Siemon Optical Fiber Field Testing Guide

Edition 1.11

Optical fiber systems provide users with a high bandwidth, high density platform for network transmission. Similar to copper cabling systems, optical fiber cabling systems must be field tested following installation to ensure proper system performance. This supplemental field guide, when used in conjunction with the Siemon Company Certified Installer Training Manual, has been developed to provide additional guidance for field testing of optical fiber systems.

Safety
It is very important to be aware of the risks and to utilize good safety practices when interfacing with optical fiber systems. Handling optical fiber is not inherently dangerous as long as some basic safety precautions are followed. You can significantly reduce the risk of injury by knowing the risks associated with working with fiber and following some simple safety guidelines. Of primary importance during testing is the fact that the light sources used for fiber transmission can cause damage if viewed, but are not visible to the human eye (see Figure 1). For this reason, never view directly into a fiber optic connector or adapter unless appropriate protective eyewear is worn or there is full certainty that the fiber system is not in use.

Figure 1: Visible Spectrum vs Optical Fiber Light Sources

Note that even if performing fiber testing only, the termination process associated with the fiber installation can leave potential risks within the environment. For example, bare optical fiber fragments are difficult to see and can easily penetrate the skin. For this reason, the testing environment should be

inspected and cleaned as necessary. Regardless, it is recommended not to eat or drink in termination area, nor to touch your eyes when working with fiber systems. Similarly, if wearing protective eyewear, do not put them down in the local environment.

Field Tester Selection

Siemon requires the use of an Optical Loss Test Set (OLTS) for acceptance testing of optical fiber systems. This method of testing can be performed by dedicated Power Meter/Light Source testers or via the use of optical fiber test adapters for many of todays common copper certification testers. As defined by TIA-568-C.0-2009 Generic Telecommunications Cabling for Customer Premises, Tier 1 testing specifies attenuation, length and polarity as required test parameters. Such testing should not be performed with an OTDR as the attenuation is more subjective in nature and can be easily misinterpreted. In addition to Tier 1 testing, TIA identifies the use of an OTDR for optional Tier 2 testing. Such testing can be performed in addition to Tier 1 testing to evaluate attenuation uniformity and the quality of each connection. Light Sources When specifying a light source for the OLTS, Siemon recommends the use of lasers for singlemode testing and LED based light sources for multimode fiber testing as per IEC 61300-1 Fibre Optic Interconnecting Devices and Passive Components Basis Test and Measurements Procedures Part 1: General and Guidance. While VCSEL light sources are primarily used for 1 Gb/s and higher applications, and are thus required by users of such applications, they do not provide the same consistency for field testing. Mandrels and Encircled Flux Modules When testing multimode fiber systems, Siemon requires the use of the correct mandrels. Table 1 from TIA-568-C.0-2009 identifies proper mandrel sizes for 50/125 m and 62.5/125 m multimode fiber. It is important to note that some field testers may utilize internal mandrels eliminate the need for external mandrels. This should be verified with the field tester manufacturer prior to use. Fiber core/cladding size 50/125 m 62.5/125 m 900 m buffered fiber mm (in.) 25 (0.98) 20 (0.79) 2.0 mm jacketed cable mm (in.) 23 (0.91) 18 (0.71) 2.4 mm jacketed cable mm (in.) 23 (0.91) 18 (0.71) 3.0 mm jacketed cable mm (in.) 22 (0.87) 17 (0.67)

Table 1: Acceptable mandrel diameters for common multimode cable types (5 wraps)

