Fiber Optics Cables

Fiber Optics Cables

What happens when strands of fiber optics are bundled together and covered with plastic coating, what do you get? Of course, fiber optics cables. Your telephone lines or facsimile is perhaps connected to a transmitter using fiber optics cables. It has been regarded as the best message channel all over the world. The use of fiber optics cables has made the telecommunication industry operate in faster speed compared to the previous decades. Medical practitioners have found alliance with fiber optics cables because today more medical equipment is using fiber optics.

Do you know that there are different types of fiber optics cables? There are actually three types of cables that are widely used today.

Single-mode cable. Your single mode fiber optic cable is made up of one strand, which is as thin as a strand of hair. It measures 8-10 microns and has one transmission mode. Because of its tapered diameter it can propagate transmitted data not less than 1310 nm but not more than 1550nm. The single mode fiber optic cable may be more expensive than the multimode but the capacity to transmit data is faster than the latter, which can span a distance of not more than 50 times. At the same time, single mode fiber optic cable can accommodate higher bandwidth as compared to the multimode fiber optic cable.

Multimode cable. This cable is composed of so many fibers, which usually measures 50-100 micron. Data transmission in multimode fiber optic cable can only travel on shorter distance than the single mode can. Nevertheless, it has a high bandwidth but not as much as the single mode. Light messages travel through multi paths as it run inside the core that is why in longer distances the message may not be the same as it was sent which was caused by the varying paths traveled by the light.

Fiber optics cables a have tow existing designs—loose-tube cable and tight-buffered cable.

Loose-tube. Fiber optics strands are encased in multi-colored plastic coated buffer tubes allowing a considerable amount of space available for the strands to move within. Because of this make-up there is a tendency for water to get into the cable thus, water is prevented from seeping in by the use of a gel-based substance. This type of cable is generally used in out-of-plant installation purposes.

Tight-buffered. In this type of cable the fiber optics strands are coated so tightly that the strands are in contact with the surface of the coating material. This cable is used for multiple connections like connecting terminal facility to a cable outside the plant.
Fiber optic cables are now even commonly used in cable TV connections even if the cables are difficult to splice. The cable that connects your TV to a cable network is most like a fiber optic cable.