Archived — Fiber Optic Cable

In the last several years, FTTH installation, led by Verizon, has become really hot. But traditionally, there is one big issue where fiber lags behind copper cable: macro bending loss. Traditionally, fiber cables must be handled and installed very carefully to avoid small bends along the fiber path, which can cause signal loss. This is especially true for indoor installations where contract installers encounter many sharp turns. Several approaches have been designed to reduce the bend performance of optical fibers. 1. Reducing the mode field diameter 2. Depressing the cladding 3. Adding a low index trench However, these enhancing options

As most fiber optic cable installers know, the labor and costs associated with accessing and grounding a traditional armored fiber optic cable is pretty high. Because the armor is usually made of aluminum foil or steel, so grounding is a must for all installations. On April 6, 2009 Corning Cable Systems introduced its MIC DX serials all-dielectric armored fiber cable. This completely removes the need to ground the cable. As described by Corning, the cable core is protected by a flexible all-dielectric armor, that offers more than 4 times the crush protection compared to regular unarmored fiber cables. The

Dispersion in optical fibers In an optical medium, such as fiber, there are three types of dispersion, chromatic, modal, and material. Chromatic Dispersion Chromatic dispersion results from the spectral width of the emitter. The spectral width determines the number of different wavelengths that are emitted from the LED or laser. The smaller the spectral width, the fewer the number of wavelengths that are emitted. Because longer wavelengths travel faster than shorter wavelengths (higher frequencies) these longer wavelengths will arrive at the end of the fiber ahead of the shorter ones, spreading out the signal. One way to decrease chromatic dispersion

Buy Fiber Optic Cable Management Products Here There are two basic types of bends in fiber—microbends and macrobends. As the names indicate, microbends are very small bends or deformities in the fiber, while macrobends are larger bends (see the figure below). The fiber’s radius around bends impacts the fiber network’s long-term reliability and performance. Simply put, fibers bent beyond the specified minimum bend diameters can break, causing service failures and increasing network operations costs. Cable manufacturers, Internet and telecommunications service providers, and others specify a minimum bend radius for fibers and fiber cables. The minimum bend radius will vary

Buy Optical Fiber Here Three methods are used today to fabricate moderate-to-low loss waveguide fibers: modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD), outside vapor deposition(OVD), and vapor axial deposition (VAD). Modified Chemical Vapor Deposition (MCVD) In MCVD a hollow glass tube, approximately 3 feet long and 1 inch in diameter (1 m long by 2.5 cm diameter), is placed in a horizontal or vertical lathe and spun rapidly. A computer-controlled mixture of gases is passed through the inside of the tube. On the outside of the tube, a heat source (oxygen/hydrogen torch) passes up and down as illustrated in the following