Abstract:
An assembly includes: a hybrid power/fiber optic cable comprising pluralities of power conductors and optical fibers, the plurality of power conductors and the plurality of optical fibers contained within a common jacket; a first breakout canister; and a second breakout canister. The hybrid power/fiber optic cable enters the first breakout canister and a plurality of power cords exit the first breakout canister, the power conductors of the hybrid power/fiber optic cable and the power cords being electrically connected within the first breakout canister, a respective one of a plurality of first conduits protecting each of the plurality of power cords. The plurality of optical fibers enters the first breakout canister and exits the first breakout canister, the exiting plurality of optical fibers being protected by a second conduit attached to the first breakout canister. The plurality of optical fibers enters the second breakout canister and exits the second breakout canister.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The present application claims priority from and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/007,486, filed Jun. 4, 2014, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/097,455, filed Dec. 29, 2014, the disclosure of each of which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates generally to electronic equipment, and more particularly to transition devices for distributing power and/or signals from cables. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    In the design of a hybrid power/fiber cable assembly it is often required that the separated cables be protected from certain birds, in particular cockatoos, that tend to damage the cables through unwanted pecking. To “bird-proof” the cables, a protective conduit is typically used. The protective conduit is generally greater than 19 mm in diameter to prevent the birds from pecking at and damaging the cables. 
         [0004]    For a hybrid power/fiber optic cable used at a base station or antenna employing a 9 remote radio unit (RRU) configuration, which has 9 power cable pairs and 36 fiber cables, the breakout area (in which the individual power cable pairs and optical fibers of a hybrid power/fiber cable are separated from each other for individual connection) can become very large and difficult to mount on a tower. Use of an enclosure to achieve breakout can create unacceptable levels of wind loading on the tower and extended assembly times. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0005]    As a first aspect, embodiments of the invention are directed to an assembly, comprising: a hybrid power/fiber optic cable comprising a plurality of power conductors and a plurality of optical fibers, the plurality of power conductors and the plurality of optical fibers contained within a common jacket; a first breakout canister; and a second breakout canister. The hybrid power/fiber optic cable enters the first breakout canister and a plurality of power cords exit the first breakout canister, the power conductors of the hybrid power/fiber optic cable and the power cords being electrically connected within the first breakout canister, a respective one of a plurality of first conduits attached to the first breakout canister and protecting each of the plurality of power cords. The plurality of optical fibers enters the first breakout canister and exits the first breakout canister, the exiting plurality of optical fibers being protected by a second conduit attached to the first breakout canister. The plurality of optical fibers enters the second breakout canister and exits the second breakout canister, the exiting plurality of optical fibers being divided into subgroups, each subgroup being protected by a respective one of a plurality of third conduits attached to the second breakout canister. 
         [0006]    As a second aspect, embodiments of the invention are directed to an assembly, comprising: a hybrid power/fiber optic cable comprising a plurality of power conductors and a plurality of optical fibers, the plurality of power conductors and the plurality of optical fibers contained within a common jacket; a first breakout canister; and a second breakout canister. The hybrid power/fiber optic cable enters the first breakout canister and a plurality of power cords exit the first breakout canister, the power conductors of the hybrid power/fiber optic cable and the power cords being electrically within the first breakout canister, a respective one of a plurality of first conduits attached to the first breakout canister and protecting each of the plurality of power cords. The plurality of optical fibers enters the first breakout canister and exits the first breakout canister, the exiting plurality of optical fibers being protected by a second conduit attached to the first breakout canister. The plurality of optical fibers enters the second breakout canister and exits the second breakout canister, the exiting plurality of optical fibers being divided into subgroups, each subgroup being protected by a respective one of a plurality of third conduits attached to the second breakout canister. Each of the first, second and third plurality of conduits is at least 19 mm in diameter. 
