Fiber optic cables are the most popular, most modern cable solutions today, assemblies that are very similar to conventional, electrical cables, but the interior of fiber optic cables is very much different from conventional cables: while electrical cables use wires, the core of optical fibers consists of multiple fibers that carry light. The fibers used inside the cable are very sensitive and fragile, therefore each fiber is coated with a layer of plastic and placed into a tube for further protection.
Fiber optic cables have been developed for ensuring fast and loss-free data transmission and high-quality telecommunication. They come in two types today:
- Multimode fiber optic cable – these cables use fibers with diameters most commonly of 62.5 and they are most commonly installed where high bandwidth is needed over medium distances;
- Single mode fiber optic cable – also known as mono-mode cables, these cables are made from one strand of fiber that measures 8.3-10 microns in diameter and it is suitable for one mode of transmission. The type of cable is able to carry bandwidth that is higher than in the case of multimode cables and it can be used transmitting data without distortion over distances that are 50 times longer than in the case of multimode cables.