Comprehensive comparison between blown optical fiber and traditional optical fiber cabling

Most of the integrated cable systems are installed using traditional optical fiber systems. In this case, appropriate Optical Fiber installation should be carried out using the discussed design methods. The system has proved to be feasible, reliable, stable, mature, and excellent through numerous successful cases.

Recently, another installation technology called "air blow optical fiber" was developed by the end of 1980s many years ago. The principle of the Air-blown Optical Fiber System is to install a set of pipelines between the locations where the optical fiber is to be or possibly taken. This is also called a catheter or micro-pipe ". When an optical fiber needs to be laid between two points of the network, the optical fiber is blown into the pipe through a dedicated installer, and then connected to the optical fiber using the connector.

The traditional optical fiber installation principle is: the optical fiber cable is placed in a catheter or cable trough, and then dragged from one point to another. The diameter of a large optical fiber cable with 288 optical fiber lines does not exceed 1 inch, which is much smaller than the multi-pipe structure used in the air-blown Optical Fiber System. After the optical cable is dragged, the optical fiber is laid and the hardware device is connected. The link loss can be determined and the optical fiber can be put into use. The material cost of this system is lower than that of the air-blown optical fiber system because hardware is not required in other places except at both ends of the optical cable. The design is fixed and can be maintained for a long time. You can move the system or change the system. You do not need to ask the installer to come back for a new upgrade. In addition, single-mode optical fiber cables can be installed to provide future upgrade methods.

The air-blown Optical Fiber System in the LAN environment claims to have a lower cost advantage, and traditional optical fiber cabling systems cannot be compared with it. It is said that air-blown optical fiber systems can save space and time, while also improving system design and flexibility. However, other problems also need to be considered, such as compliance with standards, costs, open vendor support, quality and strong toughness, scale and ease of use. Whether it is an air-blown optical fiber system or a traditional system to install optical cables, there may be unexpected needs in the future.

The flexibility in the traditional air blow optical fiber system directly affects the cost of the entire system. The air-blown Optical Fiber System is used. If no pipe is provided between two points, the optical fiber cannot be installed. Like traditional optical fiber systems, new optical fiber cables must be installed without optical fiber cables. However, as described in the Design chapter, if redundant links are installed as part of the traditional wiring design, patch or network switch can easily solve the various routing, loop topology and extra optical fiber required.

Air-blown Optical Fiber System, the installation depends on the diameter of the optical fiber product, the diameter of the catheter, the friction index of the materials used, air flow, pressure, the number of vertical rises, the blockage of the catheter, And the intermittent interruption of the catheter. These factors can lead to uncertainty of installation distance and height. Moreover, if future changes are required, fiber cables should be installed in areas without a catheter or pipe, and the laying of catheter systems in a building will become a major obstacle. After a period of time, the catheter or pipe system may be subject to strict processing. General building applications involve installation of additional optical cables, power supply in public facilities, alarms, sprinklers, HVAC, speakers, compressed air, indoor water supply and drainage facilities, etc) install regular services on and operations that may cause danger to existing facilities. If the pipe looks durable, it must be durable. The maintainer may think that the air-blown optical fiber pipe may be more durable than it is actually, and will handle it according to this feeling. It is worth noting that the air blowing program is very sensitive to humidity and temperature, and the air blowing performance varies in different environments. However, the traditional wiring system is extremely stable and strong; it can adapt to a wide range of temperature changes and various environmental conditions.

If the pipeline is congested, broken, or the airflow is incomplete, any cost or time advantage will quickly disappear. In addition, it will always happen if no MPs queue is installed in the places that need to be added in the system in the future. Although the cost of installing empty pipelines may be relatively low, but the cost of both optical fiber and air blowing is high, the final installation cost is higher than the traditional optical fiber system, the maximum difference is 50% ).

