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Fiber Optics Tutorial
 
Fiber Optic products from Cable Builders use light pulses to transmit signals from one device to another.  Fiber optic cable is comprised of a transparent glass core surrounded by cladding, a mirror-like cover.  Light pulses travel through the glass core and bounce off of the cladding until they reach the other end. 
 
We carry 3 primary types of polish for back reflection:
  • PC Polish (<-40dB back reflection) noted by "PC"
  • Ultra PC Polish (<-50dB back reflection) noted by "UPC"
  • Angled PC Polish (<-60dB back reflection) noted by "APC"
The outer jacket of the cable provides protection and strain-relief for the glass core and cladding.  Depending upon your application, there are different jacketing materials from which to choose:
  • OFNR Jacket (Optical Fiber Nonconductive Riser) is intended for backbone vertical runs from one floor to another and contains no copper conductive elements.
  • LSZH Jacket (Low Smoke Zero Halogen) emits low smoke and low toxicity when introdued to fire.  These fire safety characteristics are critical when your application involves locations where people and sensitive equipment must be protected from toxic and corrosive gasses in the event of fire or other disaster.
  • PVC Jacket (Polyvinyl Chloride) is typically used in Plastic Optical Fiber cables for high-end audio systems.
  • PU Jacket (Polyurethane) is common in military grade applications that require high flexibility and impact & crush resistant characteristics.
Glass core diameter corresponds with the angle of reflection.  The greater the diameter, the more reflections are required to carry the light pulse signals along the cable.  The core and cladding diameters are assigned a ratio, 62.5/125 microns, 50/125 microns, or 9/125 microns.
  • Singlemode fiber optic cable has a smaller diameter core, so it can run longer distances with higher bandwidth.  Core to cladding ratio is typically 9/125 microns and is used primarily by CATV companies.
  • Multimode fiber optic cable has a larger diameter core, is more economical, and is more commonly used in shorter cable runs in local area networks (LAN).  Core to cladding ratio is commonly 62.5/125 or 50/125 microns.
  • 10 Gigabit laser optimized 50/125 multimode fiber optic cables allow the implementation of low-cost Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSEL).
  • Mode conditioning cables eliminate differential mode delay caused by crossing singlemode and multimode signals by utilizing an offset centerline.  
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