Enterprise Design Guide - Public - CommScope

Premises (Indoor) Fiber Optic Cable -
Cordage and Breakout cable
Fiber optic cables have evolved into families of cables for specific purposes within the network.
While twisted pair cables are typically classified by performance, fiber cable types are
classified by how and where they are installed.
Cordage
Cordage is a cable group that includes simplex, zipcord, interconnect and duplex cable.
Cordage is used in the horizontal segment and for patch and equipment cables. It is available
for plenum, riser and indoor/outdoor environments.
Simplex cable
Simplex cable is a single tight buffered fiber surrounded by aramid yarn and jacketed
with a flexible fire-rated polymer in various diameters up to 2.9 mm. It can be spliced or
connectorized and is normally used for pigtails and patch cables.
Zipcord
Zipcord is two simplex units cabled together to give the resulting transmit/receive fiber pair
better organization. Zipcord is designed for use in patch cords.
Interconnect cable
Interconnect cable is two tight buffered fibers surrounded by aramid yarn and jacketed. It is
most commonly used for horizontal links.
Breakout cable
Breakout cable is several simplex cables jacketed together for ease of handling in horizontal
links.
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