Every serious installer who completes a structured cabling deployment will test all links in some way to ensure they are properly connected. But is it necessary to fully certify and document the performance of every link?
Certification testing offers significant benefits, and skipping it brings substantial risk. The following five reasons and expert words of wisdom make the case that it’s worth fully certifying and documenting every job.
VIAVI Solutions today expanded its fiber optic test solutions portfolio with the addition of the INX 760 probe microscope.The first fully…
Whether it’s outside plant (OSP) infrastructure, links between equipment in the data center, or the backbone in a LAN, a light source and power meter (LSPM) test set is the most vital of all tools for testing an installed fiber plant. Most specifications require Tier 1 testing per TIA and ISO standards using an LSPM to calculate total insertion loss and length. And even if a specification calls for Tier 2 testing, which requires an
optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR) for determining insertion loss and reflection of individual connection points, final insertion loss testing still needs to be done with an LSPM test set that provides the most accurate overall channel loss testing.
All cable suppliers say that if you want a long-term warranty on your installation, #certification is required. There are other benefits for you as the installer, too: protection in case of disputes, quality control, even your reputation among your customers and the competition. Let’s look at the value of certification for your projects in different situations.
Power over Ethernet (PoE) technology allows electrical power for lighting, HVAC and security systems to flow over an Ethernet cable rather than standard electrical wiring. #PoE simplifies cabling because only one cable is needed to provide electrical power and other applications to devices in a local area network (LAN) system.
As the demand for broadband continues to surge, it is crucial to explore ways of improving the efficiency of broadband access rollouts while effectively meeting post-pandemic needs.
NTT-Advanced Technology Research cites that 80% of network problems are due to dirty connectors, and the No. 1 cause of network failure is contaminated connectors. For MPOs, inspection and cleaning become even more critical. Given that a single dirty or damaged connector can impact 24 fibers—or more—with MPO connectors, taking critical communications lines out of service for troubleshooting will cause service interruptions for numerous customers.
How can the performance of MPO links be ensured? It all starts with testing. There are the five essential things you need to do: connector inspection, proper cleaning, polarity-type validation, continuity confirmation, and choosing the right referencing method.
EXFO’s Vincent Racine discusses the fundamental role that MPO connectivity plays in network densification. The rise in popularity of MPO connectivity has brought to light certain challenges in the field, including some related to testing and polarity. Racine describes the practicalities of meeting these challenges in the field using test equipment.
Subsea or submarine cables are fiber optic cables that connect countries across the world via cables laid on the ocean floor. These cables – often thousands of miles in length – are able to transmit huge amounts of data rapidly from one point to another. According to a 2019 report by StableSeas, commercial undersea cables transmit 97% of this internet and telecommunications data. With such heavy reliance on the technology, there’s no denying that submarine cabling is supporting the global economy, and an outage could have catastrophic consequences, which makes proper testing of submarine networks critical.
In their latest revision (September 2022), the Telecom Industry Association (TIA) added MPO test requirements and procedures to their optical fiber cabling component standard, ANSI/TIA-568.3-E.
The revision adds MPO-specific requirements referencing TIA-526-28. TIA-526-28 is an adoption of IEC 61280-4-5 and deals with attenuation measurement of MPO-terminated fiber optic cabling plant using test equipment with MPO interfaces.
