Discussion on Fiber Optic Connection Technology in Integrated Cabling

Fiber optic cables have now become an indispensable part of network cabling design. With advantages such as large communication capacity, strong anti-interference performance, and high security, they are widely used in cabling networks. In response to market demand, fiber optic systems have also entered horizontal and desktop applications.

In current common fiber optic cabling networks, since the process and quality of fiber used in cabling are generally stable, the characteristics of optical cables composed of fiber and various components such as fiber optic connectors, patch cords, and pigtails are mostly stable. Moreover, during actual cabling usage, they are relatively fixed. Therefore, the factors that may actually affect the stability of fiber optic networks are mostly concentrated on fiber optic connection technology. Below, we analyze and discuss the currently more common fiber optic connection technologies:

1. Cold splicing or field polishing of fiber optic connectors

Those who have been engaged in factory manufacturing and production of fiber optic products should be very familiar with this. Field polishing and factory manufacturing are two completely different methods that cannot be compared. The factory uses a dedicated polishing machine with a five-step polishing process from coarse to fine, while field polishing cannot adjust pressure or maintain consistency with manual polishing.

Perhaps in traditional low-speed networks of the past, even if insertion loss and return loss exceeded standards or connections were unstable, it might have been acceptable for network applications because fiber had sufficient margin to absorb the impact of these factors. However, in today's increasingly high-performance networks, many indicators and parameters are extremely sensitive. Because links fail to meet design requirements or are time-consuming and labor-intensive, designers or installers are often perplexed. Situations such as loss exceeding network design requirements or test failures occur from time to time.

2. Fusion splicing method

Fiber fusion splicing is currently a more widely adopted connection method. Relatively speaking, fusion splicing offers higher success rates and connection quality. However, it should also be noted that fusion spliced joints are one of the main factors prone to damage or failure. Since maintenance operations on equipment are necessary during use and maintenance, its safety is a concern that must be considered. Under normal circumstances, fusion splicing can achieve relatively low connection loss, generally below 0.2dB, but return loss is not easy to control. At the same time, during the fiber fusion splicing process, there are many external factors affecting splicing quality. If multi-fiber ribbon fiber optic connectors such as MTP, which are still rarely used domestically, are adopted, ribbon fiber fusion splicers are even less able to avoid the reality of excessive loss in individual fibers during the splicing process.