IEC TR 63194:2019

Guidance on colour coding of optical fibre cables

IEC TR 63194:2019

Name:IEC TR 63194:2019   Standard name:Guidance on colour coding of optical fibre cables
Standard number:IEC TR 63194:2019   language:English language
Release Date:29-Jan-2019   technical committee:SC 86A - Fibres and cables
Drafting committee:   ICS number:01 - GENERALITIES. TERMINOLOGY. STANDARDIZATION. DOCUMENTATION

IEC TR 63194
Edition 1.0 2019-01
TECHNICAL
REPORT
colour
inside
Guidance on colour coding of optical fibre cables





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IEC TR 63194
Edition 1.0 2019-01
TECHNICAL
REPORT
colour
inside
Guidance on colour coding of optical fibre cables

INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
ICS 33.180.10 ISBN 978-2-8322-6517-8

– 2 – IEC TR 63194:2019 © IEC 2019
CONTENTS
CONTENTS . 2
FOREWORD . 5
INTRODUCTION . 7
0.1 General . 7
0.2 Background in other documents . 7
1 Scope . 8
2 Normative references . 8
3 Terms and definitions . 8
4 Rationale . 8
5 Fibre colour coding . 9
5.1 Intent . 9
5.2 Historic IEC 60794-2 colour code (for guidance) . 9
5.3 Colour coding for fibres 13 through 16 . 10
5.4 Other coding schemes . 10
6 Unit and group coding. 10
6.1 Unit coding . 10
6.2 Group coding . 11
6.3 Coding of tubes in composite cables, IEC 60794-2 . 11
6.4 Other coding schemes . 11
7 Jacket colour coding . 11
7.1 General . 11
7.2 IEC 60794-2 jacket colour code . 12
7.2.1 Historic IEC jacket colour code . 12
7.2.2 Current IEC jacket colour code . 12
7.3 Jacket coding by striping . 13
7.4 Other jacket colour code . 13
8 Guidance on the measurement of colour . 13
8.1 General . 13
8.2 Preparation of specimens for colour measurement . 13
8.3 Specification of colour . 13
Annex A (informative) German colour code . 14
A.1 Fibre colour coding . 14
A.2 German counting code for tubes stranded in a layer . 14
A.3 Jacket colour coding . 15
Annex B (informative) North-American colour code . 16
B.1 Fibre colour coding . 16
B.2 Unit coding . 19
B.3 Jacket colour coding . 19
Annex C (informative) Swedish colour code S12 . 21
C.1 Fibre colour coding S12 . 21
C.2 Unit coding scheme S12 . 21
C.2.1 General . 21
C.2.2 Sequence for individual fibres within a tube/fibre-unit/bundle and for
individual tubes/fibre-units/yarns, etc. . 21
C.2.3 Sequence for tubes stranded around a central part . 21
C.3 Jacket colour coding . 22

Annex D (informative) Swiss colour code . 23
D.1 Fibre colour coding . 23
D.2 Unit coding . 24
D.3 Jacket colour coding . 24
Annex E (informative) Chinese colour code . 26
E.1 Fibre colour coding . 26
E.2 Unit coding . 27
E.3 Jacket colour coding . 29
Annex F (informative) Japanese colour code . 30
F.1 Fibre colour coding . 30
F.2 Unit coding by identification strip . 31
F.3 Jacket colour coding of multi-fibre indoor cable . 32
Annex G (informative) Brazilian colour code . 33
G.1 Fibre colour coding . 33
G.2 Unit colour coding of buffer tubes . 33
G.3 Jacket colour coding . 33
Bibliography . 34

Figure C.1 – Sequence of tubes by position . 22
Figure D.1 – Example of an 18-way stranded loose tube cable . 24
Figure D.2 – Example of an outdoor cable, black with orange stripes . 25
Figure E.1 – Sequence of tubes by position . 27
Figure E.2 – Example of a 24-tube stranded loose tube cable . 28
Figure E.3 – Example of T Mark Colour Code . 29
Figure F.1 – Colour coding scheme based on optical fibre ribbon. 30
Figure F.2 – Identification strip to bundle several optical fibre ribbons . 31
Figure F.3 – Overview of high-count indoor cable . 32

Table 1 – Colour coding sequence for individual fibres or buffers . 10
Table 2 – Colours for individual fibres, buffers, or other elements 13 through 16. 10
Table 3 – Colour coding scheme for tubes in hybrid or composite cables . 11
Table 4 – Colour coding of cable outer sheaths . 12
Table 5 – Colour coding of cable outer sheaths by fibre type . 12
Table 6 – Example of centroid values for base colours in Munsell and R*a*L systems . 13
Table A.1 – Colour coding sequence for individual fibres . 14
Table A.2 – Counting code and colours from the German specification . 15
Table B.1 – Individual fibre, unit, and group identification for up to 12 elements in a set . 16
Table B.2 - Individual fiber, unit, and group identification for up to 16 elements in a set . 18
Table B.3 – Sample identification markings . 19
Table B.4 – North American preferred coding scheme for indoor cable jackets . 20
Table C.1 – Sequence for individual fibres within a tube/fibre-unit/bundle and for
individual tubes/fibre-units/yarns, etc. . 21
Table D.1 – Colour coding sequence for individual fibres or buffers in mini-breakout
cables . 23
Table D.2 – Colour coding for buffered fibres in simplex, duplex or breakout cables . 24

– 4 – IEC TR 63194:2019 © IEC 2019
Table D.3 – Colour coding and sequence for loose tubes stranded around a central part . 24
Table D.4 – Colour coding for sub-cables and outer sheaths of indoor cables . 25
Table D.5 – Colour for outer sheaths of outdoor cables . 25
Table E.1 – Colour coding for individual fibres . 26
Table E.2 – Colour coding for fibre counts up to 24 . 26
Table E.3 – Colour coding for loose tubes up to 12 . 27
Table E.4 – Colour coding for loose tubes up to 24 . 28
Table E.5 – Chinese colour coding scheme for indoor cable jackets. 29
Table F.1 – J
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