How FTTx Application Requirements Drive Carrier Drop Cable Decisions

摘要

Carriers frequently request a single fiber optic drop cable design, capable of meeting all requirements across every FTTx deployment scenario, with the intent of simplifying their installation logistics, minimizing technician training, and minimizing cable stock keeping units (SKUs) or cable part numbers. This is often difficult to achieve, since fiber optic drop cable application requirements vary significantly within cities and countries based on geography, population density, and residential and commercial architecture. Regional preferences, personal preferences, accountant preferences, engineering preferences, technician preferences and, of course, economics and sales price and profit margins, all come into play every day, but we will steer clear of these topics for this technically-oriented paper. We will try to answer the 2 central questions; How do carrier application requirements drive drop cable decisions? Is there a single SKU universal drop cable that meets all carrier application requirements? Section 1, Introduction and History, provides a brief and generalized summary of fiber optic drop cables, both flat and round. Section 2, Application Overview and Breakdown, summarizes the general technical requirements for each of 5 drop cable application types. In Section 3, Jetting Trend Study, flat and round drop cables are compared utilizing jetting equipment to help determine if jetting requirements are becoming critical for some carrier applications. Finally, in Section 4, Two Central Questions, a summary view of how critical application requirements drive drop cable options is presented. Then, recent carrier and distributor purchasing data for field-terminated drop cables is analyzed to understand how many drop cable SKUs are being utilized. Common cable combinations from the analysis are shared before conclusions are summarized in Section 5.