Optical Fiber Cable

An Optical Fiber Cable is basically a cable comprising one or more optical fibers that are used to carry light. The optical fiber elements are coated separately with plastic layers and enveloped in a protective tube, apt for the conditions, where the cable has to be deployed. Different types of Optical Fiber Cables are taken in application, for different kind of purposes like, long distance telecommunication or transmission of high speed data connection between different areas of a building.

The working of Optical Fiber Cable

The working of an Optical Fiber Cable is based on the rule of total internal reflection. Light reflects or refracts‚ on the basis of the angle at which it hits a surface. Optical fiber communications follows the principle that light in a glass medium can carry more data over longer distances than electrical signals in copper or radio frequencies with the help of a wireless medium.

Types of Optical Fiber Cable

Typically, there are two types of Optical Fiber Cable; single mode and multimode fiber cable. Multimode fiber was the first commercially sold fiber cable. It has a large core that enables hundreds of light modes to transmit through the fiber at the same time. The large core diameter of multimode fiber is ideal for use in low cost optical transmitters such as light emitting diodes.

On the other hand‚ single mode fiber cable has a smaller core that enables the transmission of only one mode of light at a time, through the core. Although, it may seem like that multimode fiber has higher capacity‚ in reality, single mode fiber is considered to be the most efficient.

Optical Fiber Cables are easy to install as they are very light weight. They are small in size and are quite flexible. However, tight bends should be avoided as it may cause loss of light.