{{Short description|System that manages optical fiber connections}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2021}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2021}}
A '''fiber management system''' ('''FMS''') manages optical fiber connections from outside of fiber rack to the fiber routers. Fiber-optic cable duct containing many fibers comes from far end sites and terminates on the FMS using splicing technology. FMS has fiber in and fiber out ports. From fiber out port the fiber patch will go to fiber optics based router.
FMS is a process by which a fiber network is managed. It tracks functions or attributes of the system such as schematic design, physical locations of assets, splice points (mechanical/fusion), and more.<ref name="FMS">{{cite web|url=http://fiberintel.com/|title=What is FMS?|last1=Cope|first1=Jason|website=FiberIntel|access-date=17 October 2017|ref=1}}</ref>
== Background ==
Fiber management systems surfaced with fiber optic cable technology in the early 1970s.<ref>{{cite book |last=Alwayn |first=Vivek |chapter=Fiber-Optic Technologies |title=Optical Network Design and Implementation |date=April 23, 2004 |chapter-url=http://www.ciscopress.com/articles/article.asp?p=170740&seqNum=1&rl=1 |publisher=Cisco}}</ref> Peter Schultz, Donald Keck, and Robert Maurer developed the first optical fiber that could transmit digital data more than 65,000 times faster than coaxial cables. In April 1977, General Telephone and Electronics launched the first optical network, in Southern California. The next month, Bell launched an optical telephone system in Chicago. Since the 1970s, fiber networks have grown to service over 80% of the world’s data and voice traffic.
== Modern fiber management == Fiber optic network management is used to:
{{bulleted list |Create and share cable capacity reports |Determine total cable lengths |Document fiber cable locations |Document splicing records |Estimate development costs |Identify dark fiber cables |Troubleshoot fiber breaks}}
Most organizations use software-based platforms, databases, and spreadsheets to execute these activities. With these tools, managers and installers can store data related to network components, connections, and tests that are valuable for planning future developments or troubleshooting issues as they arise.<ref>{{cite web |title=Outside Plant Fiber Optic Network Design |publisher=The Fiber Optic Association |url=https://foa.org/tech/ref/OSP/design.html |access-date=May 28, 2020}}</ref> Fiber optic management systems can generate reports that describe various network data points, including cable section lengths, loss budgets, network capacity, optical loss, splice and termination locations. <ref>{{cite web |title=User's Guide To Fiber Optic System Design and Installation |publisher=The Fiber Optic Association |url=https://www.thefoa.org/user/ |access-date=May 28, 2020}}</ref>
Operators can also store geospatial data and documents if GIS capabilities are available.<ref>{{cite web |title=GIS in Fiber Optic Cable Mapping and Asset Management |url=https://egis3.lacounty.gov/eGIS/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/GISDay2017_presentation7_GIS_Fiber_Management_Chhetri.pdf |access-date=May 28, 2020}}</ref> Software-based fiber optic network management platforms with GIS features allow network managers to visualize cable routes and evaluate surrounding environments.
== See also == *Broadband *Fiber to the x *GTE *Last mile *MapInfo *Municipal broadband
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:Fiber optics