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Fiber-Optic Cables

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 “Fiber-Optic Cables”
Name:Moamal Jabar Hussein.
Class:3rd Stage-Network-Evening Study

Supervised by: Asst. lec. Ali Emad

©Moamal J. Al-malikshahiy
 What is Fiber Optic Cable? The major benefits of fiber optic
An optical fiber is a flexible, transparent fiber cabling are:
made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a Easy Handling Some communication systems
diameter slightly thicker than that of a human require tens or even hundreds of fibers (such as
hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a a metro backbone system). Put fibers in a cable
means to transmit light between the two ends make it very easy to install and maintain.
of the fiber and find wide usage in fiber-optic Protection from damaging forces Fiber
communications, where they permit optic cables have to be pulled into place through
transmission over longer distances and at ducts (outdoor) or conduits (indoor). Pulling
higher bandwidths (data transfer rates) than eyes are attached to the strength members or
electrical cables. Fibers are used instead of cable outer jackets. This is critical for isolating
metal wires because signals travel along them the fibers from the applied pulling forces. Glass
with less loss; in addition, fibers are immune to fibers cannot endure more than 0.1% to 0.2%
electromagnetic interference, a problem from elongation during installation.
which metal wires suffer. Fibers are also used Protection from harsh environment
for illumination and imaging, and are often factors Cable structures protect fibers from
wrapped in bundles so they may be used to
carry light into, or images out of confined
moisture (outdoor cables), extreme
spaces, as in the case of a fiberscope. Specially temperature (aerial cables) and influx of
designed fibers are also used for a variety of hydrogen into the fiber
other applications, some of them being fiber
optic sensors and fiber lasers.

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©Moamal J. Al-malikshahiy
 Fiber Optic Cable Based On Fiber Type
Based upon fiber types in a cable, fiber optic cables can be categorized
as three types.

1-Single Mode Fiber Optic Cable All fibers in the cable are single mode
fibers.

2-Multimode Fiber Optic Cable - Multi Mode Fiber Optic Cable All
fibers in the cable are multimode cables.

3-Hybrid/Composite Cable Both single mode and multimode fibers are

packaged in one cable, such as 4 multimode fibers and 4 single mode fibers in a
single cable.

Cable Jacket Materials :

Polyethylene (PE)

PE (black color) is the standard jacket material for outdoor fiber optic cables. PE
has excellent moisture – and weather-resistance properties. It has very stable
dielectric properties over a wide temperature range. It is also abrasion-resistant.

Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)

PVC is the most common material for indoor cables; however it can also be used
for outdoor cables. It is flexible and fire-retardant. PVC is more expensive than
PE.

Polyvinyl difluoride (PVDF)

PVDF is used for plenum cables because it has better fire-retardant properties
than PE and produces little smoke.

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©Moamal J. Al-malikshahiy
Categories of Cabling
Fiber-optic cables may be categorized by the type of
installation environment, on the number of individual
fibers and according to the application. There can be three
main categories of cable
1. Indoor Cables
2. Outdoor Cables
3. Indoor/Outdoor

They can consist of one (simplex), two (duplex) or more (multifiber) individual fibers. Simplex cables
provide one-way transmission, while duplex cables allow transmission in both direction. Multifiber
cables may carry many fiber pairs surrounding a central strength member, or they may take the form
of ribbon cables, which are individual cables in a row surrounded by a single jacket .

Indoor Cables
Elaborating the indoor optical cables they have a diverse variety of applications inside a building.
They are replacing outdoor cables because the indoor cables have more flexibility, cheaper and
convenience to use inside a building. Indoor cables have some characteristics that allow it to be more
favorable. Such as:
* No need grounding and lightning protection - Since they are free of metal
* Easy to strip - They are 900μm TBII tight buffered fibers
* All information of the cable can be printed on the outer sheath.

Color Coding
It would seems that the color coding, the color of the
jackets and buffers means the
characteristics (Fire retardant, Mechanical, Single or
Multi mode, Dielectric properties
of the sheath…) of the cable. But not all manufacturers
adhere to the same standards.
The color coding, the difference of the color is used to
identify the cables, to visual
recognize each of them to connect in right order. Table:
1.1 shows the difference of
used colors for cables 1-12 fiber strands. In case of more
fibers they are indicated with
same colors, but with lines or dotted lines.

General requirements
The most important requirements of isolation of the indoor fiber-optic cables:
* Cables must not be supportive and flame retardant and have low smoke and
halogen;
* Cables must have a small bending radius. Page:3

©Moamal J. Al-malikshahiy
* Cables must be effectively armored;
Types of indoor cables
There are three types of indoor fiber optic cables:
1.Interconnect cables
2. Break-out cables (Fan-out)
3. Multi-indoor cables (MIC)
Hybrid Cables:
What is Hybrid Cable? A hybrid fiber cable or
hybrid fiber-coaxial cable (HFC cable) is a communication
medium that combines fiber optic and coaxial cable-based
transmission modes into a unified path. Hybrid cables
incorporate mixed optical fiber with copper cable. This
multifunctional cable is used for power and data
transmission. It delivers voice, Internet, cable TV and
other digital interactive solutions and services to individual consumers and organizations.

