Category: Fiber Optic Cables

Optical fiber beyond telecommunication

Optical fiber beyond telecommunication
Optical fiber is great for carrying huge amounts of data over long distances at unimagined speeds and providing us with high-speed Internet connections that nowadays are more a necessity than a luxury, but they also have an excellent throughput in other fields beside telecommunications, since they are used from non-invasive surgeries to pool illumination.
Optical fiber made it possible for surgeries to be minimally invasive and to have advanced diagnostic technologies due to implements like optical fiber cameras. Medical optical fiber applications also include X-ray imaging, ophthalmic lasers, light therapy, dental head pieces, surgical microscopy and endoscopy. The study “Global Market Study on Medical Fiber Optics: Asia to Witness Highest Growth by 2019” says that medical fiber global market will reach a value of USD 1,336.1 million by 2019.
Optical fiber is used in the decoration field because it provides an attractive and economical way of illumination. It is used at museums exhibitions due to their heat-free attribute and in underwater lighting because they don’t conduct electricity.
Optical fibers also provide extremely focused light, they are long-lasting, look like neon, colors can change according to the applied filter and their installment and maintenance is easy. Also they look really cute, don’t they?
Lighting applications with optical fiber are being used in the automotive industry too because they it can be installed in reduced spaces and it transmits cold light. Companies like Volvo, Audi, BMW, Jaguar and Saab use fiber to build the communication system that connects sensors with airbags and traction control devices in order to increase passenger’s safety.
Roll Royce’s trademark “Starlight headliner” is built with over 1300 optical fibers which make Phantom’s ceiling look like a starlight night.
Optical fiber sensors measure, pressure and strain. But they are also used to look for displacements, vibrations and rotations in civil structures such as highways, buildings and bridges or smart structures like airplanes wings and sport equipment. They are also very helpful for monitoring oil, power cables and pipelines in places that are really hard to reach.
Sensors work with a detector arrangement that measures the subtle changes that happen in the light as it travels through an optical fiber.  They offer a lot of advantages because they don’t require electrical cables, therefore can be safely used in high-voltage and electrical environments.

How does fiber optic help oil production companies?

Optical fiber sensor technology has been used in oil and gas companies since 1990 for monitoring temperature and pressure in order to improve safety and raise production. Also, for many years companies have been collecting big quantities of data in order to know what lies behind the surface and how to bring it out.
But what has been the role of optical fiber during the current oil crisis?
During the past months, oil prices have dropped more than 70% since June 2014, from over 100$ per barrel to under 30$ in the last week. The plunge in the oil prices is caused by the rise in the barrels production, USA has doubled its domestic production, Saudi oil is competing in Asian markets and Canada and Iraq exports are also rising, even Russians keep pumping despite the country economic crisis.
The main reason for the rise in production has been the increase in fracking operations, which have been the most affected from the plunge in oil prices, since they have dropped below production prices. At least 250,000 oil workers have lost their job and it is estimated half of the industry could disappear.
Oil companies deal with large quantities of data in order to make technical decisions, using sensors that collect and transmit data, along with new analytic tools and advanced storage capabilities that allows producers to gather detailed data in real time, at lower costs and from areas that were inaccessible in the past, which makes it possible to improve plant’s work.
And as those big quantities of data need to be transmitted in real time, they require high-quality networks that can just be deployed with optical fiber.
As engineer Glenn R. McColpin wrote in the American Oil and Gas Reporter, using fiber optic distributing sensing provides operators the ability to see and hear what’s happening below the surface, making it possible to track fluid and proppant in real time as they move through the well.
According to the paper Big Data analytics in oil and gas fiber optic improves the way companies manage the process of drilling and connecting a well because it allows to transmit microseismic 3D imaging with reduced lag time, which improves delivery performance and production from 6% to 8%.
According the 2015 Photonic Sensor Consortium Market Survey Report published by Information Gatekeepers and Light Wave Ventures, fiber optic sensor market has grown for less than $200 million in 2006 to $600 million nowadays and it is expected that the industry grows to $1.5 billion in 2018, with 70% of that entry coming from oil and gas companies.

