Multiple fibres aligned in a single connector for street installation

Corning has created an optical fibre connector system that aligns 12 fibres in a single operation to bring data to homes.

“Multifiber Pushlok is a ‘stick-and-click’ [that] allows operators to deploy more fiber in tighter spaces,” according to the company. It takes “complicated splicing tasks out of the field to help installers connect homes and businesses”.

The technology has been built into a series of multi-port boxes and made-up cables – some hundreds of metres long – that are physically similar to the company’s earlier single fibre system.

Typical insertion loss for a single-mode fibre in the multi-fibre connector is 0.15dB (0.35dB max), with reflectance of -65dB.

The boxes (under Corning’s Evolv brand) are made for different points in a street distribution system, and there are many cable length options for both box-to-box and box-to-home spans (branded FlexNap).

“The new system on RPX cable fits into 1.25inch ducts, surpassing legacy solutions constrained to 2inch ducts,” claimed the company.

Almost every part of the system is suitable for outdoor installation.

Both male and female parts are shipped with easy-remove dust excluders, and there is a locatable dustcap to ease finding buried installations.

Operation is across -40 to +85°C, and both mating and de-mating are permissible down to the lowest temperature.

See the system at Corning’s booth (P04) at the Fibre to the Home (FTTH) Conference in Berlin this week (19-21 March Berlin) or booth 2841 at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exposition (OFC) next week (24-28 March San Diego).

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