Sep 20, 2022
Initially, MPO connectors were used primarily for high-performance computing (HPC) applications and enterprise data centers. Over the years,
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Initially, MPO connectors were used primarily for high-performance computing (HPC) applications and enterprise data centers. Over the years,
Initially, MPO connectors were used primarily for high-performance computing (HPC) applications and enterprise data centers. Over the years,
In order to meet the requirements of using myriad fibers simultaneously and save much space in high-density network environment, fiber optic cables evolved gradually into MTP/MPO cable from LC cable, MTRJ cable, LSH cable and MU cable. Besides, MTP/MPO fiber optic cables have developed as an optimum solution for fiber migration to 40G and 100G. This article will keep you informed of the main points of MTP/MPO optical cables.
What Is MTP/MPO Fiber Optic Cable
Like the configuration of other fiber optic cables, MTP/MPO optical cables are also composed of connectors and fiber optic cable. As is shown below, a MTP/MPO fiber optic cable enables the synchronous use of 8 fibers, 12 fibers, 24 fibers and even 144 fibers, among which 8 fibers is the most common one. However, the traditional optical cable can only contain one or two fibers in every single fiber cable. What distinguishes MTP/MPO optical cables from other fiber optic cables lies in its special connector which will be explained in the following part.
MTP/MPO Optical Cable
Traditional Optical Cable
MTP/MPO Connector
MTP is a registered trademark of US Conec, which is an improved version of MPO. MTP/MPO connectors are divided into male version (with pins) and female version (without pins). The pins align the fronts of the connectors, and also the head faces of the fibers to mate two MTP/MPO connectors. The key ensures an adapter hold the connector with the correct ends aligned with each other. “Key up”means the key is up on one side and down on the other while “key down” is just the opposite. The picture below will give you a direct-viewing experience.
Apart from what is mentioned above, there are three types of MTP/MPO connector strands: 8 strands, 12 strands and 24 strands, among which 12 strands is more commonly-used. Different strands and key directions are relevant to the polarity of MTP/MPO optical cables, including type A, type B and type C.
Types of MTP/MPO Fiber Optic Cable
According to specific application, MTP/MPO cable can be divided into trunk cable (without branches) and harness cable (with branches).
MTP/MPO Trunk Cable
MTP/MPO trunk cable is a cable with two MPO or MTP connectors at both ends, serving as a permanent link to connect modules together. MTP/MPO trunk cables are available with 12, 24, 48 and 72 fibers, with a number of advantages, such as higher quality, minimal skew, shorter installation time, smaller volume of cable, lower cost, etc. MTP/MPO trunk cable is widely-used in data center, infrastructures and backbone applications where cable distances are reasonably predictable and easily determined.
OM3 Single Mode Optical Cable OM4
MTP/MPO Harness Cable
MTP/MPO harness cable, also known as MTP/MPO breakout cable or fan-out cable, is a fiber optic cable terminated with an MTP/MPO connector on one end and discrete LC/SC/FC/MTRJ (generally MTP to LC) connectors on the other end. MTP/MPO harness cable is usually applied in 40G to 10G transmission and 100G to 25G transmission and used to connect devices within one rack for short distances links.
OM3 Single Mode Optical Cable OM4
Conclusion
In this day and age, there is an increasing requirement for networking, which will become an exploding demand with the advent of 5G era. Apparently, the traditional fiber optic cables can hardly satisfy the high requirements. In contrast, MTP/MPO optical cables are much better. And many companies have been improving their MTP/MPO optical cables to cater to users. For example, FS.COM has developed MTP conversion cables and also provided customized MTP/MPO fiber cables to meet various users’ particular requirements.
XFS is an OEM specialized in extremely low insertion loss and high return loss fiber connectivity products, exceeding IEC 61753-1 Grade B level and are Telcordia GR-326 and GR-1435 tested.
Offer the Finest Fiber Patch Cord in the Market
We are experts in high-end fiber interconnection products. Our specialty is in extremely low loss optical termination technology which has led to the development of number of products including patch cords, pigtails, pre-terminated cables and MPO/MTP® multi-fiber cabling systems, with both superior optical performance and product reliability.
