Various types of cables are used for the information industry, but today the most common are fiber optic cables. Optical technology has become a real breakthrough in telecommunication systems. And fiber-optic cable has become exactly the tool that allows you to transfer data at an incredibly high speed.
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Due to the fact that these cables have excellent signal transmission characteristics and provide a large information capacity, they are widely used. Fiber optic cables are intended for indoor installation (they can go to a wall-mounted server cabinet), in manifolds, tunnels, as well as for connecting between buildings, since they are highly resistant to many external factors. All this thanks to a reliable outer shell, made also of fire-resistant material.
Optical cable device
Such a cable consists of an outer sheath, protective sheaths, optical fibers, and a core. It is a fiber twisted in a certain way, which is covered with a protective sheath. Thanks to the core, signals are transmitted. Despite the fact that outwardly such a cable is very similar to an electric one, fiberglass is located inside instead of a copper wire. The inner shell is replaced by a plastic or glass shell, which prevents the light from going beyond the fiberglass.
Thus, the main element of the fiber optic cable is transparent glass fiber, which conducts light over great distances. As a rule, such a cable does not have a metal braid, since it is not necessary to shield the effect of external electromagnetic interference. However, sometimes it is required to protect the cable from environmental factors. In this case, the digital optical cable is considered to be armored and is able to withstand significant physical stress.
What types are there?
Fiber optic cables can have from one to several fibers. Therefore, by the number of them they can be:
• simplex (single-core);
• duplex (with a pair of fibers);
• stranded (from four to several hundred fibers).
Single-mode and multi-mode fiber optic cables are also distinguished by type. In the first case, the transmitted signal reaches the receiver almost without distortion, since all the light rays reach the target simultaneously. If data loss occurs, then it is completely negligible. This makes it possible to transmit data over significant distances. To transmit information using such cables, laser transmitters are used that need a light with a specific wavelength. Therefore, such devices are very expensive, but short-lived.
In multimode cables, the rays are scattered along the path, which leads to distortion of information at the end of the cable. Compared with a single-mode cable, a conventional LED is used to transmit information over a multi-mode cable, which reduces the cost of laying the cable and increases its service life by several times.
Fiber optic benefits
If we compare an optical cable with a copper one, the first one has a lot of advantages:
• differs in simplicity of installation;
• immune to interference;
• possesses high-quality information transfer;
• easy to use;
• has smaller dimensions and weight;
• has a wide bandwidth;
• durable
• has low data loss;
• has a high data transfer rate;
• resistant to weather conditions.
For high-quality connection of optical cables, special equipment and additional elements are necessary, which must be purchased from well-known manufacturers that guarantee the high quality of their products.