Tag Archives: fiber patch panels

Do You Know about Push-Pull Tab Fiber Patch Cables?

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More and more data centers are upgrading to 40G and beyond, which adds more floor space is an expensive, disruptive and sometimes un-affordable solution. Therefore, we should use high-density products to solve this problem. Then push-pull TAB fiber patch cables were conceived. This high-density patch cable provides improved accessibility, reduced installation costs and outstanding performance for today’s demanding high-density data center applications. In this article, some knowledge of push-pull TAB fiber patch cables will be provided.

Introduction to Push-Pull Tab Patch Cables
Push-Pull Tab Patch CablePush-pull TAB fiber patch cable is a new patch cord with a special “pull” tab design that can help to solve the problems of finger access in high-density cabling. It has the same components and internal-structure as the traditional patch cords, except a tab attached to the connector used for pushing or pulling the whole connector. With this special design, technicians can finish the installing and removing procedures with only one hand and no additional tools are needed. At present, this high-density push-pull TAB fiber patch cable, with either MPO or LC connector, is widely used in 40G and 100G network cabling.

Types of Push-Pull Tab Patch Cables
There are mainly two kinds of push-pull TAB fiber patch cables in the market: LC-HD TAB fiber patch cables and MPO-HD TAB fiber patch cables. The LC-HD TAB fiber patch cable is designed for the LC-HD switchable& movable connector. And its slim uni-boot design saves much space and makes cables more easily to be managed. MPO-HD TAB fiber patch cables can greatly simplify the use of MPO connectivity when manual access to the release slider and rear portion of the connector is restricted. In this way, easy insertion and extraction of MPO patch cords can be achieved.

push-pull-tab-patch-cords_

Advantages of Using Push-Pull Tab Patch Cables
Though traditional patch cables are popular in the data center, the push-pull TAB patch cables have many unique advantages.

  • Easy to Release Patch Cord

In high-density environment such as 48-port 1U patch panels, inserting and disconnecting patch cords can be challenging for technicians. The flexible pull-tab of the patch cable allows for the connector to be disengaged easily from loaded panels without the need for special tools. In fact, a gentle pull on the tab may disengage the connector from extremely dense fiber patch panels. Furthermore, labeling is also available on the pull-tab so that each cable can be quickly identified.

high-density Push-Pull Tab Patch Cable

  • Higher Flexibility and Adjustabilityfie

Push-pull patch cords are available in various specifications which can connect different generation of devices from 10Gb/s to 120Gbp/s or more. It provides safe and easy push and pull of the specific connector without affecting the other connectors around it. What’s more, high-density and ease of installation provide a low initial investment cost. All these benefits provide a high return on investment.

  • Space Saving

The traditional connectors often require a small vertical space above and below the adapters. While the low profile push-pull TAB patch cable, together with its pull tab, allow adapters to be stacked with absolutely no vertical space (as in the following figure).

Push-Pull Tab Patch Cables

Conclusion
We started with 1G switches. Those switches became 10G. Recently we’ve seen the trend of 40G. In the future, those switches will become 100G and even 120G. It has been proved that push-pull tab patch cords can support high durability and flexibility which fit the connection between devices of different data rate. Fiberstore offers a wide range of push-pull TAB patch cables that will help free up space.We supply simplex&duplex LC-HD patch cords, 12&24 fibers MPO-HD patch cords, MPO-LC harness cables, providing low-loss performance for multi-mode and single mode high speed networks and improving network performance.

Video Patch Panel With Patch Cable

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The jacks commonly used in patch panels in the U.S. conform to Western Electric standard dimensions. The number of insertion cycles a jack can endure should be rated in the tens of thousands. The factors affecting the life and reliablility of a jack include contact wear and failure of the termination switch. Descirable features include the following:

● Contacts fully isolated from the panel.
● Sealed metal housing to keep out contaminants and provide EMI protection.
● Easy replacement from the front of the panel.
● Low VSWR (below 600 MHz)
● High signal isolation (40 dB)
● 75 Ω characteristic impedance.
● Wide designation strips, making it easier to label the field and to allow more flexibility in selecting names that will fit on the lables.

If a patch cable is inserted in the signal path of a timed video system, it will delay the signal by an amount determined by its length and physical properties. The patch thereby alters the timing of the signal path. This can be avoided by using phase-matched normal-through fiber patch panels. The design of these patch panels anticipates the delay caused by a fixed length of patch cable by including that length in the loop-through circuit.

With phase-matched panels, the normaling connection in each connector module includes a length of cable that provides a fixed delay through the panel, usually 3 ft (0.914m). If a patch cord of the same length as the internal cable is used to make connections between patch points, the delay will be the same as that of the normal-through panel. When a fiber optic patch cord is plugged in, it is substituted for the loop cable through the swiching mechanism normally used in normalled patch connectors. Thus, critical timing relationships can be maintained.

In a normal uncompensated patch panel, when a cable is used to patch between two points on the panel, the length of the patch cord is added to that of the cables connected to the patch. The additional cable length delays the signal by approximately 1.52 ns/ft (5 ns/m). To avoid the delays associated with conventional patch panels, phase-matched normal-through video patch panels should be used.

If phase-matched patch panels are used, all of the patch cord must be the same length as the delay built into the patch panel. Obviously, if all of the patch cords must be the same short length for the phase-matched panel, it would not be possible to patch between panels that are separated by a longer distance than the cord can reach. This limitation should be considered when laying out patch panels in a fiber enclosure.

Color-coded cables can be specified. When different-length patch cords are specified, different colors can be used to distinguish one length from another for better cable management.

Fiberstore specializes in fiber optic patch cable assemblies and fiber optic network devices manufacturing since 1995, we are known as the fiber optic cable manufacturer for the excellent products quality, competitive prices, fast delivery and good service.  Our fiber optic cables are available with combinations of LC, SC, ST, FC, and MTRJ connectors and come in 1, 2, 3, 5, and 10 meter lengths (and OM3 cables up to 30 meters).  We offer LC fiber optic cable, SC fiber optic patch cables, SC LC fiber patch cable ect. We not only offer OEM fiber optic patch cord assemblies to some world leading companies in this industry, but  also cooperate with many other companies from all over the world and support these partners to win in the market.