G 651 1
G 651 1
G 651 1
ITU-T G.651.1
TELECOMMUNICATION (11/2018)
STANDARDIZATION SECTOR
OF ITU
Summary
Recommendation ITU-T G.651.1 recommends a quartz multimode fibre to be used for the access
network in specific environments. These environments are multi-tenant building sub-networks in
which broadband services have to be delivered to individual apartments. The recommended multimode
fibre supports the cost-effective use of 1 Gbit/s Ethernet systems over link lengths up to 550 m, usually
based upon the use of 850 nm transceivers.
The recommended fibre type is an improved version of the well-known 50/125 µm multimode graded-
index fibre as recommended in Recommendation ITU-T G.651. Its cost effective use is very common
in datacom systems applied in enterprise buildings throughout the world for quite a number of years.
History
Edition Recommendation Approval Study Group Unique ID*
1.0 ITU-T G.651.1 2007-07-29 15 11.1002/1000/9181
1.1 ITU-T G.651.1 (2007) Amd. 1 2008-12-12 15 11.1002/1000/9670
2.0 ITU-T G.651.1 2018-11-29 15 11.1002/1000/13738
Keywords
IEC 60793-2-10, IEEE 802.3 Ethernet system standards, ISO/IEC 11801-1, multimode fibre, OMx
cabled fibre categories.
____________________
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830-en.
NOTE
In this Recommendation, the expression "Administration" is used for conciseness to indicate both a
telecommunication administration and a recognized operating agency.
Compliance with this Recommendation is voluntary. However, the Recommendation may contain certain
mandatory provisions (to ensure, e.g., interoperability or applicability) and compliance with the
Recommendation is achieved when all of these mandatory provisions are met. The words "shall" or some other
obligatory language such as "must" and the negative equivalents are used to express requirements. The use of
such words does not suggest that compliance with the Recommendation is required of any party.
ITU 2019
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, by any means whatsoever, without the prior
written permission of ITU.
1 Scope
This Recommendation describes a 50/125 µm graded-index multimode optical fibre cable which is
suitable to be used in the 850 nm or 1300 nm region, or alternatively may be used in both wavelength
regions simultaneously.
The geometrical, optical, transmission and mechanical parameters are described below in two
categories of attributes:
• fibre attributes are those attributes that are retained throughout cabling and installation;
• cable attributes that are recommended for cables as they are delivered.
This Recommendation, and the different performance categories found in Table 1, is intended to
support the following related system Recommendations and standards:
• [b-IEEE 802.3].
The characteristics of this fibre, including the definitions of the relevant parameters, their test methods
and relevant values, will be refined as studies and experience progress.
2 References
The following ITU-T Recommendations and other references contain provisions which, through
reference in this text, constitute provisions of this Recommendation. At the time of publication, the
editions indicated were valid. All Recommendations and other references are subject to revision;
users of this Recommendation are therefore encouraged to investigate the possibility of applying the
most recent edition of the Recommendations and other references listed below. A list of the currently
valid ITU-T Recommendations is regularly published. The reference to a document within this
Recommendation does not give it, as a stand-alone document, the status of a Recommendation.
[IEC 60793-1-1] IEC 60793-1-1 (2017), Optical fibres – Part 1-1: Measurement methods and
test procedures – General and guidance.
[IEC 60793-1-20] IEC 60793-1-20 (2014), Optical fibres – Part 1-20: Measurement methods and
test procedures – Fibre geometry.
[IEC 60793-1-30] IEC 60793-1-30 (2010), Optical fibres – Part 1-30: Measurement methods and
test procedures – Fibre proof test.
[IEC 60793-1-40] IEC 60793-1-40 (2001), Optical fibres – Part 1-40: Measurement methods and
test procedures – Attenuation.
[IEC 60793-1-41] IEC 60793-1-41 (2010), Optical fibres – Part 1-41: Measurement methods and
test procedures – Bandwidth.
[IEC 60793-1-42] IEC 60793-1-42 (2013), Optical fibres – Part 1-42: Measurement methods and
test procedures – Chromatic dispersion.
[IEC 60793-1-43] IEC 60793-1-43 (2015), Optical fibres – Part 1-43: Measurement methods and
test procedures – Numerical aperture.
[IEC 60793-1-47] IEC 60793-1-47 (2017), Optical fibres – Part 1-47: Measurement methods and
test procedures – Macrobending loss.
