The drop optical cable constitutes the optical cable line from the user access point to the terminal, which is crucial to the FTTH network.
Drop cables are specially designed for the last mile in the FTTH network. It enhances the accessibility of the fiber and maximizes the installed capacity.
You can learn everything you need to know about fiber optic drop cables in this blog.
What is drop cable?
The drop cable (or FTTH drop cable) is an optical cable used in the user lead-in section of the fiber-to-the-home FTTH network.
It is also suitable for the drop segment of other fiber access networks such as fiber-to-the-office (FTTO) and fiber-to-the-building (FTTB).
The structure of the lead-in cable is to place the optical fiber unit in the center of the cable, and place two parallel strength members (metallic steel wire, non-metallic FRP, or KFRP) on both sides. Add a steel wire reinforcement (suspension wire) on the outside, and finally extrude a low-smoke zero-halogen outer sheath to form a cable.
Self-supporting drop cables(as shown in the figure below) are mainly used for overhead laying.
Features and Advantages
Drop cables have the following features and benefits:
(1) Low-smoke, halogen-free (LSZH) sheath
(2) Simple structure, light weight and strong practicability
(3) Two parallel strengthening cores make the cable have good compressive performance
(4) The addition of a single steel wire to strengthen the core makes the optical cable have good tensile properties
(5) Bending-insensitive optical fiber makes the cable have better bending resistance
(6) The structure is novel, easy to strip the optical cable and weld the optical fiber, and the installation and maintenance are simple
(7) High cost performance
Types of Drop Cable
The main types of drop cables include indoor drop cables (GJXFH, GJXH, GJXKH), outdoor self-supporting drop cables (GJYXCH, GJYXFCH, GJYXKCH), flat drop cables, and round drop cables.
Indoor drop cable (GJXFH, GJXH, GJXKH)
Indoor FTTH indoor lead-in cables (GJXFH, GJXH, GJXKH) adopt a butterfly-shaped flat structure, place the optical fiber unit in the center of the cable, place two parallel strength members (metal steel wire, non-metal FRP or KFRP) on both sides, and finally extrude a low-smoke and no-smoke The halogen outer sheath is cabled.
Outdoor self-supporting FTTH drop cable (GJYXCH, GJYXFCH, GJYXKCH)
Outdoor self-supporting lead-in optical cables (GJYXCH, GJYXFCH, GJYXKCH) place the optical fiber unit in the center of the optical cable, place two parallel strength members (metal steel wire, non-metal FRP or KFRP) on both sides, and add a steel wire strength member on the outside ( Suspension wire), and finally extrude a low-smoke halogen-free outer sheath into a cable.
Flat drop cable
Flat drop fiber optic cable is famous for its flat appearance, usually made of polyethylene (PE) sheath, loose tube with optical fiber inside, and two FRP strength members to provide high tensile and compressive resistance. The maximum number of cores is 12 cores.
Round drop cable
Round drop cables typically contain a single bend-insensitive optical fiber, buffered and surrounded by a dielectric strength member (aramid) and an outer jacket to provide durability and reliability at the drop section of the network.
Application of Drop Cable
Drop cables are used in the following applications:
(1) Access to the network
(2) Use end-user direct wiring
(3) FTTH indoor wiring and distribution
(4) FTTX
(5) Office building
(6) Computer room, cable TV, closed-circuit TV
(7) Indoor and outdoor
(8) Long-distance and local trunk lines
(9) Computer network system, telecommunications, backbone
(10) Self-supporting overhead, direct buried or pipeline installation
