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Ruggedized Fiber Patch Cables: Panacea for Harsh Environment

April 18, 2020

Designed for harsh environments, armored fiber optic cables, IP67 waterproof fiber optic cables, military-grade fiber optic cables, and FTTA patch cables are all available in the market to meet the corresponding demands. A comprehensive guide will introduce these types of optical fiber patch cables respectively.

Why Ruggedized Fiber Optic Cable Matters?

When conducting cabling deployment in some harsh environments, the following questions are rather common to come up with: Can they resist the erosion of oil or chemicals? Will they still work normally to adapt to the changeable weather? Do they have rodent-resistant ability? Today's ruggedized fiber optic patch cables with variants have the ability to meet the different requirements and help to provide more conveniences and extra protection for network systems.

How Many Types of Ruggedized Fiber Optic Cables?

Armored Fiber Patch Cable

Armored fiber optic cable with built-in metal armor is designed to provide stronger protection of the optical fibers than standard ones. It is constructed with helical stainless steel tape over a buffered fiber surrounded by a layer of aramid and stainless steel mesh with an outer jacket. The armored patch cables can be divided into single mode and multimode types, and the connectors can be LC, SC, FC, ST, LC/APC, SC/APC, FC/APC, etc.

Armored Patch Cables.jpg

These armored fiber optic patch cables are applied for both indoor and outdoor applications. They can be installed for indoor applications between and inside data centers, where cables are installed under the floor without worrying about the fiber cable crush issues. These armored fiber optic patch cables with high flexibility and durability can also be applied in harsh outdoor environments with excessive dust, or even damage-causing rodents, etc. The picture below offers several application scenarios of armored optical cables for indoor applications.

Armored Fiber Optic Cable Application Scenarios.jpg

IP67 Waterproof Fiber Optic Cable

IP67 waterproof fiber optic cable has a strong PU jacket and stainless steel armor inside for future protection. Derived from the IP (Ingress Protection) rating system that defined by International Standard IEC 60529, IP67 verifies a product that can provide against intrusion, dust, water, accidental contacts, etc. The number 6 describes the protection level of the solid object whereas 7 stands for the certification for water resistance. According to the connector types, the IP67 waterproof fiber optic cables have several types including IP67 MTP/MPO fiber cables, IP67 LC waterproof fiber cable and so on. Understanding IP67 Connector Rating for Waterproof Fiber Patch Cables will give a comprehensive introduction to you.

The IP67 waterproof fiber optic cables are anti-rodents and suitable for use in harsh environments like communication towers and CATV (Community Antenna Television), providing protection for networks.

Military Grade Fiber Optic Cable

Military-grade fiber optic cable is constructed of SUS spring tube, Kevlar, braiding and TPU outer jacket. Featuring strong tensile strength, strong pressure resistance, and good flexibility, these military-grade fiber cables are manufactured to comply with military requirements. The bending-resistance, oil-resistance, wear-resistance, and flame retardant characteristics also make it ideal for both indoor and outdoor applications, such as rapid wiring or repeated retrieval in the military field, connecting the networks of two buildings through the use of an underground conduit or direct buried.

Military Grade Armored Fiber Optic Patch Cable.jpg

Deploying military-grade fiber optic cables is considered as a de facto solution in military fields, since it's perfect for military emergency communications, broadcast television, emergency rush through optical fiber communications, mining and other outdoor applications where protection from moisture, chemicals, corrosive gases, liquids, etc. is essential.

Military-grade armored cable application scenarios.jpg

FTTA Patch Cable

FTTA patch cable is often terminated with LC connectors and has flame-retardant LSZH jacket which is UV stabilized and highly resistant to chemicals in outdoor environments. The hard spiral armored tube makes it more stable and higher tensile strength and the two strength members make it more convenient for pulling when installing. Generally speaking, this kind of patch cable can fit the needs of both indoor and outdoor installations.

FTTA Fiber Patch Cable.jpg

Featuring with superior crush resistance and high-flexibility, these FTTA cables are designed for high reliability in harsh outdoor environment applications, including fiber to the antenna solution, suitable for both indoor and outdoor installations. The application situations cover fiber-to-the antenna (FTTA) cabling for current 4G/LTE and 5G network and base station construction connecting AAU and RRU, also suitable for wireless horizontal and vertical cabling in indoor and outdoor environments.

FTTA Patch Cable Application Scenario.jpg

Brief Summary

The harsh environment has always been a challenge to fiber optic systems. The ruggedized fiber optic cables play important roles in ensuring flawless connections in some challenging environments like mining, moisture, chemicals, etc. They are deployed not only in indoor datacenters but also in outdoor military defense fields. Armored fiber optic cable, IP67 waterproof fiber optic cable, military-grade fiber optic cable, and FTTA patch cable that we've discussed today are available for these hazardous working environments when conducting network deployments.


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