Professional Documents
Culture Documents
TECHNOLOGY PAGE 5
The hazards of
endface contamination
INSTALLATION PAGE 13
w w w.c a b li n g i n s t a ll .c o m
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5 TECHNOLOGY 16 DESIGN EDITORIAL OFFICES
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Man buns wanted
Among the gifts I received this past Christmas
was a wedding portrait of my nephew and his
bride. While admiring the photo, I couldn't resist
asking the 25-year-old newlywed, "Where's the
COMBATING COUNTERFEITS
man bun?" Whether it was through cropping or
Cable badly fails burn test
strategic placement of the photo in the frame, the
image belies reality because in it, the groom ap-
DATA CENTER pears to be a little more groomed than he really is.
Project estimator aids PATRICK McLAUGHLIN The collection of hair that sits kind-of-on-top and
whitespace planning patrick@pennwell.com kind-of-at-the-back-of his head is nowhere to be
seen in the photo. He wanted to look his best on
his wedding day, and apparently nothing looks better than a man bun. But for
whatever reason he opted to omit that element of his preening from the photos
he gave as gifts to his 40- and 50- and 60-something-year-old parents, in-laws,
aunts, uncles, etc. It's a beautiful portrait nonetheless.
Like every year, it felt as if no sooner did the holidays end than I was packing
my bags for the BICSI Winter Conference, which was held the week of January
PROFESSIONALISM 23. Throughout the week it was clear to me that BICSI is actively promoting it-
Pfister Award self to, and recruiting into its ranks, the age demographic that sports man buns.
winner: It's people The association, of course, is spreading its outreach to both genders within that
that matter age demographic. In 2016 BICSI added a student membership option. Among
other benefits, student members can attend region meetings for free. The asso-
ciation also created the Emerging Professional Award; the first-ever recipient,
NETWORK DESIGN Ashley Haak Wills, holds the RCDD and OSP credentials.
Atlanta Marriott Marquis These outreach efforts are happening not a moment too soon. The design
installs passive optical LAN and installation of information and communications technology (ICT) infra-
structure are becoming more complex, not simpler. The totality of what needs
to be understood in order to properly design or install this infrastructure is a
steadily expanding universe. In many ways, this reality stands in contrast to
the popular view of millennials. For example, when they need to learn how to do
something they watch a six-minute YouTube video. Meanwhile, the 13th edition
of the Telecommunications Distribution Methods Manual is 2,100 pages long.
Just as the millennial generation will produce doctors, teachers and lawyers,
AV CABLING it also will produce professionals in ICT design and installation. However, you've
UL launches probably never heard a kid say, "When I grow up I'm going to build ICT systems."
PoH cable So it is incumbent upon the industry as a whole to do what we can to produce a
certification
next generation of professionals. BICSI's efforts should be applauded, and they
program
exemplify the start of a necessary effort in this industry.
The next time I'm at a large gathering of ICT professionals, I'm going to count
the man buns in the crowd. I hope A) there will be plenty, and B) the number
will be matched by women in the same age group. I'll keep you posted.
Dust contamination
Since the first commercial installa- 80 percent of network owners and 98 As a general category, contamination
tions in the 1970s, the deployment of percent of network contractors have is a removable defect on the connector
fiber-optic communication technolo- experienced fiber failures during the endface; lint, fingerprint oils, moisture
gies has risen at an astounding rate. installation process. and simple dust. Most commonly dust is
Fiber-optic capabilities have become 82 percent of network owners and the main bad actor. Dust is omnipres-
so pervasive and so enabling that 92 percent of network contractors ent, easily migrates and usually is not
this technology truly has become the use isopropyl alcohol (IPA) as the visible to the naked eye. Dust particles
heart of our modern digital age. Just cleaning agent. are opaque and cannot transmit light.
