No abstract

The long-term performance prediction of optical products deployed outdoors is important. The accuracy of the prediction directly affects warranty cost calculations. In indoor environments, products are generally operated under controlled temperature and humidity. However, products outdoors usually experience multiple stresses that continuously vary with time. An outdoor-use optical product, such as a fiber distribution hub cabinet with splitters, connectors, and fan-outs built in, will experience temperature cycling effects and varying humidity. Therefore, time-varying temperature and humidity are considered as major stresses acting on outdoor-use optical products. This study proposes a practical method that uses design of experiment (DOE) techniques and generalized log-linear (GLL) life-stress relationship to predict the life of outdoor optical products. The proposed method can consider the cumulative damage caused by time-varying temperature and humidity and was applied to predict the warranty return of an outdoor optical product.