Recently, encircled flux launch cords are now available to the market as a potential alternate to mandrels. Encircled flux is a new multimode launch-condition metric that improves link-loss consistency by controlling the number of mode groups during the fiber-testing process. This launch method is documented in TIA TSB-178 Launch Condition Guidelines for Measuring Attenuation of Installed Multimode Cabling. It is important to note that this launch condition method is relatively new within the industry and, while having tremendous potential, is not currently recognized by Siemon for field testing of multimode systems and should be approached with caution until the technology is sufficiently mature and proven robust for field use. Reference Quality Launch Cords When testing fiber systems, high quality Test Reference Cords (TRCs) should be used. Per ISO/IEC 14763-3 Information Technology - Implementation and operation of customer premises cabling - Part 3 - Testing of optical fibre cabling, TRC reference grade terminations should achieve insertion losses of better than 0.10 dB for multimode and 0.20 dB for singlemode. These cords should be replaced at regular intervals as they wear with use and can detrimentally affect the quality of the resulting tests. The intervals for replacement may vary depending upon the quality of the TRCs, but as a general rule, they should be replaced after 500 insertion/removal cycles or, if following cleaning and inspection, loss measurements begin ton consistently increase. Care should also be taken when handling TRCs. Proper handling and storage of TRCs will serve to extend the life of their usage. Specifically, do not touch the end faces with your hands as skin oil can greatly decrease performance and is very difficult to remove. When not connected, TRC ends should be capped to avoid contamination. TRCs should be also be cleaned before each use. TRCs are typically available directly from the test equipment manufacturers. Siemon has a full line of reference quality TRCs available.

Field Tester Preparation

Due to the wide range of field testers and associated usage, the following guidelines are intended to be somewhat generic in nature. Specific procedures and details should be obtained directly from the applicable field tester manufacturer. Field Tester Calibration and Reference All field testers used must be within factory calibration timeframes. In addition, the field testers must be field referenced prior to each use based upon the manufacturers requirements. In some cases, field testers may require a warm up period - please refer to manufacturers documentation. Field Tester Inspection

Optical ports on the test units must be free of contamination to provide accurate test results. If an inspection probe is available, inspect fiber ports on test equipment. If necessary follow tester manufacturers cleaning procedures to remove any contaminants present. All ports on test heads should be covered with protective caps provided with test unit to minimize contamination when not in use. Field Tester Setup and Reference Field testers should be set up and referenced per the instructions provided by the tester manufacturer. Note that if proper reference values cannot be achieved, this must be resolved with the field test manufacturer prior to performing any testing. Note that once TRCs have been referenced out they cannot be unmated from the light source. If removed, a re-reference of TRCs will be required in order to continue testing. Simplex/Duplex Fiber System Loss When calculating system loss for simplex/duplex systems, the following should be used: System Attenuation (dB) = Total Cable Attenuation (db) + Connector IL (dB) + Splice IL (dB) where: Total Cable Attenuation (dB) = Cable Attenuation (dB/km) x Cable Length (km) Connector IL (dB) = Number of Mated Connectors x Connector Loss (dB) Splice IL (dB) = Number of Splices x 0.3 dB Cable Attenuation: 3.5 dB/km @ 850 nm for 62.5/125m or 50/125m multimode cable 1.5 dB/km @ 1300 nm for 62.5/125m or 50/125m multimode cable 1.0 dB/km @ 1310/1550 nm for singlemode inside plant cable 0.5 dB/km @ 1310/1550 nm for singlemode outside plant cable The system loss calculation is important when using OLTS that simply measure system loss and must be performed prior to testing. For copper certification testers with optical fiber test adapters, many of the system loss calculations are performed automatically during setup when entering the system configuration (see Figure 2). Industry standard cable attenuation and connector insertion loss (0.75 dB per mated pair) are typically used unless otherwise specified.

Figure 2: Example of Field Tester System Loss Setup1 Array (Plug & Play) Systems

Figure 3: Array System Model Multimode array systems are typically configured of (2) array modules connected by a one or two array cables as shown above in Figure 3. In order to calculate the overall system loss for an array system, the array cable attenuation and array module insertion loss (IL) for the Siemon array components are shown below in Table 2. Cable Attenuation* (dB/km) 0.5 / 0.5 3.5 / 1.0 3.5 / 1.0 3.5 / 1.0 MTP IL (Max.) 0.75 dB 0.50 dB 0.50 dB 0.50 dB LC or SC IL (Max.) 0.40 dB 0.25 dB 0.50 dB 0.50 dB Total Module IL (Max.) 1.15 dB 0.75 dB 1.0 dB 1.0 dB

Fiber Type SM 50/125 10G 50/125 62.5/125

Performance XGLO XGLO LightSystem LightSystem

* Cable attenuation for singlemode at 1310/1550nm and multimode at 850/1300nm, respectively