like a human heart, reliability is not 12 percent of network owners and 30 Even as small as 5-6 microns (about one-
just a nice to haveit is essential. percent of network contractors use tenth the size of a human hair), these
Networks are expected to work seam- compressed air for cleaning. microscopic particles will obstruct the
lessly the first time, every time, all the
time. This will rarely be the case with-
out proper cleaning. Dirty fiber will Chromatic aberration
different wavelengths of light. If index dust and the risk of additional residues Best practices for speedy networks
of refraction within the fiber changes, on the endface. (Although they are won- In conclusion, following are 11 simple
that change will peel some of the wave- derfully convenient, presaturated wipes steps to ensure contamination does not
lengths off and weaken the signal, which can contribute to contamination as the occur. If followed carefully, these steps
is called chromatic aberration. In the packaging over time degrades and resi- will eliminate problems related to con-
worst cases, it can change the refractive dues leach into the wipes. So even when taminated fiber.
angle enough that the signal is lost com- every effort is made to clean thoroughly, 1. Wet-dry cleaning is most effective for
pletely. The higher the frequency of the alcohol presaturated into cheap pa- removing all forms of contamination
light signal the greater the sensitivity per wipes could be the source of your and eliminates electrostatic charge.
to changes of the refractive angle. What dirty-fiber problem.) 2. Use optical-grade cleaning flu-
can change the refractive index? The The use of canned air may seem ef- ids that leave no residue and are
most common culprit is residue-based fective, but this method actually pushes fast-evaporating.
contamination on the connector end- dust around the ports and onto the 3. Use cleaning fluids in hermeti-
face. All of these microscopic trouble- endface, rather than removing it. Dry cally sealed packaging to prevent
makers change the index of refraction. cleaning tools work, but they need to cross-contamination. Refillable pump
There is still another problem with be used in combination with a wet- bottles are simply not up to the task.
dust as well as liquid contamination. clean method. 4. Use high-absorbency optical-grade
One dirty endface can contaminate an- Difficult-to-remove contamination fabric wipes (not paper).
other when they are mated together. like grease only can be eliminated with 5. Always clean both ends of a connec-
If a dirty jumperor power meter, or the use of a solvent. tor pair, and do it just before mating.
light source, or some other popular In short, the most effective method of 6. Clean new jumpers and patch cords,
toolis inserted into a clean connec- completely eliminating endface debris is even right out of the bag, even if they
tor both of them will become contami- wet-dry cleaning with the use of specially have protective dust covers on them.
nated instantly. Network performance developed fiber cleaning fluids. Those flu- You can be sure those jumpers werent
will suffer. ids should be fast-drying, non-flammable, properly cleaned in the factory, and
have a low surface tension and dissipate the dust covers were not cleaned at all.
Wet or dry? static. The fast-drying feature is especially 7. When using stick cleaners, use
Traditional cleaning methods sim- important when cleaning fiber as there is one stick per endface to avoid
ply are not ideal to achieve contami- not enough time for moisture to attract cross-contamination.
nation-free endfaces on modern, high- to the fluid, therefore stopping contami- 8. When using cleaning sticks, only ro-
speed networks. Dry cleaning with a nation. By using a specially designed fiber tate them in one direction; usually
wipe or swab, as previously explained, cleaning fluid and a lint-free wipe, the op- four to eight rotations is sufficient.
will generate static and attract debris timum results will be achieved. 9. Mechanical push-to-clean clean-
to the endface. It may also not be strong ers and cassette cleaners are
enough to lift some oils and grease from good for light to medium levels of
the endface. contamination.
Alcohol is sub-optimal as well. Many 10. Boxes and tubs of optical-grade
engineers use IPA to clean their fiber but wipes plus a cleaning fluid are the
all alcohol molecules are hygroscopic. best practices when splicing pigtails
IPA has a strong affinity for water, so it onto bulk cable.
is always trying to pull water molecules 11. Clean tools give you the best results.
out of the air and into the solution, espe- Always clean test assemblies, power
cially with the pump bottles that many meters, light sources and all the other
people use. That moisture can cause equipment and test gear. u
cross-contamination. It also will slow
the drying process and it requires more Residue left on the endface will Brian Teague is product manager for Sticklers
air to evaporate the liquid off the end- cause signal loss and degrade the Fiber Optic Cleaner products with MicroCare
face. The extra air brings with it more performance of your network. (www.sticklerscleaners.com).
