Fibre Optic Cabling and Equipment

Fibre optic cable is an advanced type of network cable. It offers significantly improved performance in terms of both bandwidth and data carrying than traditional metal conductor alternatives.

What is Optical Fibre?

Fiber or fibre optic technology is an effective cabled-based communication system.

Hubtech limited fiber is reliable, versatile, and widely used in many applications and industries.

Transfer of information uses optical fibre cabling via pulses of light, which pass along one or more transparent plastic or glass pipes. In some cases, this can be more than several hundred pipes. Each of these strands is a little wider than an average hair and is normally surrounded by a further layer of cladding which is also in plastic or glass but constructed at a different density to the main inner strand.

A sheath made up of several layers of the insulated casing is also wrapped around the cladded fibres. This usually comprises a protective wrapper, known as a buffer tube, followed by a final outer jacket designed to protect the entire multi-stranded cable.

Optical Fibre Cable Uses

Optic cables are commonly found in a variety of applications such as the internet and broadband, phone lines, networking, and telecommunications. Additional fibre optic cable uses in the home and workplace include lighting and interior decor.

Hubtech limited Optical fibre cable saves space compared to bulkier traditional cabling. This ability has also made it popular for vehicles’ safety and lighting features. Optical fibre technologies are widely used in many other demanding professional fields too, including in medical applications, for detailed mechanical inspections, and as sensors for monitoring and controlling the flow of various sorts of electrical currents, sounds, and chemicals.

Hubtech limited Optical Fibre Internet and Networking

Fibre optic internet cable is increasingly popular. This is due to the higher speeds and bandwidth it can provide compared to standard ethernet or Wi-Fi signals delivered via coaxial or even copper wire from street-level exchanges. This means that fibre networking is a far better choice where high speeds are advantageous or for particularly intensive data transfer needs. Much of this is also true for fibre optic phone lines.

Fibre optic bandwidth is usually significantly higher than a typical ethernet connection. Fibre is also safe to use in high-voltage locations, and in areas where flammable gases, other harsh chemicals, or weather conditions are likely to be a factor. This can be another important factor in choosing fibre optic cables for broadband delivery and telecoms as opposed to standard ethernet.

Fibre Optic Cables for Lighting

LED lighting is also a common application of fibre optic technology in domestic and commercial environments. Fibre optics can transmit data clean and versatilely across a wide spectrum of colors and patterns. This means that it is widely used in decorative lighting applications, accent lights, and feature lamps.

Far less electricity is also used by fibre optic LED lighting compared to standard bulb options, which makes it both environmentally friendly and economical. You can buy fibre optic lighting cables that are safe to use in a wide variety of applications and environments. They do not carry electrical current and are largely resistant to general wear, damage, and degradation.

How Do Hubtech limited Fibre Optics Work?

In understanding how optical fibres work and how optic cables sent data, it is important to note that there are multiple components involved in the construction of optical fibre. The glass strands themselves are central to the system, but several other key parts play a role in effective data transfer along optical fibres.

Firstly, a source of light needed to transmit information pulses along the transparent strands of plastic or glass tubing strands at the cable’s core. This is usually created either by a tiny laser or by an LED source, which receives an input signal coming from the optical transmitter circuitry and converts it to a light pulse before bouncing it along the fibre cores.

Secondly, an additional glass or plastic cladding layer surrounds the glass fibres themselves. This will have a different refractive index for light passing through it than the core strands. These refractive differences between the cladding and the glass fibres it surrounds are what allow the incoming light pulses to bent at particular angles as they travel the length of the cable.

The rays of light remain inside the transparent fibre cable parts as a result of the reflective internal properties. They move along the cable run’s full length, bouncing in a zig-zag pattern to navigate bends. At various points, they can convert into electrical signals before turning back into light pulses again. Additional components called repeaters are used for this and maintain high signal strength for longer cable runs.

After traveling at approximately 70% of the speed of light for the majority of the journey, the light signals interprets as communications or data signals once they arrive at their intended destination. Receiving equipment converts them to the desired output.

Optical Fibre Diagram

As explained below, these have different refractive indexes to aid the travel of light along the cable. A protective coating, jacket, or strength members will then encompass the core and cladding. This is then surrounded by an armored outer jacket which forms the visible part of the cable. This may be IP-rated for water-blocking purposes.

How Does Fibre Optic Cable Work?

