Temperature dependent latency of jumper cables

TL;DR

This study investigates how temperature variations affect the latency of optical signals in jumper cables, highlighting the impact of cable construction and emphasizing considerations for 5G network applications.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the temperature-dependent latency behavior of jumper cables with tight buffer jackets, which was previously not well understood.

Findings

Bare fiber latency increases linearly with temperature.

Jumper cables with tight buffer show greater elongation effects at lower temperatures.

Temperature effects are significant for latency-sensitive 5G applications.

Abstract

The temperature dependence of the latency of an optical signal transmitted over an optical fiber was investigated by means of a correlation OTDR. While the bare fiber showed a linear latency increase over temperature, the jumper cable inside a jacket with tight buffer as inner jacket showed an increased elongation effect, especially in the range of lower tempera-tures. This could be attributed to the tight buffer. For future latency sensitive applications in the area of 5G networks these effects have to be taken into account.