why Cloud Computing requires fiber optic broadband

You sure have heard the term cloud computing a lot lately since it has become closely linked to several aspects of our lives. And, surely, you have asked yourself what is the cloud and where exactly is it.
As it turns out, cloud computing means storing and accessing data and programs over the Internet instead of your computer’s hard drive. It allows for customers and businesses to use services and sotfwares without having to build, run and maintain the servers in-house. Therefore, in this case, the word “cloud” is used as a metaphor for “the Internet”.
Cloud computing means not to store data and run programs from computers that are close to you or others computers from that local network because that’s simply local storage and computing. It is just considered cloud computing when you access to your files and applications over the Internet.
You see… there’s a good chance you use Cloud Computing on your daily basis, like accessing to your Gmail, Yahoo or Outlook e-mail, downloading an app from Google Play or the App Store, or watching a Netflix series.
Think about it, instead of running those programs on your computer or phone, you access the web and remotely log-in into your account. The software that stores your e-mails, apps and movies doesn’t exist in your computer, it is on the services’ cloud.
And how exactly does it work?
Cloud computing consists of layers, the front-end, the side you as a consumer interact with, for this you need your computer and the applications required to access to the cloud. And the back-end, that refers to the computers, servers and data storage systems that fuel the interface you see and manage at the front-end. The back-end systems apply high-performance computing able to perform tens of trillions of computations per second.
Cloud computing includes IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), PaaS (Platform as a Service) and SaaS (Software as a Service) as layers of services.
IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service): Allows you access to storage and computer power through a web-based system. Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure are accurate examples of IaaS.
PaaS (Platform as a Service): It gives developers the tools to build and host web applications.
SaaS (Software as a Service): The applications are accessible from various client devices through a client interface, such as a web browser.
Where does fiber-optic have a role on Cloud Computing?
Being an Internet-based server layer, cloud computing productivity solutions efficient performance depends on your Internet connection. Without enough bandwidth, cloud computing would be impossible.
With more than 1 Exabyte of data stored in the cloud, connections need to be high-speed, reliable and trustworthy in order to allow computers resources to be easily distributed. Therefore, optical fiber will be persistent in the new network architectures as bandwidth requirements increase.
Currently, there is no technology more effective for meeting data increasing demands than fiber optics, because it is the only practical telecommunication medium able to carry trillions of bits per second.
When migrating to cloud computing infrastructure, businesses need to ensure their Internet connection can keep up, by finding a right commercial ISP that’s able to deliver the type of  fiber WAN that is suited for this architecture.
On the other hand, data centers need to meet these challenging data increasing requirements by using advanced fiber optic cabling in core network functions, backhaul systems, and storage arrays, which delivers reliability and scalability without giving up density.

Why distances matters in fiber optics?

