Everything You Need to Know: TIA Standard adds MPO Test Requirements and Procedures
In their latest revision (September 2022), the Telecom Industry Association (TIA) added MPO test requirements and procedures to their optical fiber cabling component standard, ANSI/TIA-568.3-E.
The revision adds MPO-specific requirements referencing TIA-526-28. TIA-526-28 is an adoption of IEC 61280-4-5 and deals with attenuation measurement of MPO-terminated fiber optic cabling plant using test equipment with MPO interfaces.
TIA-568.3-E defines two tiers of certification:
- Tier-1, which refers to loss, length and polarity, is typically performed using an optical loss test set (OLTS)
- Tier-2, which complements Tier-1, is performed with an Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR)
- In all cases, fiber end-face inspection is recommended and ensure a “cleaner” test process
For Tier-1 certification, the reference test method (RTM) is the 1- cord reference. It is the preferred method to ensure accurate loss measurements with the lowest uncertainties. TIA-526-28 especially describes how to perform a 1-cord reference for pinned or unpinned systems. To match the connector gender of the system/cable under test, the use of gender neutral MPO connectors on the test cords is necessary.
The length is a required measurement used to calculate the length-based loss limits. It gives the pass/fail results to generate a complete certification report.
As per the Tier-1 certification, the MPO system polarity (A, B or C) should be automatically determined by the instrument. A complete mapping of the fibers can also be provided on demand, which allows identification of crossed connections and/or flipped fibers.
The installation of MPO connectivity is typically linked to the installation of high density fiber cablesto support modern spine – leaf architectures. With VIAVI MPO test solutions, not only do you have the test functions to perform a true Tier-1 certification but also unique features which are as important to accelerate and simplify the complete workflow, such as on-board inspection microscope, the ability to directly import a list of cable labels, high storage capacity, etc.
VIAVI has the most comprehensive MPO field test portfolio available: MPO end-face inspection (Sidewinder), Tier-1 basic certification (MPOLx) and Tier-2 advanced certification (T-BERD/MTS-4000v2 with MPO switch module and FiberComplete PROTM). In addition, VIAVI offers the industry’s first all-in-one benchtop inspection and analysis microscope for MPO and other multi-fiber connectors, the FVAm Benchtop Microscope.