Light enters at one end of the cable and travels through the highly refractive core, bouncing off the cladding which has a low refractive index for this exact reason. Once a beam reaches the end, it disperses at an approximately 60° angle and emitted to the target.

Hubtech limited Fibre Optic Cable Specification and Characteristics

Optical fibre cabling has numerous key classifications and characteristics. These directly impact its efficiency regarding line speed, signal strength, and bandwidth.

Below are several factors that could influence optical cable’s overall performance.

Fibre Optic Cable Transmission Speed

Fibre optic data transfer rates are usually reliant on several aspects – chiefly the cable mode. Optical fibres are either single mode or multi-mode. These arrangements deliver lower or higher standard broadband speeds (measured in Mbps) over certain defined distance ranges.

Fibre Optic Bandwidth

Fibre optic bandwidth is the frequency where the magnitude of the response has decreased to half of its zero-frequency value. This refers to the power transmission frequency and amount of data transferred over a set period.

Similarly to optical fibre speed, bandwidth is also high. This is because data transmit quickly and efficiently, using a range of frequencies without attenuation.

Fibre Optic Cable Connectors

As with all cables, termination of fibre optic cables need connectors. Several different connector types are available and it is important to choose the right one for a successful fibre optic connection. This will depend primarily on the equipment and optical fibre in use.

Some of the most common types of fibre optic cable connectors include:

SC Connectors

SC connectors are the most widely used variation. They have a 2.5mm ferrule and utilize a straightforward pull-push motion to latch and snap onto the cable. Versatile and efficient makes it used in a wide range of environments.

LC Connectors

LC connectors are small and compact. They have a 1.25mm ferrule and are half the size of the standard SC connector.

ST Connectors

Although ST connectors are still in use, they are now typically used less often than LC and SC connectors. They also have a 2.5mm ferrule but feature a secure bayonet connection.

Key advantages of our optical fibres include:

Distance – because of their low signal power loss rate, fibre optic cables can carry optical signals over far longer distances than older types of cabling. With the ideal combination of network setup, materials, and wavelength, some single fibre optics are effective at carrying signals over hundreds of kilometers. In comparison, standard copper cables have a limitation of 328 feet for good quality transfer distance

Bandwidth and data transfer – copper data cables offer quite limited bandwidth as opposed to fibre optics

Speed – fibre optic cables enjoy a significant speed advantage compared to other data transfer modes because they use light pulses as the primary information conveyance source. In this regard, fibre typically outstrips the expected performance of even high-grade copper cables such as Cat5 and Cat6

Interference – much more protection provided against interference and cross-talk by fibre optics than metal cables. This is because fibre does not carry a physical electrical signal

Reliability and safety – although optical fibre cables are usually a lot lighter and thinner, they are also sturdier. This means that they can withstand far greater forces and therefore the chances of incurring breakage or damage across long runs are less likely. Fibre is not influenced by moisture, poor weather, or extreme temperatures nearly as much as copper-based wiring. Additionally, as glass fibres do not carry current, they have not fired hazards even if they are aging or damaged

Hubtech limited Fibre Cable Types

Glass Fibre Cable

In terms of bend and flex, glass optical fibre is more delicate than its plastic counterparts. This also means that it is more susceptible to damage – especially if it has to loop tightly or moved continually over its run length. It is not cut, repaired, or spliced, which means that it is not suitable for applications where high levels of flexibility needed.

Despite this, glass fibre optic cables are sturdy and durable in terms of both mechanical strength and overall resistance to chemicals, moisture, fluctuating temperatures, and extreme environments. This makes it well-suited to longer-distance applications where cables are often submerged or buried. Due to the many different fittings, adapters, and configurations available, it is also noted for its versatility.

Glass fibre is regularly used in challenging and longer-distance applications. It often costs more to purchase and install than more economical plastic variations, which also boast greater flexibility and ease of use for most non-specialized applications.

Single-Mode Cables

Single-mode and multimode optical fibres are varying cable configuration types. They deliver different potential performance levels at distance.

Single-mode fibre optic cables comprise one glass fibre strand with a fairly slim core diameter. Far less internal reflection involves as light rays pass through it, therefore reducing attenuation and allowing for far higher speed data transfer over longer distances. This configuration is typically used for long-distance signal transmission.

