In order to estimate (Table 1) the dust attenuation risk, randomly distributed particles of 20 µm diameter are assumed. Simulation of attenuation due to dust particles shows that the number of losses above 1 dB drops to zero for a beam diameter of 200 µm. Whereas for 50 µm or 85 µm beam diameter, losses higher than 2 dB and up to 4 dB occur within the same random dust distribution (Figure 4). This shows clearly the reduced probability of dust-induced exceptional attenuation (Figure 5).
The attenuation resulting from the simulation shows very clearly that with the 200 µm expanded beam version the dust impact risk can significantly be minimized. With the standard 50 µm fiber much higher worst case impact to the link budget has to expected.