^4fDesign, Development, and Performance of an Innovative Air-blown Ribbon System for Premise, Campus, and Metro Networks

摘要

^7fThis paper introduces the design of an air-blown ribbon system. The ribbon unit is based on industry standard optical fiber ribbon constructions, with the addition of UV acrylate layers and glass microspheres. The ribbon unit is installed into tube cables using high velocity gas flow. First, the design of the air blown ribbon (ABR) unit is introduced. Discussion includes desired material properties and required performance criteria. The second section of the paper focuses on the development of the ABR unit, and introduces several unique test methods that were devised to evaluate design structure and predict field installation performance. The third section of the work covers ABR unit performance including attenuation and tube installation. The paper concludes with a summary.