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scaling accordingly to meet demand. software underpinning the network. systems and power-and-cooling infra-
Ultimately, thats the key to SDN. SDN is only possible if the power and structure and the capability to man-
When activated, a truly software-de- cooling infrastructure is capable of age those systems while collecting and
fined network can shift loads seam- supporting that load. Just because analyzing data from across the net-
lessly, in real time, across devices and specified servers have the capacity to work. The key word there is analyz-
locations. Distinctions like core and handle the incoming load doesnt nec- ing. This goes far beyond data col-
access mean little, and downtime is essarily mean the power and cooling lection. Todays equipment supplies a
virtually eliminated as equipment fail- infrastructure supporting those serv- wealth of dataarguably too much
ures are mitigated by simply mov- ers can handle it. The servers, infra- but the problem is converting the data
ing the load and managing capacity structure, switches and storage must into something informative and ac-
across the network. This is a seismic work in concert. Otherwise, auto- tionable. That can be handled through
shift in network design and operation, mated load management can have un- a data collection layermade up of
transforming traditional, static net- intended and severe consequences. management gateways and intelligent
works into dynamic organizational as- Executed properly, its easy to see ap- system controllers that funnel data
sets that navigate load fluctuations by plications of SDN that not only react from multiple devicesthat can con-
elegantly leveraging distributed, but to load fluctuations, but also variables solidate and analyze data and deliver
no longer isolated, resources. like current energy costs and exter- it to a management system in a for-
Of course, its not quite that sim- nal environmental conditions, which mat it can use.
ple. A software-defined network re- could potentially influence decisions Those gateways and controllers
quires a critical infrastructure thats on when and where to shift loads. provide intelligent system-level man-
just as agile, just as flexible and just All of this requires real-time visi- agementoptimizing the perfor-
as dynamic as the technologies and bility into servers, switches, storage mance of those systemswhile also
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intrinsic and extrinsic business bene- four annexes, three of which are infor- the C version are relatively few, but are
fits of deploying an AIM system. The mative and one of which is normative. worth noting.
intrinsic benefits include accurate doc- Informative information is included in Commonly, when a TIA standard is
umentation (auto-documentation of Annex A, Hierarchy and Containment revised, addenda that had been made to
physical layer connectivity), change/in- Rules; Annex B, Field Descriptions, and the previous revision get incorporated
cident/capacity management (monitor- Annex D, Optional Lower Level Data into the current revision. A different ap-
ing and management of connectivity Exchange Framework. proach was taken here. The lone adden-
changes), and asset management (dis- Annex C, titled Implementation dum to ANSI/TIA-606-B, published in
covery of devices connected to the net- Requirements and Recommendations, 2015, addressed AIM and harmonized
work and location information for con- is normative. That annex states, There with the ISO/IEC 14763-2-1 standard. As
nected devices). are four phases in the successful imple- has been detailed in this article, ISO/IEC
The extrinsic benefits cover either mentation of information technology more recently addressed AIM with its
application program interfaces (APIs) cabling that are also applicable to AIM 18598 standard, which the TIA is adapt-
or data exchange between an AIM sys- systems: design, specification, installa- ing as ANSI/TIA-5048. Therefore, TIA-
tem and other business information or tion, operation. The rest of the annex 606-C, rather than incorporating the
network management systems that can prescribes those four phases. For exam- content of 606-B Addendum 1, will refer-
provide enhanced functionality to both ple, it reads, Design of the AIM system ence ANSI/TIA-5048.
systems, he noted. It addresses data should be undertaken in consultation Also new in the 606-C standard
exchange format, protocols and com- with a) the cabling system designer, b) will be an Annex D, which will be in-
mands, and defines a common data the customer to determine required fea- formative and will provide guidelines
model describing elements and assets tures, c) other business systems that are for administering cabling that sup-
contained within an AIM system. These intended to exchange data, d) network ports remote powering. That annex
include data exchange format and proto- administrators. will include guidelines for cable bundle
cols according to Simple Object Access identification.
