Place FTTP

After the strand facilities, housecounts, and addresses have been placed using OpenComms Designer Facilities tools, the Fiber sheaths and Network Access Points can be designed using OpenComms Designer Fiber. An FTTP boundary is placed, and a cabinet is designed inside the boundary, and the FTTP utility can be used to generate the drops from the NAPs to the addresses.

The Place FTTP command automatically places a network interface device (NID) on each address found within the FTTP boundary and places a drop cable from that NID to the associated network access point (NAP). When selecting the Place FTTP dropdown in the Placement section of the Fiber tab, the following commands will be available:

Clicking the Place FTTP icon will open the Fiber To The Premise dialog which allows the user to define the NID (node) type, the drop cable, XSection, etc. of the drops which are placed while designing with this utility:

1. Select a Node Type. This device, usually called a NID, is placed on the side of the home for each address.
2. Select a Drop Cable & Length. The drop is placed between the NID and the NAP.
3. Select an Address Status.
4. Select a Xsection to be used with fiber cables.
5. Select the Splice Type used to connect the NID and NAP.
6. Select the Fiber Quantity needed to feed each NID.
7. Select the boundary to execute the FTTP fiber design procedure.

NOTE: The FTTP Utility requires the following 8 conditions be met:

1.)  Link to strand must be on.

2.)  Addresses must be linked to the housecounts.

3.)  Housecounts must be linked to the poles/peds or enclosures.

      (When using Duct, housecounts and addresses have to be manually placed. Enclosures act as poles/peds.)

4.)  The NAP must have capacity for the number of addresses it is feeding.

5.)  There must be an existing ‘FTTP boundary’.

6.)  There must be a cabinet placed anywhere within the boundary.

       (Drops will be drawn but not connected to the NAP if no cabinet is found in the boundary.)

7.)  There must be fibers dropped off at each NAP (1 fiber for each drop to be drawn) and all fibers must be connected all the way back from the Cabinet for the drops to be drawn.

8.)  Addresses must already be posted before running the FTTP utility.

 If no drops were drawn from the NAP to the NIDs in the FTTP module, and the following error displays:

                                      ‘No drops processed due to lack of capacity’

…Open the fiber specfile and go to the Fiber Splice Enclosures and make sure that each splice being used as a NAP has the ‘NAP’ checkbox checked, in the spec file definition for that splice. (Create a NAP4, a NAP8, NAP12 etc. and you will have the correct NAP to lay out for the exact number of addresses that will be connected).

 NOTE: A designer CAN use NAPs with a defined capacity larger than the number of addresses it is feeding, but NOT a NAP with a defined capacity of LESS than the number of addresses it feeds.

 Place FTTP Boundary

The FTTP Boundary command defines the service area by polygon for a specific LCC (Local Convergence Cabinet). The command also calculates and reports the number and type of addresses being serviced within that area (residential, commercial, MDU).

 

 Select the Place FTTP Boundary command and the following dialog opens.

1. Select Edit Existing Boundary in the dialog box and select an FTTP boundary on the map.
2. If needed, edit the FTTP boundary name displayed in the dialog box.
3. Modify or add vertex(es) to the boundary.
4. Click the right mouse button to complete.
5. The Node Boundary Totals dialog box opens.

The dialog box displays the total number of house counts found in the boundary. Click OK to save the modification made on the boundary.

Create a new FTTP Boundary

Select the Create New Boundary command:

 

1. Enter a FTTP boundary name.
2. Place the FTTP boundary vertices on the map.
3. Click the right mouse button to complete.
4. The Node Boundary Totals dialog box opens.

Click OK to save the modification made on the boundary.

Activate an Address (FTTx Design and Operations Utility)

This command is used to generate a technician work order and apply a status change to a customer location in a FTTx design architecture.

Locate an Address

1. Select the Activate Address icon in the Modify/Delete section of the Fiber tab:

        2. The Find An Address dialog box opens.

        3. Enter the Street # and/or Street Name.

Note: Margin sets the zoom ratio for the graphic file to zoom in on an address when located. A margin of 300 to 400 is adequate for viewing the area around the address in most projects.

4. Select Locate Only.
5. Click Go to proceed.
6. The Select Address dialog box opens.

Note: If a street number or street name only is entered, and there are multiple addresses or street names matching that criteria, a picklist appears and the user will have the option to choose which address to select for activation.

7. Click OK for the map to zoom in to the address that is highlighted.

Activate an Address

1. From the Find An Address dialog box, select Activate and click Go.
2. The Activate Customer dialog box opens.

        3. Populate a status to be rippled from the customer ONT to the termination port on the LCC feeding the area as well as a fiber drop cable type to be used from the fiber tap to the ONT.

        4. After the customer activation command has been run in OpenComms, an install technician work order is created as a text file or it can be interfaced into other database systems. The work order lists the customer address, drop cable distance, connection point instructions to connect at fiber taps and splices and all connections to the Wire Center rack and port location.

Note: By default, the activate command chooses the first available port on the distribution panel in the LCC feeding the area for the customer connection. This can be editied by the end user if this is not the desired termination port.