It’s a well-known fact that fiber optics is the way most of the IT infrastructure service companies currently transmit information. It makes sense if you bear in mind that it allows information and data to travel at greater speeds, through greater distances, and in never-before-seen bundles.
Fiber optics also allows these companies to be insured against the future in terms of bandwidth. The amount of data that travels through these conduits is massive and it will only increase through time. Making sure your networks can endure the load now and in years to come is one of the many perks of fiber optics.
Electrical interference of any kind doesn’t faze fiber optics either, making it the best choice for networks that are data-sensitive and handle security issues. This also gives it an extra ounce of reliability which relieves a lot of the worry in terms of maintenance and upkeep.
Choosing the proper fiber optic cable to fit your needs may seem like a daunting task but it really isn’t. Just invest some time to do the necessary research beforehand and you´ll save yourself a lot of time and trouble as well as money.
For Starters,
If you are looking to perfect and/or enhance the build-out of your network through fiber optics, start by doing an in-depth assessment of your current and future needs. Knowing for sure how your networks will be used and for what is essential for this evaluation since it will allow you to properly and accurately select the type of fiber you might need depending on the application.
For example, let’s say you are looking to upgrade the backbone of your network you will more than likely need a cable which differs completely from what you might need if you are looking to install security and surveillance cameras in a given location.
Some other points to consider when selecting the fiber optic solution that best fits your needs are:
Distances of transmission: you must be fully cognizant of the distances that the information you will handle must travel. This is crucial in determining what type of cable best suits you.
Current and future bandwidth requirements: consider the amount and type of data and information that will cruise through these cables. Nobody wants a slow network, right?
Network architecture: the way your entire network (hardware, software, communication and connectivity protocols and modes of transmission) is laid out should be taken into consideration when selecting your fiber optics.
Distances
Fiber optic cables are the wisest choice over copper cables which have been traditionally used until recently. It can most definitely support many further distances of input travel than its metal counterpart but the exact distance is difficult to determine as it is limited by a plurality of factors.
This is a vital issue for optical communications since it prides itself in being super-fast (as it indeed is) putting data transmission distance under the spotlight.
The signal transmitting the information from point A to point B may possibly weaken if the distance is very long. There are many methods that can be applied and components that can be used to diminish the limitations inflicted by optical transmission distance.
Basically, the amount of data or information that can be transmitted through a cable in a fixed or given amount of time is called bandwidth. If it’s referring to a website, for example, bandwidth determines the quantity of information and the level of traffic that can transfer between the site, its users, and the Internet as a whole which is why web hosting companies are prone to offer maximum levels of bandwidth as part of their hosting packages.
 What to look for?
Fast connections and great company CRM that offer the best-in-class of terms of networks, connections, and systems. It stands to reason that the more width of a band that the company can provide, the faster and more efficient your network or site will be in those three categories.
In the digital realm, bandwidth is commonly expressed in bits per second (bps) or bytes per second. Don´t mistake one for the other, though. Both are units used to measure information storage amounts and both have very similar acronyms (Mb and MB) but there is a big difference that can have major repercussions on your network‘s performance levels: one byte is made up of 8 bits.
In terms of data transmission, the distance it can travel decreases proportionally to any bandwidth increase and it’s measured in Hertz (Hz).
While bits and bytes determine the amount of data that given devices can storage, a Hertz is a unit of frequency that can indicate how often an action is done. If something is said to be 120 Hertz then that something has a repetition frequency of 120 times in one second.
When dealing with fiber optics, here’s more or less how it works: a fiber cable that can support 800 MHz bandwidth throughout a distance of 1 kilometer will only be able to support 400 MHz at 2 kilometers and 200 MHz at 5 kilometers.
Types of Fiber Optic Cables
There are two types of well–known optical fiber cables and each has their own set of unique qualities and characteristics: single-mode and multi-mode.
Before we continue, let’s clarify what dispersion is: it is basically the spreading over time of the signal that carries the data through the cables.
There’s chromatic dispersion in which the signal spreads over time due to the action of different speeds of light rays and there’s modal dispersion, in which case the signal is spread out through time as a consequence of the different modes of propagation used in the optic fiber.
Single mode optical fiber usually has an 8.3-micron diameter core and makes use of laser technology and light to send and receive data. A micron is a unit of measure equal to 1 millionth of a meter. So you can picture it: one strand of human hair has a diameter of more or less 100 microns.
So single mode fibers have the ability to carry information for miles without losing too many data which makes it ideal for companies that offer services such as cable and telephone providers.
Transmission distance is affected by chromatic dispersion because the core of single-mode fibers is much smaller than that of multimode fibers. And it is also the reason why single-mode fiber can have longer transmission distance than multimode fiber.
High powered lasers operating within single mode optical fibers lend it its efficiency since they can readily transmit data at far greater distances than the light used in their multimode counterparts.
If you need to handle large amounts of data with the least dispersion, single mode fiber might be your best choice. Just take into consideration that these fibers are noticeably more expensive than multimode ones since the technology used is a bit more sophisticated.
Multimode
Multimode optical fiber, as its very name indicates, allows the signal to travel through different pathways or modes that are placed inside of the cable’s core. For these types of fibers, the transmission distance is largely affected by modal dispersion.
Due to the fact that the fibers in multimode cables have imperfections, the optical signals are not able to arrive at the same time causing a delay between the fastest traveling modes and the slowest ones, which in turn causes the dispersion and limits multimode fiber performance.
This type of fiber uses inexpensive LED (light emitting diode) light sources to transmit data. The signal travels through an LED-based optical transmitter called a media converter, then down the glass in the fiber and bounces from wall to wall within the cable until it reaches its final destination at a rate of 10 or 100 Mb/sec but all that bouncing brings modal dispersion to the mix, diminishing the amount of data transmitted over a specific distance.
The demand for more data and faster reception of it has increased over the years making LED cables seem terribly slow and limited. This caused the creation of cables that use lasers to transmit data along with light, giving the world single mode optic fibers.
Multimode fibers can be found in 4 different presentations identified with the acronym OM which stands for optical multi-mode and varies according to performance criteria determined by ISO/IEC 11801 standards. These presentations are OM1, OM2, OM3, and OM4.

The status of FTTH on USA: What to know about it?

