Revolutionary Reeducation in Datacom Cabling Design
First "Commercial" U.S. Installations of "Blolite" Blown Fiber Technology

Using the latest in innovative techniques, blown fiber technology finds it's home in California.
by C. S. Pegge

The development of fiber optic cable was a revolutionary leap forward, enabling data communications at (almost) the speed of light by photons in lightwaves rather than electrons in electrical current. The structure and composition of optical waveguide fibers were first defined in pioneering patents (1972, 1975) ascribed to Drs. Robert D. Maurer and Peter C. Schultz at Corning Glass Works.

Unpredictability Still A Problem

Yet a quarter-century later, in many aspects, fiber optic data communications is still a future technology, a potential still in development. While network backbones are increasingly fiber optic or fiber-copper hybrid cables, further development on the "electronics" side of transmission and connection equipment appears necessary before the dream of "fiber to the desktop" becomes an affordable reality for most applications.

To prepare for that eventuality, smart network designers have been adding optical fiber capacity to handle any future contingency, a practice known as "future-proofing" the network. The predominant cost in cabling infrastructure is not cable but labor. Thus it may well make economic sense to spend on capacity now rather than struggle through recabling later.

Now there’s an alternative solution that could radically transform the basic infrastructure of most LANs (local area networks). In addition, the installer/contractor may take on an expanding role as a provider of continuing services and support.

Blown Fiber: New Wave Enlightenment

An ingenious yet fundamentally simple innovation, blown fiber technology was first developed and patented (1982) by British Telecom as an infinitely easier means of installing fiber optic links in their network. BICC took a license from British Telecom in 1986 to develop its own version of blown fiber technology, known as Blolite. Following further development, blown fiber installations spread across the U.K., Western Europe and the Pacific Rim and have now been introduced by General Cable to the North American market.

Blown fiber is a flexible, efficient solution. Instead of conventional cables, smaller plastic tubing is installed. Available in 5mm or 8mm diameters, the tubing (which we call Microduct) is not so tough to pull through conduit as much thicker fiber optic cable, and there is no danger of pulling too hard and damaging the fiber. Microduct to the desktop can likewise quickly be installed in an office environment with minimal disruption. Using compressed air, the optical fibers are "blown in" through the empty tubing. The Blolite System propels fibers up to one kilometer (3,281 feet) in a single run, navigatin hundreds of twists and turns as well.

Unique Advantages For Customers, Installers

Major advantages immediately become evident. Installation is much quicker and easier than with conventional cabling. The economic equation can be rewritten by the customer, since all the optical fiber the network may ever need does not have to be installed in permanent infrastructure at the outset. Rather, once the Microduct has been installed, optical fiber can be purchased and blown in when and as needed. With investment spread out over time, cost deferment savings can be significant and initial costs substantially reduced in many applications.

But ultimately, the decisive and unrivaled advantage may well be flexibility. These days the acronym defining the evolving LAN culture in the working world is MACs – moves, adds and changes. Blown fiber technology revolutionizes the ease and simplicity of real-world MACs. Just blow out the old fiber, reroute the Microduct if necessary and then blow in the new fiber.

The implications of this revolutionary flexible infrastructure offer additional benefits to both customer and installer. Perhaps most important, the customer is relieved of the necessity to make absolute one-time technology and investment decisions upfront, before any cabling infrastructure is installed. The risk of a costly error may be virtually eliminated.

General Cable also offers a complementary and unique product option known as BloTwist that employs a dual configuration of Microduct tubing (for future optical fiber installation) and the latest enhanced twisted-pair copper cabling for all immediate needs – thus enabling customers to hedge their bets and reduce risk even further.

First "Commercial" Installations In U.S.

In part because General Cable is the longtime largest cable supplier to the U.S. Navy, it was not surprising that the earliest adoption of the Blolite System in this country was for military applications, installing datacom networks aboard the latest, most modern aircraft carriers. These installations dramatically demonstrated the potential of blown fiber on a huge scale. For example, Newport News Shipbuilding installed 27 miles of optical fiber onboard the Harry S. Truman (CVN 75). From the 03 level to the 09 level of the island house, a distance of nearly two football fields, four fibers were blown all the way up in less than five minutes. Next, however, the first non-military or "commercial" installations of the Blolite System in the U.S. were not business enterprises, as might be expected, but rather educational institutions.

Although the institutions are quite different – one a community college, the other a public school system – both are within 40 miles of each other in Southern California, a region often ahead of the curve in adopting new technologies. Both contracts were also bid and won by the same General Cable certified installer, Craft Communications in nearby Corona, California, under management of partners Stan Lawry, president, and Jim Kalil, chief executive officer.

In education as in commerce, leaders are obviously looking to future needs in computer technology, as well as network infrastructure. But the perspective, and the primary motive, may differ considerably.

Computers in education are not there simply because literacy, facility and skill will be required upon the students’ graduation and entry into the working world. Of far greater consequence, the networked computer levels the playing field for anyone anywhere. A community college student in the Inland Empire (as the San Bernardino-Riverside region of Southern California is known) can research and read the same sources as a student all the way across the country at Harvard or Yale, or across the Atlantic at Oxford or Cambridge. All of a sudden, factors like individual determination, on-site teaching and distant learning opportunities become more important, and how you got there (past history) becomes less important. That’s the prospect educators are seeing ahead; no wonder they’re building state-of-the-art infrastructure with the same urgency as corporate chieftains.