When to use hybrid cables? Hybrid cables are ideal for networks involving real-time image
transport or sharing large files. Such applications include computer-aided design and manufacturing,
laboratory simulators and hospital imaging systems--or, any other application that may require even
higher bandwidths in the future
.
Principle of Hybrid Cables: Copper cables are inexpensive and installation is easier. If we
send data over copper cable, every 30Kms we need repeaters to avoid power drop. Whereas optical
fibers have lower transmission losses compared to copper wires. This means that data can be sent
over long distances, thereby reducing the number of intermediate repeaters needed for these spans.
In a typical HFC cable scenario, a service provider stretches a fiber optic backbone that is located in
close proximity to a customer/end-user and terminates it at a node device. 21 | P a g e From the node
device, the fiber's transmitted light signals are converted into radio frequency signals, which are
transmitted via coaxial cable, which expands until it reaches the end user or device.

Structure of the hybrid cable: Hybrid fiber cable/coax cable consists of a single cable sheath
that contains fibers and copper cables in different combination. The hybrid cable can have both the
distribution as well as the
breakout structure. For instance,
cables for HDTV cameras
usually base on the distribution
structure that provides high
flexibility with small diameter
and low weight. The cable used
for underground mining
applications will use the breakout
structure for better protection against mechanical tensions and working forces.
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©Moamal J. Al-malikshahiy
The combination of the diameters and
gauges of the copper wires or types of the
optical fibers is virtually unlimited and
depends entirely on the customer needs and
requirements. The copper wires can be
employed to carry electrical signals or
supply the power, so there could be a
whole variety of copper cables like wires,
twisted pairs, coax, triax, etc. This cable functions for CCTV in tunnels, buildings and airports.

Applications:
HFC cable has a bright future for WAN communications as more is installed in cable TV
infrastructure. Using HFC, cable operators can provide telephone service, multiple channels of
interactive TV and high-speed data services for PC’s. A full HFC system can deliver:
1. Plain old telephone services
2. Over 200 digital TV channels
3. Over 400 digital point channels (customer-requested services) High-speed, two-way digital data
link for PCs.
For example, a cable Internet Service Provider (ISP) may use fiber optic from the central office to
each branch exchange of a town. The Internet is delivered on coaxial cables from there to the
customer’s home or office. This combination of fiber and coaxial cable allows higher speeds to be
reached through a fiber backbone close to the customer, while remaining economical and compatible
via coaxial cable-based delivery to end users/consumers.
In a hybrid fiber-coaxial cable system, the television channels are sent from the cable system's
distribution facility, the hub, to local communities through optical fiber trunk lines. At the local
community, a box called an optical node translates the signal from a light beam to electrical signal,
and sends it over coaxial cable lines for distribution to subscriber residences. The fiber optic trunk
lines provide adequate bandwidth to allow future expansion and new bandwidth-intensive services.
Advantages:
* Cost – Less maintenance costs due to fewer amplifiers required and less electricity is consumed.
* Reliability – Reliable, immune to noise and almost non-existent attenuation (distortion).
* Bandwidth – High bandwidth capabilities, increased from traditional CaTV network (up to 330MHz
or 450MHz) to 750MHz with HFC.
* Flexibility – Has ability to adapt to new services such as voice, data or video without changing
existing operational parameters (TE Consulting)
* Size – Lighter weight and thinner than copper cables with the same bandwidth, much less space is
required in underground cabling ducts and easier for installation engineers to handle.
* Security – Much more difficult to tap information, a great advantage for banks and security
installations. Immune to Electromagnetic interference from radio signals, car ignition systems,
lightning etc. Can be routed safely through explosive or flammable atmospheres.
*Technology Support – Can support Cable telephones, increased number of CaTV channels (to over
200), a direct infrastructure to new Digital TV standards which assume that networks will use HFC
backbones and ATM services. Page:5

©Moamal J. Al-malikshahiy
* Availability – No need to dial-up or tie up a phone line as it uses a separate connection, Cable
Internet has constant connectivity.
Disadvantages :
* Cost – More expensive than Coaxial Cable, especially costly to rural subscribers due to long cables
required.
* Reliability – Due to the huge number of users that a fiber will support, a train derailment,
earthquake or other traumatic even can have catastrophic proportions.
* Skill Required – Optical fibers cannot be joined (spliced) together as easily as copper cable and r
equires additional training of personnel and expensive precision splicing and measurement
equipment.
* Symmetry – Asymmetrical, not based on new interactive multimedia. The upstream paths in the
HFC network are slower than downstream.
* Signal Quality – Is reduced as more subscribers use the network. Speed of transmissions also
decreases. HFC network speeds are limited by the number of users using the network at the same
time. Even though a single 7MHz channel can have theoretical speeds of 30Mbps, much of this
speed is shared between all the users on the neighborhood node using a cable modem at the same
time. Each node is capable of supporting services to 500 - 2000 homes.

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©Moamal J. Al-malikshahiy
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