Industrial Fiber Optics has supplier agreements with key optical fiber and cable suppliers to offer competitive pricing and technical support. We inventory an extensive portfolio of bulk or raw optical fiber and cable to support distribution sales, standard cable assemblies and light pipes, and custom assemblies. Most products are available for purchase in small quantities for lab development projects, as well as large quantities for high volume production with annual purchase agreements.
The Role of Fiber Optic Cables in Computer Networking
A fiber optic cable is a network cable that contains strands of glass fibers inside an insulated casing. They're designed for long distance, very high-performance data networking, and telecommunications.
Compared to wired cables, fiber optic cables provide higher bandwidth and can transmit data over longer distances. Fiber optic cables support much of the world's internet, cable television, and telephone systems.
How Fiber Optic Cables Work
Fiber optic cables carry communication signals using pulses of light generated by small lasers or light-emitting diodes(LEDs).
The cable consists of one or more strands of glass, each only slightly thicker than a human hair. The center of each strand is called the core, which provides the pathway for light to travel. The core is surrounded by a layer of glass called cladding that reflects light inward to avoid loss of signal and allow the light to pass through bends in the cable.
The two primary types of fiber cables are called single mode and multi-mode fiber. Single mode fiber uses very thin glass strands and a laser to generate light while multi-mode fibers use LEDs.
Single mode fiber networks often use Wave Division Multiplexing (WDM) techniques to increase the amount of data traffic that can be sent across the strand. WDM allows light at multiple different wavelengths to be combined (multiplexed) and later separated (de-multiplexed), effectively transmitting multiple communication streams via a single light pulse.
Advantages of Fiber Optic Cables
Fiber cables offer several advantages over traditional long-distance copper cabling.
- Fiber optics have a higher capacity. The amount of network bandwidth a fiber cable can carry easily exceeds that of a copper cable with similar thickness. Fiber cables rated at 10 Gbps, 40 Gbps, and even 100 Gbps are standard.
- Since light can travel much longer distances down a fiber cable without losing its strength, it lessens the need for signal boosters.
- Fiber is less susceptible to interference. A traditional network cable requires special shielding to protect it from electromagnetic interference. While this shielding helps, it is not sufficient to prevent interference when many cables are strung together in close proximity to each other. The physical properties of glass and fiber cables avoid most of these issues.
Fiber to the Home (FTTH), Other Deployments, and Fiber Networks
Whereas most fiber is installed to support long-distance connections between cities and countries, some residential internet providers have invested in extending their fiber installations to suburban neighborhoods for direct access by households. Providers and industry professionals call these "last mile" installations.
Fiber Optic Patch Cords - Singlemode
A patch cable is a general term for cabling that connects two electronic devices to each other, typically in a network. These devices might include computers and other hardware. Patch cables are also used to carry telephone, audio, and video signals between devices in non-networked applications; these might include equipment such as headphones and microphones.
Patch cables are also called patch leads. The term "patch cord" is sometimes used as well, but it's often associated more with non-network types of cables such as those for wiring stereo components.
Patch cables are different from other types in that they're made to be more flexible than standard stiff, bulky copper cables. Patch cables always have connectors at both ends.
Advantages of Fiber Optic Cables
Fiber cables offer several advantages over traditional long-distance copper cabling.
- Fiber optics have a higher capacity. The amount of network bandwidth a fiber cable can carry easily exceeds that of a copper cable with similar thickness. Fiber cables rated at 10 Gbps, 40 Gbps, and even 100 Gbps are standard.
- Since light can travel much longer distances down a fiber cable without losing its strength, it lessens the need for signal boosters.
- Fiber is less susceptible to interference. A traditional network cable requires special shielding to protect it from electromagnetic interference. While this shielding helps, it is not sufficient to prevent interference when many cables are strung together in close proximity to each other. The physical properties of glass and fiber cables avoid most of these issues.
Fiber to the Home (FTTH), Other Deployments, and Fiber Networks
Whereas most fiber is installed to support long-distance connections between cities and countries, some residential internet providers have invested in extending their fiber installations to suburban neighborhoods for direct access by households. Providers and industry professionals call these "last mile" installations.
Fiber Optic Patch Cords - Singlemode
A patch cable is a general term for cabling that connects two electronic devices to each other, typically in a network. These devices might include computers and other hardware. Patch cables are also used to carry telephone, audio, and video signals between devices in non-networked applications; these might include equipment such as headphones and microphones.
Patch cables are also called patch leads. The term "patch cord" is sometimes used as well, but it's often associated more with non-network types of cables such as those for wiring stereo components.
Patch cables are different from other types in that they're made to be more flexible than standard stiff, bulky copper cables. Patch cables always have connectors at both ends.