Fujikura has developed and commercialized a new 4000-core SWR/WTC cable for the Japanese data center market.

This product is a thin-diameter, high-density optical fiber cable using Fujikura’s proprietary technology, which implements 16-core or 8-core intermittently fixed optical fiber ribbons (SWR: Spider Web Ribbon) that allow for multi-core simultaneous fusion splicing. It is also the highest core count optical fiber cable available for domestic data centers.

Fujikura has previously supplied 2000-core and 3000-core multi-core optical fiber cables to domestic data centers. However, with the rapid increase in communication data volume and information traffic around data centers due to the spread and expansion of generational AI and cloud services, there has been an urgent need for even higher core counts in optical fiber cables that can be laid in general conduits.

Due to space constraints for laying fiber optic cables in underground conduits in Japan, the maximum outer diameter of the cable must be kept below 24 mm. However, the 4000-core SWR/WTC cable has a maximum outer diameter of 23 mm while maintaining mechanical and optical characteristics equivalent to those of a 3000-core cable. Furthermore, it is available in both 16-core and 8-core SWR versions, each capable of 16-core and 8-core fusion splicing, respectively. 16-core fusion splicing streamlines the number of splicing operations and fiber retrieval work during termination, contributing to a reduction in overall installation time.

※Translating Japanese articles into English with AI