SUPPLEMENT CONNECTORS & ENCLOSURES THE CONSTANTLY EVOLVING MTP CONNECTOR
Sharon Lutz technical expert for Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) explores the ever Expanding MTP connector format and the importance of knowing these component specifications
he primary building block of the MPO connector is the rectangular MT ferrule, originated by NTT Laboratories in the mid-1980s for use in high density, pre-engineered, FTTx architectures. This MT ferrule building block became the basis for the first MPO connector, introducing multi-fibre, physical contact interconnect technology in the early 1990s. In 1996, US Conec released a high performance MPO connector, the MTP brand multi-fibre connector. International and North American standards developed by the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) define the MPO connector to ensure intermateability of factory-terminated cable assemblies, thereby enabling rapid deployment of high density structured cabling. US Conec’s enhanced MPO connector is fully compliant with the same interface standards as the MPO: the International IEC 61754-7-1 (one array) and IEC 61754-7-2 (two array) standards and the North American TIA- 604-5-E (one and two array) standard that is also known as FOCIS 5. It is critical to understand the
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importance and role of all the components of the system and the requirements of the International and North American standards to ensure proper function and compliance of the pre-engineered cable assembly. The optical performance is based on
fibre tip physical contact, axial and angular fibre alignment mechanically controlled by the MT ferrule via precision guide bores and pins. The critical components of the raw ferrule design are the true position and angle of the fibre bores in the MT ferrule relative to the alignment guide bores, the diameter of the alignment pins, and the diameter of both the fibre bores and guide bores. In addition to component precision, the
optical performance is also dependent on how the MT ferrule is processed to ensure physical contact of quality fibre tips. The fibre tip contact is a result of the factory polished end face geometry and connector spring force, while the fibre tip quality and cleanliness are dependent on the termination process and handling. The MPO connector embodiment and adapter system defined by the standards work as a system to
S6 MARCH 2018 | ELECTRONICS
NEW POLARITY VARIANTS IEC 61754-7-1 and IEC 61754-7-2 include an alternative “up-angled” APC plug variant to support new polarity methodologies for parallel single mode applications.
provide course alignment and mating force while the MT ferrule, guide pins, and fibre tip geometry enable the fine alignment optical performance. While the original MPO standards were focused on fibre counts of 8 or 12 per plug, in the last few years, both IEC and TIA have developed standards supporting much higher densities in both flat and Angled Physical Contact (APC). Additionally, recent harmonisation efforts have resulted in revisions to the MPO standards ensuring optimal intermateability globally across a broad range of applications, which include: Two 12 fibre arrays per ferrule format While the original MPO standards could only ensure physical contact of 8 or 12 fibres; IEC 61754-7-2 was recently approved for publication with a higher spring force variant (20N vs. 10N) to support applications with 2 rows of 12 fibre arrays in a single ferrule for both flat endface and APC variants. TIA-604- 5-E currently supports a high spring force variant for flat endface MPO multi- array applications. 16 Fibre arrays per ferrule format A new, high density version of the MT ferrule was recently developed supporting one and two arrays of 16 fibres in the traditional 12 fibre ferrule footprint for emerging Tx/Rx formats and structured cabling architectures. Subsequently, TIA 604-18 (one and two array) has been released to support 16 fibres per array format for flat endface variants. IEC 61754-7-4 (one array) and IEC 61754-7-3 (two array) are in the approval process supporting the 16 fibres per array format for flat and APC variants. Both IEC and TIA standards include a new keying configuration preventing inadvertent mating with the traditional 12 fibre format.
Figure 1: MTP PRO connector
HARMONISATION BETWEEN IEC AND TIA STANDARDS TIA-604-5-E and TIA-604-18 are being harmonised with IEC 61754-7-1, IEC 61754-7-2, IEC 61754-7-3, and IEC 61754-7-4. The guide pin retention within the connector plug of 19.6 N from IEC 61754-7-1 is being added to TIA 604-5-E and TIA 604-18
The device receptacle section is being added to TIA-604-18 to define the Tx/Rx interface
The APC plug variant including an “up-angled” is being added to TIA- 604-18
Once the TIA documents are approved
for publication, the newly harmonised documents will be TIA-604-5-F and TIA-604-18-A. Since the 1996 release of the MTP connector, its design has also continued to advance as a high performance MPO. US Conec released MT Elite grade ferrules with lower loss capabilities than the standard grade MT ferrules to meet the challenging link loss budgets evolving for data centre and telecommunication applications. A number of mechanical advancements have been implemented on both the MTP connector plugs as well as MTP adapters to ensure minimal debris generation, optimal stability, lowest insertion losses and overall connector reliability. These features have been employed on all MTP formats including the recently released MTP-16 connector (compliant with TIA-604-18, IEC 61754-7-3, and IEC 61754-7-4) that can house 16 fibre or 32 fibre MT ferrules. Most recently, US Conec introduced the state of the art MTP PRO connector which enables simple, error free gender and polarity key changes in the field while making further enhancements to overall ease of use and performance.
TIA
http://www.tiaonline.org T: +1 703 907 7700
/ ELECTRONICS
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