In voice, data, or video communication, reliability is the most important aspect of the communication system. To ensure reliability, it is safer to use tested optical fiber cables that comply with industry standards. These standards include not only optical fiber standards, but also machinery. And environmental indexes, such as fire and smoke requirements. Optical fiber cables and catheter products must be able to withstand rough expansion and loading during installation; they must be used in non-General buildings. Routine building maintenance, over-crowded access areas, movement or movement of public facilities will pose potential difficulties for future installation teams to remove or access optical cables to blow more optical fibers. The use of products that do not comply with industry standards or that are not tested poses a certain level of risk at the expense of system reliability, and may result in a single source situation. Air Blown optical fiber is an alternative product and is not widely accepted by the LAN application market. It is a proprietary technology. The current version uses different or incompatible components and technologies. This limits the options for the present and future.

System Integrity will eventually become an important practical requirement. If we fully consider the future situation, the cost-effective system will lead to difficulties in terms of guarantees and responsibilities. Who is responsible for the unfulfilled expectations discovered after several years of initial work completion? What is the degree of reliability? What is its impact on development? How can we determine the cause of the problem and who is responsible for the cost? With traditional cabling infrastructure, these problems can be designed in advance.

The traditional Optical Cable Design and wiring rack hardware can be introduced from the middle segment, and allow the optical fiber to "flow" the middle point. Connectors and connectors are used only when fiber points are needed or for convenience. It seems impractical to extract the middle section from a non-compliant, plastic-coated optical fiber product. In fact, disconnecting from the middle may damage the aerodynamic integrity of the Air-blown optical fiber pipe. To enjoy the simplicity of Air-blown Optical Fiber installation, you must create a homing line from the data center to each terminal. Otherwise, you must install air-blown equipment in multiple locations. From the perspective of integration and interconnection, the air blown optical fiber system has no obvious advantages.

The final connection of the Air-blown optical fiber cable is no different from that of the traditional optical fiber cable. However, you must pay more attention to the bending radius so that the pipe bundle has a good air-blown environment. Bending too tight will shorten the distance between the air-blown fiber cores ).

Fiber optic protection in pipelines is limited, and there are no internal strength components. It does not have the same level of tensile strength as traditional optical cables, or the ability to withstand pressure. Avaya's AccuMAX building optical cable can withstand 200 lbs of occasional tension, up to eight times the above standard twisted-pair copper cable.

After wiring is completed and debugged, maintenance is almost unnecessary for traditional cabling systems. You can add ports or mobile devices as needed, so the operation will not be greatly affected. However, during the operation of the air blow Optical Fiber System, the installation personnel should be arranged to the site. The maintenance of the air blow optical fiber distribution system requires accurate pipeline distribution records, and requires various specialized optical cables to be combined and inserted into hardware devices, air blow equipment and well-trained installers. Compressor Air-blown optical fiber is required, which may affect health and safety and cannot be used for air-blown operations in industrial or office environments in the future. All air-blown optical fiber networks should consider air blocking at the internal or external junction of the building's population, and water blocking at the external and underground links.

Air-blown optical fiber cables are technically feasible installation methods for building internal optical cables. However, even under ideal application conditions, system reliability is extremely important. Therefore, we recommend that you use products that comply with industry standards. The large number of application notes described above make it as difficult to plan the air-blown optical fiber system as to plan the traditional wiring system. In traditional cabling systems, redundant links can be easily designed into traditional cabling systems. However, in air-blown optical fiber systems, redundant links will make the access of installers more complex in the future. Traditional optical cable systems comply with industry standards and are supported by multiple manufacturers. In terms of initial costs, the investment in installation of optical fiber cables for traditional buildings is higher than that of the air-blown optical fiber system, but it requires more connectors and connectors than the air-blown Optical Fiber System, in addition, the maintenance cost will be lower in the future. Users who purchase the air blow optical fiber system will only rely on individual manufacturers to provide expensive products or improve performance.

Traditional optical fiber cabling technology is a certified and standard-based method. In the future, it can easily meet the requirements of strict LAN customers. Wiring should only be performed once! Who would like to invite the installation personnel to the site? Avaya recommends that you use a traditional optical fiber building cabling system, which provides long-term system reliability and timely and flexible use. Cost predictability and comprehensive industry-standard compatibility for the best choice of fiber cabling for buildings.