TecHnoLoGy - Broadband Properties

ADC Launches Three New FTTH ProductsFrom BBP WiresMINNEAPOLIS – ADC made severalannouncements expanding its FTTHproduct line, including:Ruggedized reduced-bend-radiusfiber cables: Aiming to overcome thechallenges of installing fiber in MDUs,ADC (www.adc.com) launched the RealFlexbrand of reduced-bend-radius fiber(RBRF) drop cable solutions. Thesecombine a rugged cabling originallydeveloped for military applications withreduced-bend-radius fiber. The fiber(not developed by ADC) allows for abend radius as small as 7.5 mm withoutchanging attenuation characteristics,and provides improved insertion lossperformance for the many 90-degreebend locations found in MDU environments.ADC’s ruggedized indoor/outdoor jacketing can be stapled withoutcompromising insertion loss performance.“You can drive over it with atank,” says Trevor Smith, ADC’s FTTxprogram manager.The RealFlex line includes indoor/outdoor, riser and plenum type cables,and comes in 3 mm and 5 mm sizes.Smith says RealFlex 3 mm is the only3 mm cable on the market that can bestapled, and is preferred for rewiringexisting buildings. The 5 mm cable is abetter choice for new buildings, wherecable can be put through walls. The ruggedcable design and preconnectorizedcables allow technicians to wire MDUsvery quickly – overcoming MDU owners’objections that FTTH wiring takestoo long, according to Smith. He adds,“If the installer understands how toroute telephone or coax or Ethernetcable, they’ll be just fine with RealFlexwithout additional training. It’s makingMDUs far more accessible … earlier ittook too long, and required specializedlabor. Fiber to the MDU will start toopen up over the next two years.”WDM-PON splitter: Another recentADC announcement was a WDM-PON application for the company’sPONy Express access transport platform.In this application, the PONy Express,a transport platform, is combinedwith a wavelength-division-multiplexedpassive optical network (WDM-PON)plug-and-play splitter in a fiber distributioncabinet. The splitter spectrallyslices a seed light from the optical lineterminal into individual wavelengthsthat are passed to the optical networkterminals. This enables cost-effectiveaccess to business parks, campuses, andmultidwelling unit/multitenant unitsover a shared network infrastructurewithout sacrificing security or limitingbandwidth. Up to 16 customers can besimultaneously connected, with eachhaving up to 1 Gbps of dedicated, sym-102 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | July 2008