Table 2: Siemon Array Module Component Performance Taking the equation used for simplex/duplex system loss, the following resulting array system loss is as follows:

Illustration courtesy of Fluke Networks

Array System Attenuation (dB) = Total Cable Attenuation (db) + Module IL (dB) where: Total Cable Attenuation (dB) = Cable Attenuation (dB/km) x Cable Length (km) Module IL (dB) = Number of Array Modules x Total Module IL (dB)

Note: For copper certification testers with optical fiber test adapters, a four connector system loss should be created using the individual component losses noted in Table 2. However, a two connector system may be utilized for Siemons 50/125 10G XGLO systems as the total array module IL is equal to the default loss for a single mated pair (0.75 dB). For simplification of setup when using copper certification testers with optical fiber test adapters, Siemon will allow the use of a four connector default setting for singlemode array systems. While the loss limit would be slightly higher than the actual calculated loss (3.0 dB for Module IL vs 2.3 dB), the resulting system loss would fall within all singlemode application loss budgets and would be acceptable for the purposes of warranty. A calculator specific to Siemon duplex and array systems is available by contacting the Siemon Technical Services team.

Cleaning and Inspection

Due primarily to the increased number of connectors used within array systems, cleanliness of all optical fiber interfaces is absolutely essential for successful installation and field testing. Contaminants are the leading cause of high system loss and can be easily transferred between connectors. Even everyday particles can have detrimental results on optical fiber end faces. Below are several examples of contaminates under magnification. The cores can easily be seen partially obscured in the images below.

Hand Lotion

Dust Particles

Skin Oil and Dead Skin Flakes

Alcohol Residue

Table 3: Examples of Common Contaminants on Fiber End faces2 In addition to contaminating the end face of an optical fiber connector, dust particles can also result in a disruption of uniform contact in the Z axis as shown below in Figure 4.

Figure 4: Impact of Solid Contaminants on Connector Contact3 Fortunately, by employing proper cleaning procedures and utilizing good preventative measures such as dust caps, many cases of high loss can be improved or eliminated. Of greatest importance is to ensure all connector end faces are clean prior to testing. This includes both the optical fiber system as well as the test cords used for system testing. Use static minimizing cleaning sticks for both connector end face and bulkhead adaptors. Siemon recommends the cleaning tools shown below in Figure 5. Simple to use and highly effective at removing contaminants, these dry cloth cleaning tools are specially designed to clean optical fiber end faces and are available for multi-fiber MPO connectors as well as LC and SC fiber connectors. The MPO version cleans both male MPO connectors in array modules and female connectors in adapter plates. LC and SC versions clean installed connectors as well as unmated connectors via an innovative dust cap/adapter.

Photos and illustrations courtesy of BICSI Illustration courtesy of BICSI

PP-CT-LC .................LC Simplex Dry Cloth Cleaning Tool PP-CT-SC .................SC Simplex Dry Cloth Cleaning Tool PP-CT-MTP..............MPO Multi-fiber Dry Cloth Cleaning Tool

Figure 5: Siemon Dry Cloth/Static Removing Cleaning Tools For significantly contaminated end faces, the use of a specialty wet solvent may be necessary. Siemon strongly recommends the use of Chemtronics Electro-Wash MX pens. The static bond breaking properties, and the fact that the Electro-Wash MX unlike isopropyl alcohol - does not leave a residue, makes it an ideal tool to remove heavy or persistent contamination. Note that, if used, wet solvents should be used prior to dry cloth cleaning tools as a wet to dry cleaning process is the most effective. Ideally, test cord connector end faces should be cleaned between each mating. Contamination from one port can be carried to the next and spread high loss results to each port tested thereafter. Both surfaces must be cleaned to neutralize contamination. Continued contamination migration through multiple matings can result in permanent damage to the end face as can be seen in Figures 6 & 7 below.

Figure 6: Spreading of Contamination with Repeated Mating4

Images courtesy of BICSI

Initial End face

Contaminated End face

Damaged End face

Mated 5 times dirty then cleaned results in severe permanent damage

Figure 7: Impact of Contamination on Connectors following Repeated Mating5

In addition to the impact of contamination from connector end faces, contamination from adapter sleeves can also create high loss events known as the Dust Ring effect. As the end faces are inserted into the adapters, the dust is picked up and pushed to the mated position as can be seen below in Figure 8.

