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Microducts are microscopic ducts used to lay fiber optic lines.
They are typically 3 to 16 mm in diameter and are inserted as bundles within bigger ducts.
Microducts are small-diameter, flexible or semi-flexible ducts that are meant to offer clean, uninterrupted, low-friction routes for putting optical wires with low pulling tension restrictions.
According to the Telcordia GR-3155 Generic Requirements for Microducts for Fibre Optic Cables industry requirements document, microduct devices must:
Be compatible with current building designs and configurations for riser- and plenum-rated applications, including cable blowing apparatus.
Allow cables to be deployed securely by draw lines or strings with less than 50 lbs of force, as well as using cable blowing techniques at standard deployment speeds.
According to GR-3155, the three fundamental varieties of duct are smoothwall, corrugated, and ribbed.
The factors that are significant to the end user influence the selection of a certain duct design.
The type of duct required will be determined by the demand for a certain attribute or combination of qualities such as pulling strength, flexibility, or the lowest coefficient of friction.
Ducts are available with a number of choices or characteristics. Pre-lubrication is one such advantage.
Pre-lubricated ducts can be impregnated with anti-friction chemicals permanently or coated with liquid lubricant during production (see GR-3155).
When dragging cable into the duct, this may or may not eliminate the need for additional lubricant.
The user should inspect the extra lubricant before using it with a pre-lubricated duct.
Failure to do so may cause the cable to seize rather than reduce the duct’s friction coefficient.
When the optical cable is pre-installed, the duct maker extrudes the duct directly over it.
Tight temperature control of the duct throughout the production process is required to guarantee that the duct does not adhere to the cable as it cools.
All of the fibers in the optical cable must be inspected at the end of the procedure to confirm that no damage has occurred.
Cable tugging is still a popular fiber cable installation technique.
A high-strength pull line is blown into the duct after it has been fitted (if one has not already been pre-installed by the duct maker).
The pull line is connected to one end of the cable and is used to draw it through the duct.
Traditional cable pulling methods are extremely sensitive to duct condition as well as the amount of bends and undulations along the duct route.
As a result, air-blown cable installation techniques are likely to be the most useful for microducts.
The installation of air-blown cables necessitates the employment of a device that injects a large amount of air into the duct at pressures as high as 20-25 psi.
The viscous drag forces created by the rushing air throughout the cable’s length operate to lessen or eliminate friction between the cable and the duct.
Cables for telecommunications can be put in water, air, or both.
In the latter situation, the wires might be buried directly or put in ducts.
The former is more usual for copper balanced lines, whereas the latter is more prevalent for fiber optic cables.
The ducts in which the fiber optic cables are often placed are constructed of polyethylene.
They normally range in size from 25 mm to 100 mm.
They are sometimes used as subducts in bigger ducts. These bigger ducts may also be made of other materials, such as concrete.
Pulling or cable jetting can be used to install fiber optic cables in ducts.
Making branching fiber optic networks in the access network is more challenging than making copper balanced connections.
Connecting copper wires is significantly easier than splicing optical fibers.
An Optical Distribution Network (ODN) is used to branch cables from a roadside cabinet or pit that holds optical equipment and is supplied from the Central Office in Fibre to the Home (FTTH) networks with many branches.
Bundles of tiny microducts can be put in larger protected ducts (e.g., PVC conduit) using microduct cabling.
This can be accomplished, for example, by jetting.
Micro duct bundles can also be factory pre-installed.
The microducts in the network can be readily forked.
A window is cut in the protective duct and the microduct of choice is cut at any location of choice.
This microduct is then linked to a microduct that branches to the desired place using a simple push/pull connector.
A separate microduct path has been built in the network once all connections have been made.
Without the requirement for a splice, a microduct cable can be jetted through the microduct.
Microduct cabling technology is becoming increasingly popular across the world.
The number of fibers per cable has increased to 144 and can be put in microducts as small as 8 mm in diameter. Bundles of microducts can be blasted for up to 1500 meters.
Microduct cables may be blasted over 3.5 km in a single shot.
By putting jetting equipment in tandem, it may get more length without splicing.
The Global Microduct Market accounted for $XX Billion in 2022 and is anticipated to reach $XX Billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of XX% from 2023 to 2030.
Today at the FTTH Conference in Luxembourg, OFS unveiled the newest member of their expanding micro cable product range.
The MiDia 2GX Cable, which builds on OF experience in micro cable technology, may help take urban networks to the next level with higher fiber density, improved performance, and much lower implementation costs.
The MeDia 2GX Micro Cable, which is specifically designed for seamless installation into existing microduct networks, can assist service providers achieve up to a 100% increase in fiber density as well as longer air-blown installation distances by employing a single, reduced-diameter cable.
