Fiber optic cable

What is Fiber optic cable ?
Fiber optics, or optical fiber, refers to the medium and the technology associated with the transmission of information as light pulses along a glass,plastic or fiber.

Parts of optical fiber :

• Core : The first and most important layer is the core. The core is made up of thousands of glass tubes bundled together and supported by a central strength element (e.g. a metal rod).
• Cladding : The second layer of a fiber optic cable is the protective sheath called cladding. This increases the core’s total internal reflection to prevent data loss.

• Plastic Coating : Plastic coating is wrapped around the fiber optic cable to reinforce the core and cladding for the third layer.
• Strengthening Fibers : The fourth layer of the cable is made of strengthening fibers for added support.
• Cable Jacket : Finally, the layers are wrapped in a cable jacket to protect against elements. This outer layer is found on every cable and wire.

How do Fiber Optics transmit data?
Our data signals go through three steps when being transmitted by fiber optics. Let’s take a liking a post on Facebook for example

• Stage 1 : After clicking “like” on post, that action becomes an electric data signal sent to our internet transmitter. The transmitter then converts the data into a light signal by changing its pulse and intensity.
• Stage 2 : Light signals travelling long distances pass through regenerators along the way that give boosts to avoid loss.
• Stage 3 : The strong signal arrives at the destination loss-free. The destination’s transmitter receives the signal and decodes it back to digital format to complete the transmission.

Advantages :

• Long transmission distance.
• Small size.
• Light weight.
• Relatively easy installation.
• Secure transmission.
• Low cost.
• Unlimited Bandwidth.
• Not attractive to fraud.