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Optical Fiber Essay

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Optical fiber cables and connectors are a very essential part of the infrastructure in the world today. Because of the many advantages the optical fiber cables and connectors have over the old age traditional coaxial cables that were used in the olden days, fiber cables have outdone the performance the communications industry has ever reached in the past.
Optical fiber cable is a cable that contains one or more than one optical fibers. These fibers carry data and information signal in the form of light in them. The indivisual wires in the cable is coated with layers of plastic and are covered inside plastic tubes in order to save the cables from being affected by the environment where the cable will later be used. Different types of cables …show more content…

Fig: An Optical Fiber Cable with many fibers in it which is coated with plastic and encased in tubes Fig: A Connector

OPTICAL FIBER CABLES:
DESIGN:
The basic optical fiber cable consists of a core and a cladding and the refractive indices of the two differ. A substance called Polyimide is coated on the cladding of the fiber which doesn’t let the fiber get damaged. Fibers which are bundled together are given a tough resin buffer layer and core tubes extruded around them to the cable core. Many covering layers are also added to the fiber depending upon the application of the fiber. Sometimes, light prohibiting dark glasses are also used between fibers so that light from one fiber doesn’t leak and enter another fiber and cause distortion. This also helps in reducing cross talk.
For fibers which are meant to be used indoors, the fiber is usually jacketed and enclosed in a flexible strength member in a lightweight plastic tube to form a simple cable.
If the cable is meant to be used in an environment in which the fiber can be subjected to stress and strain, the cable construction must be strong and healthy. When the loose tube construction is used, semi rigid tubes are used, and they are laid helically into them. This is done so that the fiber gets space to stretch without causing tension in the cable itself. This way

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