Optical fiber cables and system architectures for flexible deployment in rural settings

A fiber distribution system, comprising:

• an optical fiber cable, comprising:
• a main subunit comprising a plurality of optical fibers, the plurality of optical fibers extending through an opening in the main subunit;
• a plurality of auxiliary subunits stranded together with the main subunit along a longitudinal axis of the optical fiber cable, each auxiliary subunit containing an auxiliary optical fiber having an upstream side and a downstream side;
• an overmold surrounding the opening of the main subunit;
• wherein a first half of the plurality of optical fibers are optically coupled to the upstream sides of the auxiliary optical fibers and a second half of the plurality of optical fibers are coupled to the downstream sides of the auxiliary optical fibers;
• wherein each auxiliary subunit drops off from the main subunit at a location upstream of the overmold and at a location downstream of the overmold.

A fiber distribution system, comprising:

• a first distributed tap terminal comprising a terminal input with a first number of terminal input ports and a terminal output with a second number of terminal output ports, the second number being greater than the first number, the first distributed tap terminal configured to divide optical signals from the terminal input ports of the terminal input among the terminal output ports of the terminal output, the first number of terminal input ports comprising a first optical input port, the second number of terminal output ports comprising a first output port and a plurality of other output ports;
• a first optical fiber cable optically coupled to the terminal output, the first optical fiber cable comprising:
• a main subunit having a first end and a second end, the main subunit comprising at least one optical fiber coupled to the first output port at the first end of the main subunit;
• and
• a plurality of auxiliary subunits, each auxiliary subunit of the plurality of auxiliary subunits comprising an auxiliary optical fiber, each auxiliary optical fiber coupled to an other output port of the plurality of other output ports;
• and
• a first connector optically coupled to the second end of the main subunit, the first connector configured to make a third number of optical connections, the third number being equal to the first number;
• wherein the plurality of auxiliary subunits drop from main subunit at respective points along a length of the main subunit between the first end and the second end.