SZ strand retention of assymetrical optical fiber ribbon units by a conforming tensioned elastomer shell

An optical fiber cable, comprising:

• a central element extending along a longitudinal axis of the optical fiber cable;
• a plurality of routable subunits, each routable subunit comprising a rigidly stranded ribbon stack and a tight buffer layer surrounding the ribbon stack, wherein the subunits are SZ-stranded around the central element to form a cable core;
• a binder film that continuously and contiguously surrounds the plurality of routable subunits along the longitudinal axis;
• a cable sheath that continuously and contiguously surrounds the binder film along the longitudinal axis, wherein the cable sheath comprises an inside surface and an outside surface, the inside surface defining an elliptical shape and the outside surface defining a generally circular shape;
• and
• a plurality of strength elements embedded in the cable sheath, wherein the plurality of strength elements comprises four strength elements arranged in diametrically opposed pairs, which creates a preferred bend axis AP, and wherein the strength elements in each pair are tangential to one another and are embedded between the interior surface and the exterior surface of the cable sheath such that an interior wall thickness of the cable sheath at the location of the strength elements is approximately 0.4 mm between the strength elements and the interior surface and an exterior wall thickness is approximately 1.0 mm thick between the strength elements and the exterior surface of the cable sheath.