Given the growing demand for data on both fixed and mobile networks and the big size of the USA market, there is continuous pressure for operators to invest in fiber networks and to push connectivity closer to consumers.
In recent years the United States has seen increased activity from regional players as well as the major telcos and cablecos. Much of this activity was stimulated by Google Fiber following its investments in a number of markets. Although Google Fiber (now managed through Alphabet’s Access unit) began scaling back its efforts in late 2016, the company’s legacy has been profound. It encouraged the major providers to reduce pricing for their similar offers, stimulated interest among municipal leaders, and highlighted the fact that haphazard and potentially duplicated fiber deployments are no effective substitute for municipally-led wholesale fiber infrastructure accessible to any provider.
Local networks supported by municipal governments have also sprung up despite the lobbying efforts of AT&T and Verizon aimed at preventing local competition. However, for their part AT&T and Verizon have both refocused efforts on FTTP rather than FTTN, looking at the benefits of current investments for decades to come. G.fast is also being rolled out, to a lesser degree, in areas where FTTP is less feasible, while a growing number of cablecos have also deployed and DOCSIS3.1.
In the United States, the largest fiber to the premises (FTTP) deployment to date is Verizon’s FiOS, which covers 32 million people in the Northeastern United States. Verizon is the only Regional Bell Operating Company thus far to deploy FTTP on a large scale.
Verizon’s initial FTTP offering was based on broadband passive optical network (BPON) technology. Verizon has already upgraded to Gigabit PON or GPON, a faster optical access technology capable of providing 1Gbit/s speeds to consumers.
Lightower has the second most available fiber network, with 19 million people in the Northeast and the Midwest. Frontier is available to 10 million people across the country, and Monmouth is available to 8 million people in New Jersey.
The biggest benefit of fiber is that it can offer much faster speeds over much longer distances than traditional copper-based technologies like DSL and cable. The actual service depends on the company providing the service, but in most cases, fiber is the best bang for the buck broadband and future-proof for as long as we can tell. Even if typical broadband speeds become 1000 times faster in 20 years, a single existing fiber-optic connection can still support it.

FAQ about Fiber Optics Outdoor Cable

Do you have questions about the fibre optics outdoor cabling? We have Q/A to assist you determining which type of cable may suit your needs.
If you are a contractor or a fibre optics installer this is a suitable first approach guide for determining your project. Let’s get started.
What is the fibre count?
The fibre count you deploy on day one depends on the number of connections you need to make or will expect to make in the future. It is always recommended to install the maximum number of fibres in the space you have available, to avoid costly civil works for upgrades in the future.
fiber-mart.com offers outdoors cables with fibre counts ranging from a single fibre to 144 fibres or more.
What optical fibre type: SM or MM? G632? OM4? 62.5/125µm (The question goes on…)
This varies a lot, you could check our article between the differences between SM and MM fibres,  then you need to check what kind of single mode fibre you need to use or multimode if the case. Remember, this is an economy and technical desition and it’s very important to decide from day one, it’s important to think in the future.
Loose tube or ribbon cable?
Loose tube cables are the most common outdoor cable design, featuring a central strength member, stranded buffer tubes containing loose optical fibres and fibre counts up to 144F (Can be more, for custom orders). This construction ensures installer familiarity and optimum splice performance, we even provide the necessary breakout kits for finishing your project.
In a ribbon cable, typically 12 fibres are encapsulated in an array (or ribbon) and multiple ribbons can then be stacked to achieve the required fibre count. Ribbon cables offer higher fibre counts and greater fibre density than any other outdoor cable.
What is a micro cable?
Micro cables are miniaturized stranded loose tube cables which offer an approximate 50% reduction in size, less than half a reduction in total weight, and 30% or more per-cable fibre density versus traditional loose tube cables.
Micro cables are installed in micro-ducts and enable re-utilisation of congested duct space, flexibly scalable capacity upgrades and innovative, cost-effective deployment techniques.
Do I need an armoured or dielectric cable?
Armor can be applied to a loose tube or ribbon cable for increased mechanical robustness and protection against rodents. It is a pre-requisite requirement when a cable is to be buried directly into the ground. A dielectric (metal-free) cable should be selected when it is deployed on or near high-voltage power lines, through dielectric armour options are available.
A Dielectric
Do I need a gel-filled or gel-free (dry) cable?
Traditionally, a gel was used inside buffer tubes to protect fibres from moisture, but thanks to advances in cable water-blocking technology, this messy element can now be eliminated. With no need to clean gel from fibres before splicing, gel-free cables enable fast and efficient splicing preparation and drive cost savings through the elimination of cleaning consumables.
You need to figure out this yourself, or we could do it for you! Just let us know your requirement and we could find a cable suitable for your needs.