About Fiber Optics
About fiber optics
Fiber optic technology makes use of light to carry digital signals via optical cables. Fiber optic cables are very thin glass wires made from extremely pure optical glass. This technology is based on the concept of light reflection. In the case of fiber optics technology, light carrying digital signals is reflected inside the optical cable to transfer information. Total internal reflection is the principle behind the success of this technology.
➢ How fiber optic cables function and carry data?
Fiber optics or optical fibers are long, thin strands of very pure glass. The size of the glass is proportionate to the size of a human hair. Each optical fiber consists of four parts: the core, the cladding, buffer coating and the jacket. The core and the cladding are the two most important parts of how fiber optics works. The buffer coating and the jacket are mainly for protection. The core is used as the main highway for the light to travel. The cladding that surrounds the core helps the light stay on track by reflecting light back to the core. Hundreds of these optical fibers are placed in bundles in optical cables which are protected by the jacket. The principle on how optical fiber transmits light is called total internal reflection
➢ Types of fiber cables
There are two types of fiber optic cable commonly used: single mode and multimode
' Single mode
Single-mode fiber is a type of fiber optic cable through which only one light signal can travel at a time. Because single-mode fiber is more resistant to attenuation than multi-mode fiber, it can be used in significantly longer cable runs.
' Multimode
Multimode Optical Fiber cable is a kind of Optical Fiber which is designed to carry away multiple light rays or signals inside the core. Each light ray has certain different reflection angle so that they don’t get mixed up in the way. Most of the time...
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