Protocol (SOAP) or RESTful-based web TIA-606-C Other modifications in 606-C include
services, and a basic set of commands. The update of the ANSI/TIA-606 stan- changes to the identifier scheme for tele-
Tan emphasized that an AIM sys- dard from its B to its C revision has communications grounding and bond-
tems extrinsic benefits will be of par- been a quick process by standards-de- ing system elements. These changes will
ticular interest to the construction in- velopment perspectives. In its June 2016 specify the use of terms compatible with
dustry and building owners, as building meeting, TR-42.6 approved a project re- ISO/IEC 30129. Legacy terms used in
information modeling (BIM) is being quest to initiate work on 606-C. At the versions of the TIA-607 standard earlier
mandated by some governments, in- same meeting, the committee approved than revision C also will be allowed.
cluding the United Kingdom, Finland, a 45-day committee ballot for the stan- Specifically, these changes include
Norway, the Netherlands and Singapore. dard. At its October 2016 meeting, the use of the term TBC (telecommuni-
The AIM system will enhance the func- committee resolved a round of com- cations bonding conductor) instead of
tionality of BIM in the areas of asset ments on the document and approved BCT (bonding conductor for telecom-
information management, space uti- an industry ballot for it. munications), RBB (rack bonding bus-
lization and location-based energy man- Then at its meeting in February, TR- bar) instead of RGB (rack grounding
agement policies, he explained. This is 42.6 resolved comments arising from busbar), BBC (backbone bonding con-
definitely food for thought, as the physi- the most recent ballot and approved a ductor) instead of GE (grouding equal-
cal network infrastructure (for informa- default ballot. The committee also ap- izer), SBB (secondary bonding busbar)
tion) can be considered as a fourth util- proved the standards publication, pro- instead of TGB (telecommunications
ity in the office environment, along with vided there are not technical com- grounding busbar), and PBB (primary
piping (for water), mains cabling (for ments or negative votes resulting from bonding busbar) instead of TMGB
power) and ducting (for HVAC). the default ballot, with the contin- (telecommunications main ground-
gency that it must publish concurrently ing busbar). u
Annexes and how-to with TIA-5048.
The ANSI/TIA-5048 standard includes The changes from the B version to Patrick McLaughlin is our chief editor.
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each job and reducing equipment costs. quickly is critical. Forense-Industrial
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BY TIM WIDDERSHOVEN, Ideal Networks
provide a report to the customer, which equipment that technicians and install-
proved that the system could support ers need to transport to the work site.
the required bandwidth. With a range of testing and trouble-
After jobs, such as the Gdansk tunnel shooting features that allow networks
rollout, have been completed, Forense- to be configured and tested quickly to
Industrial also uses SignalTEK NT to en- client specifications, LanXplorer Pro
sure network performance is the same and SignalTEK NT are an essential part
as when the network was assembled and of the operations at Forense-Industrial.
tested in the workshop. The compact In their workshop, the company is able
device is also used to test the installed to use the devices for a wide range of
fiber links. tests, whether as a traffic simulator,
Optical testing is easy with the to verify copper or fiber bandwidth,
SignalTEK NT because it uses standard or for testing QoS and VLAN in indus-
SFP modules and does not need calibra- trial switches.
tion, Comas adds. Comas concludes, We are using
A cost-effective option, SignalTEK SignalTEK NT and LanXplorer Pro more
The tool also enabled Forense- NT costs up to 30 percent less than com- every day as companies make the mi-
Industrial to confirm the level of parable equipment. As it tests both gration from serial protocols to using
network traffic was as intended copper and fiber cable, only one com- Ethernet as standard. u
and the system was not overloaded pact device is needed. This has helped
by faulty devices or incorrect Forense-Industrial to keep costs un- Tim Widdershoven is global marketing man-
ager for Ideal Networks (www.idealnetworks.net).