Figure 8: Dust Ring Effect Inspection Tools

Images courtesy of BICSI

The use of inspection devices is effectively essential in ascertaining whether a connector end face is sufficiently clean. For this reason, they are highly recommended and the following options are available. Optical Scopes Optical scopes are inexpensive and work well to view the connectors for both fiber patch cords and pigtails. However, they are limited in that they are unable to view through adapters to mated connectors. Video Scopes Video scopes provide an excellent tool to view the connectors on fiber patch cords, pigtails, and within adapters. Most field tester manufactures mandate video scope probe inspections of fiber ports prior to testing. An example of this is provided by Fluke Networks via their Knowledge Database entry entitled ANSI/TIA-568-C testing LC to LC (Duplex Multimode) DTX-MFM2 which reads: Cleaning is critical. It is the single most reason for ending up with negative loss values. You cannot
clean without some means of visually inspecting the end face. This can be anything from a simple Fiber Viewer to a Video Scope. If you have no inspection device, you cannot proceed.

End Face Conditions When observing the end faces through the use of magnifying scopes and probes, several conditions may be seen that can adversely affect performance and may not be improved by cleaning protocols. Pits (Permanent Feature) Pits resemble whitish gray irregular dots in the end face. They can be a result of dirty mating between end faces or can be caused as a natural breakdown of the end faces from excessive mating cycles. This defect is easy to spot after cleaning since the features remain in the same place. Scratches (Permanent Feature) Scratches usually will run from one side of the end face to the other and can, if over the core, cause performance degradation. Scratches away from the core may not be of concern unless they are extremely deep, however deep scratches may collect contamination and spread it across end face when mated. Cracks (Permanent Feature) Cracks resemble scratches in appearance but can extend deep into the connector end face material. Cracks can become worse with time however, possibly resulting in a continued drop in performance.

Chips (Permanent Feature) Chips are actual pieces of glass or ferrule material that have broken off the connector resulting in what appears to be large jagged holes in the end face. These can adversely affect performance when located near the core and can cause serious damage to the mating surface if dislodged material is present at time of mating. Imbedded Contamination (Permanent Feature) Epoxy resin can create a permanent defect in the end face that cannot be cleaned even with the best cleaning practices. Dirt particles that have been compressed between end faces, at time of mating, can become permanently embedded in the end face also resulting in a permanent defect.

Troubleshooting Examples
The following examples are provided as reference to potential resolution methods. Problem: The fiber link is exhibiting high loss. Possible Causes: 1. Chances are this is a result of end face contamination. Using recommended procedures listed above, clean fiber end faces starting with the LC, SC, and ST connectors in TRCs and Array modules. If test results do not improve, move onto the MPO connections. 2. If cleaning methods listed above do not result in improved numbers it may be necessary to clean the fiber ports in the field testers fiber modules per manufacturers instructions. Note that rereferencing of units will be necessary once tester ports have been uncoupled. 3. Excessive mating on TRCs could result in performance issues. Inspection of fiber end face is recommended. If fiber end face appears compromised with any of the permanent features noted above, replacement of TRCs may be necessary. 4. If contamination issues continue to be of concern, it is strongly advised to implement the use of a video scope to ensure cleaning techniques are effective. This can be a helpful tool in environments containing airborne particles. Problem: The fiber tester will not link up with remote unit. Possible Causes: 1. Remote has shut down due to low battery. 2. TRC is on the wrong fiber strand.

3. Massive end face contamination has totally obscured the fiber core. Refer to and perform cleaning methods listed above. 4. Improper cabling routing has resulted in damage to fiber link. 5. Connector is not fully mated. Problem: The tester seems to be exhibiting inconsistent test results that vary each time the same link is tested. Possible Cause: 1. In some cases, field testers can begin to exhibit inconsistent results as the battery gets low. If this occurs, consider performing repeated tests on the same link while keeping all connections in place to isolate to the field tester. If not realized during testing, this can potentially result in re-testing, so it is a good practice to monitor battery levels when testing.