Abstract: Optical fiber ribbon having an optical fiber with a radiation curable internal coating and a radiation curable colored coating disposed to surround the internal coating, and a radiation curable matrix material surrounding one or more of the optical fibers to form a ribbon, in which: the colored coating has a degree of adhesion to the inner coating which is higher than the degree of adhesion to the matrix material; and the optical fiber in the optical fiber ribbon shows, upon aging of the ribbon for at least two weeks in water at 60° C., an increase in the attenuation of the transmitted signal at 1550 nm of less than 0.05 db/km with respect to the attenuation of the assembled optical fiber measured before aging.

Abstract: A cable comprises at least two cores stranded together, an expanded inner jacket layer, a substantially circular metallic armor partially contacting the inner jacket to form unfilled interstices outside the inner jacket, and a polymeric outer jacket. The expanded inner jacket substantially takes the shape of the periphery of the stranded cores, providing a non-circular cross section for the expanded inner jacket. A method of producing a cable comprises providing at least two cores, expanding a polymeric material, extruding the expanded polymeric material around the cores, and allowing the expanded polymeric material to collapse onto the cores. A substantially circular metallic armor is applied, resulting in a plurality of unfilled voids between the inner jacket and the metallic armor. An outer jacket is extruded on the metallic armor.

Abstract: Optical fiber having a glass portion; at least one protective coating of thermoplastic material having at least one thermoplastic elastomer; the thermoplastic material having the following characteristics: a modulus of elasticity value at +25° C. lower than 150 MPa, preferably at least 10 Mpa, more preferably higher than 20 Mpa, and a Vicat point higher than 85° C., preferably higher than 120° C., more preferably lower than 350° C. Preferably, the coating is a single protective coating directly positioned onto the glass portion.

Abstract: A water-resistant telecommunication cable is disclosed comprising a solid and compact element surrounding at least one optical transmitting element, wherein the element is made from a vinyl alcohol/vinyl acetate copolymer having a hydrolysis degree of about 60% to about 95% and a polymerization degree higher than about 2,500; at least a first solid plasticizer having a melting point between 50° and 110° C., and a second solid plasticizer having a melting point equal or higher than 140° C., in an amount of about 10–30 and 1–10 parts by weight per hundred parts by weight of the copolymer, respectively; the water-soluble polymer material showing: a complex modulus (G*) equal to or higher than 2.5 106 Mpa; a ratio of the viscous modulus to the elastic modulus (tan ?) equal to or lower than 2.30; and a glass transition temperature (Tg) of about 20° to about 35° C.

Abstract: A dispersion-managed optical soliton transmission system uses alternating spans of positive-dispersion optical fiber having a negative slope and negative-dispersion optical fiber having a positive slope. For wavelength division multiplexing, the system has a map strength preferably between 4 and 8. An absolute value of average group velocity dispersion between 0.5 and 0.0 ps2/km, and soliton power may vary between channels within 1 dB. Map periods, amplifier spacings, and dispersion values across a wavelength range of 1530–1600 nm are disclosed for bit rates of 10 and 40 Gbits/sec to maintain the ranges of average group velocity dispersion and soliton power.