         [0007]    As a third aspect, embodiments of the invention are directed to an assembly, comprising: a hybrid power/fiber optic cable comprising a plurality of power conductors and a plurality of optical fibers, the plurality of power conductors and the plurality of optical fibers contained within a common jacket; a first breakout canister; and a second breakout canister. The hybrid power/fiber optic cable enters the first breakout canister and a plurality of power cords exit the first breakout canister, the power conductors of the hybrid power/fiber optic cable and the power cords being electrically connected within the first breakout canister, a respective one of a plurality of first conduits attached to the first breakout canister and protecting each of the plurality of power cords. The plurality of optical fibers enters the first breakout canister and exits the first breakout canister, the exiting plurality of optical fibers being protected by a second conduit attached to the first breakout canister. The plurality of optical fibers enters the second breakout canister and exits the second breakout canister, the exiting plurality of optical fibers being divided into subgroups, each subgroup being protected by a respective one of a plurality of third conduits attached to the second breakout canister. The assembly is connected with a 9 remote radio head (RRU) configuration. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         [0008]      FIG. 1  is a front perspective view of an assembly for distributing optical fibers and splicing the power conductors of a hybrid power/fiber optic cable to power jumper cables according to embodiments of the invention. 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is a section view of the body of the first breakout canister of the assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is a section view of the cover of the first breakout canister of the assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is a section view of the body of the second breakout canister of the assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  is a section view of the cover of the second breakout canister of the assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  is an exploded perspective view of an alternative embodiment of a first breakout canister for the assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0014]      FIG. 7  is a section view of the assembled canister of  FIG. 6 . 
           [0015]      FIG. 8  is an exploded view of the cover and sockets of the canister of  FIG. 6 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0016]    The present invention is described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which certain embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments that are pictured and described herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. It will also be appreciated that the embodiments disclosed herein can be combined in any way and/or combination to provide many additional embodiments. 
         [0017]    Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms that are used in this disclosure have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. The terminology used in the below description is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used in this disclosure, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will also be understood that when an element (e.g., a device, circuit, etc.) is referred to as being “connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly connected” or “directly coupled” to another element, there are no intervening elements present. 
         [0018]    As discussed above, in the design of a hybrid power/fiber cable assembly it is often required that the cables be “bird-proofed” with a protective conduit greater than 19 mm in diameter. Breakout enclosures for 9 RRU configurations are often so large that they create unacceptable levels of wind loading on the tower and extended assembly times. 
         [0019]    An assembly shown in  FIG. 1  and designated broadly at  10  can address these concerns. The assembly  10  includes a hybrid power/fiber optic cable  12  with a jacket  14  that includes nine power cables and 36 optical fibers. The hybrid/fiber optic cable  12  enters a first breakout canister  20 , wherein the power cables are electrically connected (i.e., spliced into or passed through) to nine power cable pairs  16  and the optical fibers are permitted to pass through as a single unit  24 . The optical fibers then travel to a second breakout canister  22 , wherein the optical fibers are separated into nine optical fiber subgroups  18 . Notably, the power cable pairs  16  are each protected with a respective conduit  26 , the optical fibers passing from the first breakout canister  20  to the second breakout canister  22  are protected by a conduit  28 , and the optical fiber subgroups  18  are each protected with a respective conduit  30 . These components are discussed in greater detail below. 
         [0020]    The hybrid power/fiber optic cable  12  can be any conventional hybrid power/fiber optic cable, and may have more or fewer power cables and/or optical fibers. An exemplary hybrid power/fiber optic cable is the HTC-24SM-1206-618-APV cable, available from CommScope, Inc. (Hickory, N.C.). 
         [0021]    The conduits  26 ,  28 ,  30  are formed of a material such as nylon that is sufficiently hardy to resist damage from birds. The conduits  26 ,  28 ,  30  in the illustrated embodiment are 21 mm in diameter, but may be sized differently (typically they are at least 19 mm in diameter). 
         [0022]    Referring now to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the first breakout canister  20  comprises a body  42  and a cover  44 . The body  42  includes a hollow stem  46  at one end and a cylindrical receptacle  48  with external threads  50  at the opposite end. The body  42  also includes a circumferential groove  45  on its outer surface that can receive a band clamp for mounting. The cover  44  has a cylindrical wall  52  with internal threads  54 , a plate  56  at one end of the wall  52 , and sockets  58  that extend from the plate  56 . Conduits  26  fit over the sockets  58  and extend therefrom ( FIG. 1 ). 