configuration. der control and reduce the amount of
S
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FO
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News, products and trends for the communications systems industry
COMPILED BY
Matt Vincent
ci m pick s @ pen n well . com
Viavi Solutions introduces cloud-based system, Viavi stated. From that vantage
point, an administrator can create and distribute proj-
CERTiFi cloud-based test ect designs, assign projects to team members, pre-
load test instruments with tasks and required test crite-
and certification project ria, and assimilate, analyze and share test results in real
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Neural network sional installer, a training and reference manual for trainers and field supervi-
sors, a manual for field installers, a study guide for passing basic and advanced
software enables certification examinations from the Fiber Optic Association [FOA], and an educa-
tional book for those interested in fiber-optic communications.
AI for smart The information in Volume 10 of Professional Fiber Optic Installation applies to
consumer products data networks, data centers, telephone networks, fiber-to-the-home networks, opti-
cal LANs, fiber-to-the-antenna, distributed antenna systems, and CATV systems.
including drones, The 35-chapter, 496-page manual presents the concepts, numbers, product
advantages, and installation and testing procedures required to achieve and verify
self-driving cars the five goals of installation, which are: 1) low cost, 2) lowest possible optical power
Boston-based Neurala, the software loss, 3) low reflectance, 4) short installation time, and 5) high reliability.
company known for inventing The Chapters 1 through 9 detail essential information on available products, their
Neurala Brain, a deep learning neural most-important performance parameters, and advantages of product types.
networks platform that the company This information sensitizes the installer to the capabilities and limitations of
says makes smart products like toys, the product he installs, Eric Pearson notes. With this sensitivity, the installer
cameras and self-driving cars more
autonomous, interactive and useful,
recently announced the closing of a
$14 million series A funding round led video, image and audio analytics for capability when built into toys that rec-
by Pelion Venture Partners. public safety. ognize their young owners by sight
Neurala pioneered the develop- Neurala says it will use the new capi- and give them a smile without commu-
ment of deep learning neural network tal investment to accelerate servicing of nicating with a server.
software for NASA to use in plane- its rapidly increasing customer demand, Neurala says its neural network soft-
tary exploration, where processing as well as to revolutionize additional ware uses a bio-inspired approach to
power, battery life and communica- application areas by adding built-in intelli- mimic the way the human brain learns
tions are limited, expressed a com- gence and autonomous behavior. and analyzes its environment. This soft-
pany statement. Instead of design- The Neurala Brain was designed ware enables a variety of smart prod-
ing deep learning neural networks for from the beginning to transform uctsfrom self-driving cars and indus-
super computers, as other companies industries, commented Massimiliano trial drones to toys, consumer elec-
do, The Neurala Brain was designed Max Versace, co-founder and CEO of tronics and smart camerasto learn,
to work where the decisions need to Neurala. Bio-inspired brainpower can adapt and interact in real time. With The
be made. Today, Neurala has custom- be built right into drones, cars, toys, Neurala Brain, toys can learn to iden-
ers deploying a broad range of appli- cameras, and other devices found in tify their owners, security cameras can
cations, including autonomous drones the home so that they can learn, see identify specific threats, drones can
and cars. Customers include Teal and act. This is essential for applica- learn how to diagnose problems at the
Drones, Parrot and multiple members tions like drones and self-driving cars, tops of cell towers, saving humans con-
of the Fortune Global 500. Neurala where reaction time is critical and siderable danger and drudgery, and self-
is currently working with Motorola where you cant always get fast net- driving cars can be safer and learn to
Solutions on new applications of work access. Its also an endearing avoid obstacles. u
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Panels
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Copyright 2017, Cablesys
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