5 Fibre attributes
The characteristics of the fibre providing a minimum essential design framework for fibre
manufacture, system design and use are recommended in this clause and in clause 7. Ranges or limits
on values are presented in Table 1. In this clause those attributes have been listed only where
additional information is helpful.
The recommended characteristics will not be significantly affected by cable manufacture or
installation and therefore apply equally to individual fibres, fibres incorporated into a cable wound
on a drum, and fibres in an installed cable.
5.4 Non-circularity
5.4.1 Cladding non-circularity
The cladding non-circularity shall not exceed the value found in clause 7. For measuring the value of
this attribute, reference is made to [IEC 60793-1-20].
5.4.2 Core non-circularity
The core non-circularity shall not exceed the value found in clause 7. For measuring the value of this
attribute, reference is made to [IEC 60793-1-20].
NAtmax n12 n 22 ½
in which n1 is the maximum refractive index of the core and n2 is the refractive index of the innermost
homogeneous cladding. For measuring the value of this attribute, reference is made to
[IEC 60793-1-43].
The values of λ0min, λ0max and S0max shall be within the limits indicated in Table 1. For measuring the
value of this attribute, reference is made to [IEC 60793-1-42].
NOTE 1 – The worst-case chromatic dispersion coefficient at 850 nm as derived from the recommended values
in clause 7 is −104 ps/nm km (e.g., S0 = 0.09375 ps/nm2 km at λ0 = 1340 nm or S0 = 0.10125 ps/nm2 · km at
λ0 = 1320 nm).
NOTE 2 – Specification compliance of chromatic dispersion can be assured by compliance to the numerical
aperture specification.
[b-ITU-T G.651], originally published in 1980, covered the geometrical and transmissive properties
of multimode fibres having a 50 m nominal core diameter and a 125 m nominal cladding diameter.
Test methods and the meanings of the terms used were in the text.
That Recommendation, which had not been significantly changed from the original in the four
subsequent editions through 1998, was developed during the infancy of optical fibre solutions for
publicly switched networks. At that time (pre-1984), these fibres were considered as the only practical
solution for transmission distances in the 10's of kilometres and bit-rates of up to 40 Mbit/s. Single-
mode ITU-T G.652 fibres, which became available shortly after the publication of [b-ITU-T G.651],
have almost completely replaced multimode fibres in the public switched networks.
Currently, multimode fibres continue to be widely used in premises cabling applications such as
Ethernet in lengths from 300 to 2000 m, depending on bit rate. With a change in the applications, the
multimode fibre definitions, requirements, and measurements evolved away from the original
[b-ITU-T G.651] in some ways and were maintained or improved in others.
The transmission characteristics from this Recommendation have also been moved to the modern
equivalent, Recommendation ITU-T G.651.1. A complete documentation for the modern
requirements is found in [IEC 60793-2-10].
The contents of [b-ITU-T G.651] included the early parameter definitions for glass geometry,
numerical aperture, attenuation and baseband response (the combination of modal bandwidth and
chromatic dispersion). Some limits on these parameters were also given. Formulas for the attenuation
and bandwidth of installed links that comprised of concatenations of cables were given. Measurement
methods for the parameters were also described.
Some differences between [b-ITU-T G.651] and the modern requirements include:
i) the core diameter is defined in terms of the near field profile, rather than the refractive index
profile;
ii) parameters such as core/cladding tolerance field and intrinsic quality factor are no longer
used;
iii) the proof test stress is now twice what it was;
iv) bandwidth limits were then 200 MHz · km, whereas now limits can be as large as
2000 MHz · km.
With the acceptance of more modern and more tightly specified Recommendation ITU-T G.651.1 in
2007, the old [b-ITU-T G.651] was felt to be obsolete, and therefore was withdrawn in February 2008.
This appendix indicates some background information about the old [b-ITU-T G.651].
Cable attributes
Attribute Detail Value Unit
Maximum at 850 nm 4 dB/km
Attenuation coefficient
Maximum at 1300 nm 2 dB/km
[b-IEC 62048] IEC 62048 (2002), Optical fibres – Reliability – Power law theory.
[b-IEEE 802.3] IEEE std. 802.3 (2005), Part 3: Carrier sense multiple access with collision
detection (CSMA/CD) access method and physical layer specifications.
[b-ISO/IEC 11801] ISO/IEC 11801:2002, Information technology – Generic cabling for
customer premises.
[b-ISO/IEC 11801-1] ISO/IEC 11801-1:2017, Information technology – Generic cabling for
customer premises – Part 1: General requirements.
Printed in Switzerland
Geneva, 2019