Ultra Compact Indoor Optical Fiber Cables & Applications. Patrick Van Vickle

Transcription

1 Ultra Compact Indoor Optical Fiber Cables & Applications Patrick Van Vickle 1

2 Outline 1. Introduction 2. Ribbon and Cable Design 1. Pliable Ribbon Construction 2. Cable Design 3. Cable Qualification 4. Ribbon Splicing 5. Network Hardware 6. Conclusions 2

3 Introduction n Modern datacenter fabrics have a high level of connectivity. n Hyperscale datacenter may contain hundreds of thousands of connections. n The connections may cover a geographically diverse distance from feet to miles. A. Andreyev, Introducing data center fabric, the nextgeneration Facebook data center network, (November, 2014). 3

4 Introduction n The number of connections required comes up against restrictions in space available in duct banks. n Running or replacing duct bank is very expensive. n Ultra high fiber count OSP cables have been optimized to serve this need. Ref: 4

5 Introduction n A similar need exists in the indoor environment. n The space available for cable in overhead cable trays is limited. n This combined with the desire to mate fewer cables to the high density cables coming from the OSP. Ref: 5

6 Ribbon Design n The advent of pliable ribbon allowed for great reductions in cable diameter. n The basic structure of pliable ribbon is well known and relies on the ability of a ribbon to hold both flat and round structures. n The optimization for splicing through selection of pitch and width of attachment by ribbon matrix is less well known. n This design optimization allows for splicing to conventional ribbon with no glue or special tools. 6

7 Ribbon and Cable Design n Early designs focused on substantial reductions in cable outer diameter. n Later optimization further reduced outer diameter and cable weight. n Examples of early and more optimized cables are shown including 288 fiber and 1728f riser rated cables. 7

8 Specialized Components for HFC Connection This illustration shows the locations and components needed in a datacenter ecosystem. What is described here are all components leading up to the server rack. 8

9 Splice Closures A redesigned splice closure was necessary to accommodate the higher fiber counts in space similar to much lower fiber count enclosures. New design features are introduced such as the one shown where risers are temporarily attached to the closure are used to lift and hold the splice bank above the slack management. 9

10 Network Hardware A building entry exchange did not exist that could handle the volume of fiber required. A new design was needed. In this example the exchange can handle 41,472 fiber. 10

11 Ribbon Splicing n Whether splicing to standard ribbon (shown top) or pliable ribbon to itself (bottom) the ribbon must be placed in a fiber optic ribbon fusion splicer. 11

12 Ribbon Splicing Standard flat ribbon Pliable ribbon As door is closed the fiber align into the holder 12

13 Ribbon Splicing Once the ribbon is stripped and cleaved it is ready for splicing 13

14 Indoor Cable Deployment n Once the fiber has transitioned to indoor cable it must be terminated in a rack. n Efficiency can be increased with high fiber counts using panels preterminated with ribbon fanouts ready for splicing or prestubbed with cable. 14

15 Rack Level Cable Mangement Once the ultra high fiber count cables arrive at the rack they may be either be broken down into smaller fiber denominations or dropped straight to the panel. Multiple options were engineered including dropping from 6912f to a modular approach of 864f or 1728f. 15

16 Conclusions n Datacenter architecture has evolved to use a very high degree of connectivity. n The space available for cables and associated hardware has not increased. n The architecture and space limitations have necessitated the need for optimized ultra high fiber count cables in small diameters. n The introduction of these cables has necessitated the entire ecosystem around network architecture to evolve. n A new series of cable, enclosures, building entry exchanges, rack mount panels along with rapid deployment reels is necessary to ensure the system works as a whole. 16