Arrayed Fiberoptics says it now offers sectional ribbon fiber cable. The sectional ribbon fiber approach enables several advantages over conventional ribbon fiber cable, according to the company.
The company notes that ribbon fiber cable has become increasingly popular in a variety of fiber network applications, due to its comparatively small size and the ability to use a mass fusion splicer to splice all fiber simultaneously. However, conventional ribbon cables, based on the use of bonded fiber in an epoxy matrix, can be stiff in the horizontal dimension. This stiffness, besides making handling more cumbersome, can lead to undue fiber stress as well as fiber breaks.
The sectional approach sees the fibers bonded in small sections rather than over their entire length. This technique results in greater cable flexibility as well as, in some cases, the ability to accommodate larger fiber counts. Arrayed Fiberoptics points to the work of Fujikura and OFS in this regard (see "Openreach chooses Fujikura Spider Web Ribbon fiber cable and fusion splicers for FTTH deployments," "AFL Wrapping Tube Cable with Spider Web Ribbon," and "Rolling in Fiber").
The company’s new sectional ribbon fiber cable, which leverages these new fibers, thus offers greater reliability and handling ease than traditional ribbon fiber cables. Arrayed Fiberoptics sees the cable as an improvement for fiber-optic device applications such as routing ribbon fibers in packaging as well as in general use. The company also sees potential for such fibers in on-board optics and co-packaging applications.
Evaluation samples of are immediately available.
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