The Relationship Between Optical Fiber and Optical Cable

The Relationship Between Optical Fiber and Optical Cable

 

In this world with developed networks, fiber optic cables are an inevitable trend to replace other communication tools. However, many people who are not in contact with the communications industry think that optical fibers and optical cables sound the same, and they will think that they are the same product. In fact, optical fibers are not equal to optical cables. Today, fiber-mart.com will introduce to you the relationship between optical fiber and optical cable, hoping to help friends who are not in contact with optical fiber and cable.

 

The optical fiber is made of pure silica (glass) by a special process to be drawn into a glass tube thinner than a hair with a medium in the middle, which can transmit a huge amount of information in a short time. The diameter of the fiber core originally produced is very small, and the current standard is only 0.125 mm. Optical fiber factories will cover the surface of the core with a resin protective coating with a diameter of 0.25 mm or 0.9 mm. Generally, the fiber with a diameter of 0.25 mm after the first coating, we usually call it a bare fiber. In some cases, the bare fiber will be re-coated according to the needs of the cable to make a relatively thick tight-buffered fiber with a diameter of 0.9 mm.

 

The characteristics of optical fiber are: fast transmission speed, long distance, large content, and it is not electromagnetic interference, not afraid of lightning, it is difficult to eavesdrop on the outside, it is not conductive, and there is no trouble of grounding between devices.

 

The current international standards divide optical fibers into two types: single-mode optical fibers and multi-mode optical fibers. Single-mode fiber can only transmit one mode of light. Because of its small inter-mode dispersion, single-mode fiber has a transmission distance of hundreds of kilometers and is suitable for long-distance communication. Most of the fiber optic cables that have been laid in networks that used single-mode fiber. Multi-mode fiber is mainly used in local area networks and is not suitable for long-distance transmission. The transmission distance of multi-mode fiber is relatively short, generally only 2 kilometers.

 

Due to the small diameter and easy break of the optical fiber, it cannot be directly used on the construction site. In order to allow the optical fiber to be used in various fields (expressways, airports, residential areas, mountains, sea lows, etc.), according to different construction sites, optical fiber companies make optical fibers into different types of optical cables. Usually can be divided into indoor fiber optic cable, outdoor fiber optic cable, direct buried fiber optic cable, photoelectric hybrid cable and so on. Optical cables are generally made of optical fiber, grease, aluminum tape, steel wire, aramid, glass yarn, high-strength yarn, PE, LSZH, FRP and other materials through precision machining to make optical cables.