ITU Agrees to Fiber Specifications, Begins Work on Fiber Splices
GENEVA -- An ITU study group (SG) gave preliminary approval to new specifications for in-service fiber testing, test methods for small count fiber cables, fiber in the home, optical branching components, and using RFID to track network components,.
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New installation techniques for telecom cables were a key interest during the meeting, said Francesco Montalti of Telecom Italia, chmn. of ITU-T SG6, which deals with construction, installation, maintenance, protection and safety of telecom cable and equipment. Issues included existing ducts for the installation of fiber cables with mini-tubes using blowing techniques, and installation inside sewers. Going into the access network is very expensive, Montalti said: “Everyone tries to use existing infrastructures. One of them is the sewer infrastructure.” China proposed the recommendations because it launched a large program on this type of installation, Montalti said. The group is aiming at producing 2 new specifications, which may be considered during their next meeting in May. One will be on installation methods, the other on the products that are used, like the cables, said Montalti.
Another developing area “is the identification of network components by the use of RFID tags,” said Montalti. Italy, Japan and an American delegation are interested in the work. The idea was launched last year in Italy for the maintenance of the wooden telephone poles, said Montalti. Italy has about 11 million poles in service, so it’s looking at the best way for introducing this technique, he said. The idea is to use RFID tags for monitoring the components of the network. The tag could include manufacturing data or the position of a cable, pole or other equipment. The group approved a new spec called, “ID Tag Requirements for Infrastructure and Network Elements Management,” and 2 more recommendations may be considered at the group’s May meeting.
The group gave preliminary approval to 4 additional specs: (1) “Optical fiber cable maintenance criteria for in-service fiber testing in access networks,” describes the maintenance band and requirements for maintenance test light filtering (such as cut-off bandwidth, isolation and other optical characteristics) for testing in-service fiber lines without interfering with optical communication signals in access networks, documents said. (2) “Small count optical fiber cables for indoor application,” describes the characteristics, construction and test methods of small count optical fiber cables for indoor applications, documents said.
(3) “Optical fiber distribution of access networks” deals mainly with fiber distribution of each stage in terms of designing, constructing, maintaining and operating optical fiber access networks immediately, effectively and economically for Fiber to the Home (FTTH), documents said. (4) The group also revised a spec called “Optical branching components (wavelength non-selective)” to take into consideration a study of international standards and documents, as well as some local standards and values generally adopted in the industry.
ITU-T SG6 began work with the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) on a specification for fiber optic splices. The IEC will use ITU’s work when it begins it work on the splice in Quebec in Oct. Results will feed back into a revision of ITU-T’s spec.