IEC 60794-1-1:2011

IEC 60794-1-1 ®
Edition 3.0 2011-09
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
colour
inside
Optical fibre cables –
Part 1-1: Generic specification – General

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IEC 60794-1-1 ®
Edition 3.0 2011-09
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
colour
inside
Optical fibre cables –
Part 1-1: Generic specification – General

INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
PRICE CODE
N
ICS 33.180.10 ISBN 978-2-88912-688-0

– 2 – 60794-1-1 © IEC:2011(E)
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 3
1 Scope . 5
2 Normative references . 5
3 Definitions . 6
4 Optical fibre cables . 6
5 Materials . 7
5.1 Optical fibre . 7
5.2 Electrical conductors . 7
5.3 Other materials . 7
5.4 Environmental requirements . 7
6 Cable construction . 7
7 Measuring methods . 7
7.1 General . 7
7.2 Measuring methods for dimensions . 8
7.3 Measuring methods for mechanical characteristics . 8
7.4 Measuring methods for electrical characteristics . 8
7.5 Measuring methods for transmission and optical characteristics . 8
7.6 Measuring methods for environmental characteristics . 9
7.7 Measuring methods for cable element characterisation. 9
8 Related Technical Reports . 9
Annex A (informative) Guide to specific defined applications and cabled fibre
performance . 11
Annex B (informative) Guide to qualification sampling . 12
Bibliography . 14

Table 1 – Measuring methods for dimensions . 8
Table 2 – Measuring methods for electrical characteristics . 8
Table 3 – Transmission and optical characteristics of cabled optical fibres . 9

60794-1-1 © IEC:2011(E) – 3 –
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
OPTICAL FIBRE CABLES –
Part 1-1: Generic specification – General

FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote
international co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To
this end and in addition to other activities, IEC publishes International Standards, Technical Specifications,
Technical Reports, Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) and Guides (hereafter referred to as “IEC
Publication(s)”). Their preparation is entrusted to technical committees; any IEC National Committee interested
in the subject dealt with may participate in this preparatory work. International, governmental and non-
governmental organizations liaising with the IEC also participate in this preparation. IEC collaborates closely
with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in accordance with conditions determined by
agreement between the two organizations.
2) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an international
consensus of opinion on the relevant subjects since each technical committee has representation from all
interested IEC National Committees.
3) IEC Publications have the form of recommendations for international use and are accepted by IEC National
Committees in that sense. While all reasonable efforts are made to ensure that the technical content of IEC
Publications is accurate, IEC cannot be held responsible for the way in which they are used or for any
misinterpretation by any end user.
4) In order to promote international uniformity, IEC National Committees undertake to apply IEC Publications
transparently to the maximum extent possible in their national and regional publications. Any divergence
between any IEC Publication and the corresponding national or regional publication shall be clearly indicated in
the latter.
5) IEC itself does not provide any attestation of conformity. Independent certification bodies provide conformity
assessment services and, in some areas, access to IEC marks of conformity. IEC is not responsible for any
services carried out by independent certification bodies.
6) All users should ensure that they have the latest edition of this publication.
7) No liability shall attach to IEC or its directors, employees, servants or agents including individual experts and
members of its technical committees and IEC National Committees for any personal injury, property damage or
other damage of any nature whatsoever, whether direct or indirect, or for costs (including legal fees) and
expenses arising out of the publication, use of, or reliance upon, this IEC Publication or any other IEC
Publications.
8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
indispensable for the correct application of this publication.
9) Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this IEC Publication may be the subject of
patent rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
International Standard IEC 60794-1-1 has been prepared by subcommittee 86A: Fibres and
Cables, of IEC technical committee 86: Fibre optics.
This third edition cancels and replaces the second edition, published in 2002, and constitutes
a technical revision.
This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous
edition:
a) the contents are updated throughout;
b) the informative Annexes A “Guide to the installation of optical fibre cables” and B “Guide
to hydrogen effects in optical fibre cables” have been deleted from this standard and will
be published as separate Technical Reports;
c) the informative Annex C is renamed Annex A and the informative Annex B “Guide to
qualification sample” is added.
This standard shall be used in conjunction with IEC 60794-1-2.

– 4 – 60794-1-1 © IEC:2011(E)
The text of this standard is based on the following documents:
CDV Report on voting
86A/1355/CDV 86A/1399/RVC
Full information on the voting for the approval of this standard can be found in the report on
voting indicated in the above table.
This publication has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
A list of all the parts in the IEC 61754 series, under the general title Optical fibre cables, can
be found on the IEC website.
The committee has decided that the contents of this publication will remain unchanged until
the stability date indicated on the IEC web site under "http://webstore.iec.ch" in the data
related to the specific publication. At this date, the publication will be
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
A bilingual version of this publication may be issued at a later date.
The contents of the corrigendum of January 2012 have been included in this copy.

IMPORTANT – The 'colour inside' logo on the cover page of this publication indicates
that it contains colours which are considered to be useful for the correct
understanding of its contents. Users should therefore print this document using a
colour printer.
60794-1-1 © IEC:2011(E) – 5 –
OPTICAL FIBRE CABLES –
Part 1-1: Generic specification – General

1 Scope
This part of IEC 60794 applies to optical fibre cables for use with communication equipment
and devices employing similar techniques and to cables having a combination of both optical
fibres and electrical conductors.
The object of this standard is to establish uniform generic requirements for the geometrical,
transmission, material, mechanical, ageing (environmental exposure), climatic and electrical
properties of optical fibre cables, where appropriate.
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document.
For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition
of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
IEC 60189-1, Low-frequency cables and wires with PVC insulation and PVC sheath – Part 1:
General test and measuring methods
IEC 60793-1-1, Optical fibres – Part 1-1: Measurement methods and test procedures –
General and guidance
IEC 60793-1-21, Optical fibres – Part 1-21: Measurement methods and test procedures –
Coating geometry
IEC 60793-1-22, Optical fibres – Part 1-22: Measurement methods and test procedures –
Length measurement IEC 60793-1-40, Optical fibres – Part 1-40: Measurement methods and
test procedures – Attenuation
IEC 60793-1-40, Optical fibres – Part 1-40: Measurement methods and test procedures –
Attenutation
IEC 60793-1-46, Optical fibres – Part 1-46: Measurement methods and test procedures –

Monitoring of changes in optical transmittance
IEC 60793-1-48, Optical fibres – Part 1-48: Measurement methods and test procedures –
Polarization Mode Dispersion
IEC 60793-2, Optical fibres – Part 2: Product specifications – General
IEC 60794-1-2, Optical fibre cables – Part 1-2: Generic specification – Basic optical cable test
procedures
– 6 – 60794-1-1 © IEC:2011(E)
IEC 60794-1-2:2003, Optical fibre cables – Part 1-2: Generic specification – Basic optical
cable test procedures
IEC 60794-4-20:- , Optical fibre cables – Part 4-20: Aerial optical cables along electrical
power lines – Family specification for ADSS (All Dielectric Self Supported) Optical cables
IEC 60811-201, Electric and optical fibre cables – Test methods for non-metallic materials –
Part 201: General tests – Measurement of insulation thickness
IEC 60811-202, Electric and optical fibre cables – Test methods for non-metallic materials –
Part 202: General tests – Measurement of thickness of non-metallic sheath
IEC 60811-203, Electric and optical fibre cables – Test methods for non-metallic materials –
Part 203: General tests – Measurement of overall dimensio
...