SAN DIEGO -- At this week's OFC/ NFOEC 2010, OFS introduced its EZ-Bend Bundled MDU Cabling System, designed to replace traditional indoor riser and drop systems with an exterior solution that may reduce installation labor hours by up to 60%, according to the company. This savings is achieved by eliminating indoor pathway creation and the terminations between backbone and drop cabling, through the use of a factory manufactured integrated assembly.
RELATED ARTICLE: Subscriber connectivity in FTTH networks
The EZ-Bend Bundled MDU Cabling System assemblies are made with 5 or 6 EZ-Bend 4.8 millimeter indoor/outdoor cables stranded around a messenger cable which can be alternately secured to either the roof or base of the building as required by the application. Each of the EZ-Bend cables in the bundle is shipped from the factory with an angled SC connector under an outdoor-rated protective covering, in a twenty-foot coil of excess cable at the terminated end that is positioned at a distance equal to the floor spacing on most multi-floor residential structures. This compact design blends seamlessly with the exterior metallic cabling systems that have been deployed on many buildings and, therefore, does not diminish the aesthetics of the MDU.
OFS says its patent pending EZ-Bend Technology is the first to provide <0.1 dB per 5 mm radius turn bending loss performance at 1550 nm using a solid glass fiber construction, while being fully splice and performance compatible with typical installed fibers for drop applications. The solid synthetic silica construction of EZ-Bend fiber enables the use of conventional fusion splicing equipment, conventional connector mounting, conventional connector cleaning processes, and avoids the compatibility pitfalls of hole-assisted and nano-structured fibers. A robust optical cable design helps protect the optical fiber from being kinked or crushed.
