Funky ribbon

Employing ribbon fibre cables will provide a considerable amount of “future-proofing”, as the bandwidth requirements grow higher and higher, year-by-year. Japan, for example, is completely dominated by the ribbon fibre cables. In Italy, and Scandinavia too, the markets are dominated by ribbon fibre techniques and it is making in-roads into the American market as well. While it has been slower to take off in the UK and Europe, a number of pan-European network operators are now using ribbon fibre as standard.

Single fibre cable is not about to disappear overnight – there is just too much of it and it is entrenched in our national culture, but there are growing opportunities for companies that install and service networks if they are prepared to familiarise themselves with ribbon fibre cable practices and technologies.

It is not hard to see why some areas have embraced ribbon fibre cables so enthusiastically. The advantages are listed below:

• smaller cable diameter;

• accommodates high fibre count (high packing density);

• saves space for installation;

• small bending radius;

• light weight;

• easy handling;

• longer section length;

• reduces number of straight joints.

Preparation of ribbon fibre cables for splicing and jointing is similar to that of loose tube fibre cables. The following shows the steps to be performed in the preparations for both types of cables. Ribbon fibre would exclude steps three and four:

1 – remove cable sheath;

2 – clean cable;

3 – remove tube (loose tube only);

4 – clean fibres (loose tube only);

5 – preparation of splicing (stripping, cleaning, and cleaving fibres);

6 – splicing;

7 – splice protecting;

8 – set into splice tray.

Joint enclosures can be of a much smaller size for ribbon fibre cables, and one splice protector can encapsulate and protect up to 12 fibres. Ribbon cables can be spliced far more quickly in the field than loose tube fibre cables. A 12-12 ribbon fibre splice can be made in almost the same time as it would to make a single fibre splice.

Fibre optic component manufacturers are increasingly offering ribbon connections as standard, especially on advance integrated optical devices. This is not just because of the growing popularity of ribbon as a format, but also because manufacturers find it much easier to bond ribbon fibre to the optical devices and components. They save time and money. The increasing availability of ribbon connections on devices is in turn further fuelling the popularity of the format as ribbon-to-ribbon connection becomes possible in more cases with no need for breaking the ribbons down.

Ribbon fibre cables do have their disadvantages though. Splicing them is more complex and demanding. With single fibres, core-to-core alignment has led to a standard of precision in splicing that is quite extraordinary. Ribbon splicing uses a V groove technique in place of core-to-core alignment and, to achieve low splice loss results, better splicing machines and highly skilled operators are required.

The dirty dozen

Ribbon fibre splicing machines are available from manufacturers, with capabilities to splice up to four, eight and 12 fibres per ribbon. In the Japanese market, four and eight fibre cables dominate and the same is true for the types of splicers. In America, it is more common to see the use of 12 fibre ribbon splicers.

Recent developments have seen the introduction of a 24-fibre ribbon cable. No one has yet produced a splicing machine to tackle such a cable in a single go – they are split into two separate 12-fibre ribbons before splicing. Ribbon fibre splicing machines also have special accessories for fibre preparation such as hot jacket stripping tools for the acrylate coatings, splice protectors, and ribbon fibre holders.

Most western manufacturers and training organisations have been caught out by the expansion of ribbon fibre. They do not have any history with the techniques and technology and this is reflected in the kind of splicing equipment now appearing on the market.

There are few service and support engineers adequately trained on ribbon splicers outside of Italy and Scandinavia and back up support can be poor. Fujikura Europe has taken steps to address the question. It ensures that its engineers are fully trained on ribbon splicing machines and has established a dedicated European service centre at Chessington.

So, what should service companies do to capitalise on the growing demand for ribbon installation and maintenance services? Firstly, they need to be in the market. If they don’t understand ribbon, and don’t have engineers capable of working with it, they are far less likely to be selected to do the job. The opportunity for competitors to make inroads is obvious. At the same time, it is hard to justify the cost of ‘tooling up” for ribbon work and training staff if the work is not there. A good compromise, given the current state of the market, is to train staff in ribbon fibre cable splicing techniques and then hire equipment as and when necessary until volume of work justifies the capital purchase.

A small number of companies, Fujikura among them, offer training courses in ribbon fibre cable technology and splicing. Training for ribbon fibre splicing can be provided in bespoke format or to City & Guilds accreditation. It is also possible to hire ribbon splicers rather than to buy them. This is a useful way of discovering their relative merits in the field and will enable even smaller companies to work on ribbon fibre cable projects without breaking the bank.