         [0023]    As can be seen in  FIG. 1 , the hybrid power/fiber optic cable  12  enters the body  42  through the stem  46 . The power cables are broken out from the hybrid power/fiber optic cable  12  and spliced with the nine power cable pairs  16  (typically through a crimping operation). The power cable pairs  16  are routed through respective sockets  58  in the cover  44  (i.e., on the side opposite the stem  46 ), wherein they are inserted into respective conduits  26 . The conduits  26  are then fitted over the outer diameters of the sockets  58 . The optical fibers  18  are maintained as a single group and are routed through a specific socket  59  on the cover  44 , wherein they are inserted as a group into the conduit  28  that is then fitted over the outer diameter of the socket  59 . The cover  44  is then threaded onto the body  42  to provide an enclosed canister  20 . 
         [0024]    Referring now to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the second breakout canister  22  includes a body  62  and a cover  64 . The body  62  includes a hollow stem  66  at one end and a funnelled receptacle  68  at the opposite end. The body  62  also includes a circumferential groove  65  on its outer surface that can receive a band clamp for mounting. The receptacle  68  includes an internal groove  70 . The cover  64  has a plate  76  with sockets  78  that extend from one side thereof. Conduits  30  fit over the sockets  78  and extend therefrom ( FIG. 1 ). 
         [0025]    As can be seen in  FIG. 1 , the optical fibers within the conduit  28  enter the body  62  through the stem  66 . The subgroups of optical fibers  18  are broken out and inserted into furcation tubes (not shown). The fiber subgroups are routed into respective sockets  78  in the cover  64  (i.e., on a side opposite from the stem  66 ), after which respective conduits  30  are attached to the sockets  78 . The cover  64  is then attached to the body  62  with a snap ring (not shown) that is inserted into the groove  70 . 
         [0026]    The two-stage breakout arrangement described above can eliminate the need for a breakout enclosure at which all power and optical fibers are broken out. The use of two breakout canisters reduces the width of the assembly (compared to that of a single enclosure) so that wind loads are significantly reduced. In some embodiments, the length of the conduit  28  is sufficient that the stem of the second breakout canister  24  “clears” the cover  44  of the first breakout canister  22  in the longitudinal direction (i.e., along the length of the conduit  28 ), such that the first and second breakout canisters  22 ,  24  can be mounted endwise on an antenna tower or similar structure. This length is typically between about 5 and 10 inches. 
         [0027]    In addition, the assembly does not require the installer to connect all of the cables to panel mount adapters, then jumper cables to the adapters. Elimination of these steps can reduce the installation time. 
         [0028]    An alternative configuration for the first breakout canister shown in  FIGS. 6-8  and designated broadly at  120 . The first breakout canister  120  comprises a body  142 , a flat cover  144 , sockets  158  and a snap ring  160 . The body  142  includes a hollow stem  146  at one end and a cylindrical receptacle  148  with an internal circumferential groove  150  at the opposite end. A shoulder  152  is present adjacent the groove  150 . The body  142  also includes a circumferential groove  145  on its outer surface that can receive a band clamp for mounting. As can be seen in  FIG. 8 , the cover  144  includes apertures  151 . Each of the sockets  158  has a retaining ridge  159  that enables it to remain in place when inserted into one of the apertures  151  of the cover  144 , although in other embodiments the sockets  158  may be attached via other means, such as threads or C-clips. 
         [0029]    The first breakout canister  120  can be assembled by inserting the sockets  158  into the apertures  151 . The power cables and optical fibers are broken out, spliced and routed through the sockets  158  and conduits (not shown in  FIGS. 6-8 ) as described above. The cover  144  is positioned in the body  142  so that the edge of the cover  144  abuts the shoulder  152 . The snap ring  160  is then compressed radially and positioned against the cover  144 . When the deflected snap ring  160  is released, it recovers toward its original shape and fits within the groove  150 , thereby securing the cover  144  to the body  142 . 
         [0030]    The first breakout canister  120  may be desirable as a design that is relatively easy to manufacture (as no internal threads need to be formed on the cover  144 ) and to assemble. 
         [0031]    Those skilled in this art will appreciate that, in some embodiments, the optical fibers may be broken out in the first canister and the power conductors may be broken out in the second canister. Also, either the first or second canister may be replaced with multiple canisters if such a design may be desirable for wind loading or the like. 
         [0032]    The foregoing is illustrative of the present invention and is not to be construed as limiting thereof. Although exemplary embodiments of this invention have been described, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible in the exemplary embodiments without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention as defined in the claims. The invention is defined by the following claims, with equivalents of the claims to be included therein.