The difference between optical fiber and optical cable

Optical fiber is a fiber made of glass or plastic that can be used as a light implant tool.

The optical fiber used in current communication is basically a quartz-based optical fiber, and its main component is high-purity quartz glass, that is, silicon dioxide (SiO2).

Fiber structure

The typical structure of an optical fiber is a multi-layer coaxial cylinder, which is mainly composed of a core, a cladding, and a replacement layer.

Fiber core

The refractive index of the core is slightly higher than that of the cladding, the loss is resonant than that of the cladding, and the optical energy is mainly transmitted in the core.

wrapping

The cladding provides a reflective surface and light isolation for light transmission, and plays a certain mechanical protection role.

Coating

The outermost layer of the optical fiber is composed of acrylic, silicone rubber and nylon. The coating layer protects the optical fiber from water vapor erosion and mechanical scratches.

Optical cable

Generally speaking, the optical cable is to pass more than one optical fiber through the subsequent processing jacket, layer by layer protection, so that the optical fiber can be transmitted in the time slot, indoor environment, not easy to shift, so that the optical fiber can adapt to a variety of different environments. In the aspect that affects our lives, the one who hears most is fiber-to-the-home, in fact it should be called fiber-to-the-home, but it is a very thin fiber optic cable, called a drop cable. There are mainly these types of optical cables: 6-core, 8-core, 12-core, 48-core, 72-core, 96-core, 144-core, 288-core, etc., the most commonly used are 6, 8, 12, 24, and 48-core optical cables.

An optical cable is made of one or more optical fibers or fiber bundles in a structure that conforms to chemical, mechanical, and environmental characteristics. Regardless of the structure of the optical cable, it is basically composed of three parts: the cable core, the strengthening element and the sheath.

Cable core

The cable core structure should meet the following basic requirements:

① Keep the optical fiber in the best position and state in the cable to ensure the stable transmission performance of the optical fiber. When the optical cable is subjected to certain external forces such as pulling, lateral pressure, etc., the optical fiber should not be affected by the external force.

② The reinforcing elements in the cable core should be able to withstand the allowable tension.

③ The cross-section of the cable core should be as small as possible to reduce costs. There are optical fibers, sleeves or skeletons and strengthening elements in the cable core, and the cable core needs to be filled with grease, which has a reliable moisture-proof performance and prevents moisture from spreading in the cable core.

Optical fiber communication systems use optical fibers to transmit light waves that transmit information to achieve the purpose of communication.

But strictly speaking, the two are different products. The difference between optical fiber and optical cable: optical fiber is a kind of thin and soft transmitting light beam. Therefore, optical fiber is the core part of optical cable. The optical fiber is constituted by the protection of some components and auxiliary protective layer. Up the optical cable.