XFS is a contract manufacturing company that makes high-quality products for telecom and datacom customers throughout the world. Our products have a dominant market position in countries with the fastest internet connections, and we are major contributors to some of the world’s most advanced FTTH projects.
We are specialists in MPO Connector, Fiber patch cord.
Sleeve material and manufacturing method
In the past, the most common method of manufacturing sleeves was the transfer forming method, which was relatively easy to obtain in a precise size. However, this method is less efficient and is not suitable for mass production. Sumitomo changed to the injection molding method and selected PPS (polyphenylene sulfide) as the base resin. This resin has a low coefficient of thermal expansion, low water absorption and high mechanical strength. A suitable filler is also added to the base resin to improve its properties.
The injection molding method is employed to reduce the molding cycle to one-third of the transfer molding process by shortening the hardening time in the forming process and by reducing the mold flash by cleaning the mold after forming. The production efficiency of the manufacturing sleeve is greatly improved.
Model development
In order to accurately align the fiber holes, the guide holes formed on one of the carriages for alignment and the core pins forming the fiber holes are inserted into a cavity with a V-groove, and the V-groove is used to accurately Positioning. Although this structure is conventionally used for transfer molding of epoxy resin to reduce the misalignment of the fiber hole of the sleeve and the gap between the guide hole and the fiber hole, the accuracy of the V-groove is improved, and the diameter capacity is carefully selected. A core pin having a difference of less than 0.1 μm. In addition, the flow portion and the inlet portion of the mold are also modified to enable better forming without being affected by the high viscosity resin produced by the large amount of filler added.
Forming conditions
In order to achieve accurate dimensional and dimensional stability in multiple forming, it is necessary to maintain excellent replication ability and reduce residual stress in the formed part. The forming conditions are particularly important for the injection molding of the MT sleeve because a very small diameter needle and a high viscosity resin are used in the forming process. The optimum forming conditions are determined experimentally, namely, forming temperature, resin temperature, injection speed, injection pressure, and cooling conditions. Experiments have shown that lower injection speeds and lower injection pressures show good results.
Design and manufacture of low insertion loss connectors
The main factor in the insertion loss of the optical connector is that the fiber core deviates from the design position. The core misalignment in the MPO connector is caused by the following factors: 1) misalignment of the fiber hole in the sleeve from the design position; 2) gap between the fiber and the fiber hole; 3) fiber core away from the fiber center Displacement; 4) the gap between the guide pin and the guide pin hole.
In order to reduce the insertion loss, Sumitomo has studied the possibility of reducing the misalignment of the fiber core and its standard deviation. It was determined that not only the mold needs to be improved to reduce the misalignment of the fiber holes, but also the gap between the guide pin and the guide hole and between the fiber and the fiber hole needs to be reduced. The research results show that the ideal position of the fiber hole deviation design is less than 0.7μm, and the gap between the guiding pinhole and the fiber hole is less than 0.3μm. It was also determined that the tilt tolerance of the fiber hole was less than 0.2°. To this end, in the manufacture of the MT sleeve, the following measures were taken.
Introduction to MPO Connector
In order to explain the development of the MT sleeve of the key component used in the connector such as MPO, the structure of the MPO connector will first be described. The MPO connector consists of a pair of MT sleeves, two guide pins, two housings and an adapter.
The MT sleeve is a key part in determining the connector's connection characteristics. The sleeve has two guiding holes and a plurality of fiber holes (up to 12). The pitch of the guide pin and the fiber hole are 4.6 mm and 0.25 mm, respectively. In order to obtain low insertion loss of the single mode fiber, the misalignment of the fiber hole from the design position must be less than or equal to 1 μm. Thus, the conventional MT sleeve has been manufactured by a transfer molding method, and the production efficiency is low. The fiber is inserted into the fiber bore and secured to the MT sleeve with an adhesive.
Each side of the sleeve is precisely polished and loaded into a respective housing where the guide pins are inserted into the guide holes of each sleeve for precise alignment. The MPO connector is easily connected and disconnected by an MPO adapter. In order to obtain high return loss without the use of an index matching material, both the end faces of the fiber and the sleeve are polished at an angle of 8°, and the end faces of the fibers must be precisely polished so as to be in contact with the opposite end faces of the fibers.