San Bernardino Community College District

A venerable pioneer among community colleges in California, San Bernardino Valley College first opened its classrooms in 1926 (ancient history in this part of the country). Since then, more than 600,000 students have filled those classrooms, with about 12,000 students enrolling in fall and spring terms today. Now merged with the nearby campus of Crafton Hills Community College into the San Bernardino Community College District, the combined organization maintains district administrative offices in a third location, downtown San Bernardino.

Because several buildings on campus were recently discovered to straddle the San Jacinto earthquake fault line, a massive construction, renovation and retrofitting project is now underway, sponsored by a $46 million FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) grant from the Office of Emergency Services and a 25 percent local match of $11.5 million from a statewide higher education bond measure passed by the California legislature.

Now the byword being coined most often is "opportunity." An editorial in the local San Bernardino County Sun proclaimed that Valley College "will have the opportunity for construction of a stellar, state-of-the-art campus." And the annual report added that "not many colleges get the opportunity to undertake such a project using the input and advice from the entire college community." Instead of bleak, future prospects appear at their brightest.

Rebuilding With A Blown Fiber Backbone

With the prospect of installing a new state-of-the-art network infrastructure and with the choice of the latest, most advanced cabling solutions to meet current and future technology demands, blown fiber was selected for the backbone connecting the emerging and revitalized San Bernardino Valley College campus.

"The main trunk of the backbone, with 24 fibers, originates from the hub and the e-mail server in the Administration building," reports Jason Sustarich, network manager, technically employed by COLLEGIS, a Maitland, Florida, firm that manages IT (information technology) resources for San Bernardino Community College District and many other post-secondary educational institutions across the country.

Craft Communications installed underground conduit, easily pulled the Microduct tubing through the conduit, then blew in the optical fibers to form the backbone of the campus network. The longest run was 879 meters, traveling from the business building through the administration and life science buildings, through North Hall and into a conduit system down the street, across the street and up a telephone pole to the technical building. "It was simply amazing," Stan Lawry observes.

"Once you master the methodology, installing the Microduct tubing and blowing in the fibers can be completed much faster and easier than any other type of cabling," states Jose Abarca, installation supervisor for Craft Communications. "It’s also going to be a lot easier to make changes two or five or 10 years from now and a lot less expensive than conventional recabling."

Also technically employed by outsource IT management firm COLLEGIS, David Harris, executive director of computing services for San Bernardino Community College District, sees the rapid construction of new network infrastructure and early adoption of blown fiber technology as consistent with the vision of Valley College President Sharon S. Caballero. "She wants this campus to be a leader in new technology, a showcase for the integration of technology and education. That’s part of our mission."

The advantages of technology to a community college with multiple locations and covering a large geographic region, according to Paul Rubalcaba Valley College’s director of marketing and public relations, include connecting students and faculty, even at a distance from either campus, in one network. "Almost overnight we’re getting everybody up to speed with e-mail, file sharing, research on the Internet, the latest software, computer-assisted learning and all the rest. As we are rebuilding the Valley College infrastructure, getting the campus wired has been of primary importance."

Another potential advantage has special implications in Southern California, as demonstrated by the San Bernardino Valley College installation. Disaster recovery, if ever necessary, can be streamlined in terms of time and complexity. In some situations, faster recovery could be a critical advantage.

Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District

Distances are also a factor at the Placential-Yorba Linda Unified School District (PYLUSD), serving 45 square miles of suburban Northeast Orange County. Instead of three locations, there are 28 dispersed school sites in Placentia and Yorba Linda, as well as parts of Anaheim, Brea, Fullerton and "unincorporated territory."

Instead of providing the backbone for a campus network, however, blown fiber technology was used to install the local area network backbone at each of the 28 school sites, plus the PYLUSD district office in Placentia and the Educational Service Center. Craft Communications also installed horizontal wiring at each building including copper cabling for voice and data. Each school in the PYLUSD is equipped with a computer lab capable of accommodating an entire class of students. Multimedia stations are installed at each school, and many classrooms are equipped with computers wired to the Internet. Public school systems, like business enterprises, cannot wait to see what the computer revolution will bring. Rather, they are moving ahead with all deliberate speed to prepare for the future today, not tomorrow.

"Many of the classrooms in our middle and high schools are already equipped with advanced technology," notes PYLUSD Interim Administrator of Educational Technology Kjell Taylor. "Computer labs in the secondary schools are being used for computer-assisted drafting, business, writing and language arts and math programs, as well as generic functions such as research."

Here the singular advantage of blown fiber technology is that you do not have to choose, or purchase, everything all at once. Decisions made now are not set in concrete and irreversible. With blown fiber, the infrastructure is inherently flexible, able to be changed easily and quickly to support evolving network possibilities and requirements.

Spreading The Revolution

With blown fiber, flexibility (changeability) can now be a central factor in network design. Blown fiber is simply a better way, although some of the reasons are more subtle than immediately obvious. The practical technology of blown fiber installation for datacom networks is that it simplifies both the process and planning decisions for the network designer, the customer and the installer.

It is a revolutionary method that can support an economical and efficient network strategy for the future. Blown fiber offers an alternative solution for the network infrastructure providing a system capable of change. The blown fiber innovation offers a revolutionary reeducation in datacom cabling design, with lessons to be learned for each of the parties involved. It’s interesting to note that educators are among the first who have understood.


Editor’s Note: C. S. "Chris" Pegge is manager of fiber optics for General Cable.