By Tom Warren
It is an old business cliché. To many engineers “Do More with Less” is one of the most dreaded phrases in the English language. Engineers that I talk with in the MSO industry have been dealing with this issue for several years. With lean business models, they are being tasked with completing more projects with fewer engineers and resources. They are also being asked to accomplish more things (Fiber to the Business, Cell Backhaul, RFOG, and Node Segmentation) with their existing fiber network.
Let’s turn the negative connotation of this term around. Clearfield recently announced the new “Fiber Deep” fiber termination standards with a maximum insertion loss of .2 dB. For many years the industry standard has typically been .4dB. This new specifications has been achieved by tightly controlling the manufacturing and testing processes. The end result is a high quality end face with lower loss characteristics.
So what does this mean to the MSO industry? It means you can do more things with reduced costs of deployments and make your network more flexible by having less optical loss in the network. The best thing is that it will require no additional man hours or resources to accomplish this. By using Fiber Deep .2 insertion loss jumpers in your network instead of standard .4 jumpers this will save up to .2dB per mated pair. Let’s look at how this will help in a couple of real world scenarios.
In most business services and Cell Back Haul Applications a CWDM or DWDM passive component is being used to combine multiple wavelengths on to one fiber. Optical components like WDM’s create optical loss. By using Fiber Deep patch cords you can recoup the loss created by the 4 channel WDM in the head end. This will extend the reach of your fiber network to more customers. Cost savings can also be achieved through reduced cost of electronics. Lower power SFP’s can now be used.
The value of the Fiber Deep jumpers also extends to the HFC network. With reduced mated pair loss, lower power EDFA’s can be used. By using five mated pairs of Fiber Deep cable assemblies there will 1dB less loss in the network. The typical price difference between a 19 dB and 20 dB EDFA is $415. Instant savings on this project by using better quality products.
To recap, doing more with less can be a good thing. Give me a call if you would like to discuss how Clearfield can assist you in maximizing the potential of your network.