors to comply with ANSI/TIA and international standards, there are many factors that can potentially impact performance. First of all, MPO connectors are harder to clean than duplex connectors. The 12-fiber MPO interface features an array with a much larger surface area, which unfortunately makes it easier to move contaminants from one fiber to another within the same array during the cleaning process. 40 and 100 Gbps MPO fiber applications also have much lower loss budgets so it’s important to ensure the highest testing accuracy as possible.