Multimode Cables

Conversely, multimode cables feature larger cores that guide many modes simultaneously. Multimode fibre cabling significantly increases reflection. This results in higher attenuation and dispersion rates, therefore increasing bandwidth delivery over short distances. Applications needing large data volumes sent over shorter runs (such as communication data in or between a small localized area) typically utilize multimode fibre optic cabling.

Multimode fibre, also known as multi-core, is available in various specifications. Common everyday networking fibre optic cable configurations include two-core options, eight-core varieties, and even twenty-four-core fibre optic cable. Essentially, the number of cores the cable carries determines the bandwidth potential and the ability to cope with higher data throughput over shorter distances.

Fiber optic network switch

Fiber optic network switch, or fiber switch, is a telecommunication device in a computer network which connects other devices. More exactly, a fiber optic network switch receives a message from any device connected to it and then transmits the message only to the device for which the message meant. Normally, multiple data cables plug into a fiber switch to enable communication between different networked devices

 Types of Hubtech limited Fiber Optic Network Switch

Various Fiber Optic Network Switch Speeds

Generally, a fiber optic network switch referred to as a fiber optic Ethernet switch comes in various speeds with particular names as follows:

Fast Ethernet switch with a speed of 10/100 Mbps

Gigabit Ethernet switch with a speed of 10/100/100 Mbps

Ten Gigabit Ethernet switch with a speed of 10/100/1000/10000 Mbps

Various Fiber Optic Network Switch Ports

Typically, fiber optic network switches come in 5, 8, 12, 24, 32, 48, and 54-port configurations. Normally, these ports are a combination of fiber and copper connectivity. And there are a few SFP/SFP+ slots for fiber connectivity while more RJ-45 connectors on the front for copper connectivity in the Gigabit Ethernet switch and Ten Gigabit Ethernet switch. For 25, 40, or 100G fiber switches, there are various ports such as SFP28, QSFP+, QSFP28, etc. The fiber connectivity allows for data transfer of up to 120km, whereas the copper connectivity only allows for distances of 100 meters.

PoE and Non-PoE Fiber Optic Network Switch

Nowadays, a fiber optic Ethernet switch may implement power over Ethernet (PoE), which avoids the need for attached devices (such as a VoIP phone, IP camera, wireless access point, etc.) to have a separate power supply. Such a fiber switch called a PoE switch, which can deliver power to a device over the existing.

SFP Module

Small Form Factor Pluggable (SFP) is a fiber optic module that fits into an SFP socket or port on an Ethernet switch or media converter. It facilitates seamless conversion of Ethernet signals into optical signals to transfer and receive data.

How Many Types of SFP modules are there in Hubtech limited?

SFPs are mainly classified based on their speed capabilities. Some of the types are 100Base, 1000Base Gigabit, and 10Gig (SFP+). For most Fiber SFP modules, the transmission speed is 1 Gigabit, but the newer versions such as SFP+ have a higher speed of transmission, from 10 to 25 Gigabit.

Gigabit Passive Optical Network, or GPON.

GPON is a point-to-multipoint access network. Its main characteristic is the use of passive splitters in the fiber distribution network, enabling one single feeding fiber from the provider to serve multiple homes and small businesses.

GPON has a downstream capacity of 2.488 Gb/s and an upstream capacity of 1.244 Gbp/s shared among users. The encryption keeps each user’s data secured and private from other users. Although other technologies could provide fiber to the home, passive optical networks (PONs) like GPON are generally considered the strongest candidate for widespread deployments.

 

Passive Optical Network (PON)

A passive optical network (PON) is a fiber-optic telecommunications technology for delivering broadband network access to end customers. Its architecture implements a point-to-multipoint topology in which a single optical fiber serves multiple endpoints by using unpowered (passive) fiber optic splitters to divide the fiber bandwidth among the endpoints. Passive optical networks are often referred to as the last mile between an Internet service provider (ISP) and its customers

A passive optical network consists of an optical line terminal (OLT) at the service provider’s central office (hub) and several optical network units (ONUs) or optical network terminals (ONTs), near end users. A PON reduces the amount of fiber and central office equipment required compared with point-to-point architectures. A passive optical network is a form of a fiber-optic access network.

In most cases, downstream signals are broadcast to all premises sharing multiple fibers. Encryption can prevent eavesdropping.

Upstream signals combine using a multiple access protocol, usually time-division multiple access (TDMA).