Optical Fibre

What is an optical fibre and how does it help transmit data?

An optical fibre is the medium that sends light signals down fibres. These light signals are able to carry tremendous amount of data without much loss to quality. The technology concerned with application of optical fibre is called fibre optics. The optical fibre are hair thin strands of fibre made of pure glass or plastic. The light is passed through the centre of the fibre, which is called the core. Cladding, which is an outer encasement to the core helps keep the light trapped in the core, using a technique called total internal reflection.

Advantages of fibre optic:

Optical fibres have mostly replaced copper wire communication in the UK. The advantages of optical fibre:

• Very high bandwidth. This means volume of data transmitted is very high.
• Longer distance signal transmission with negligible loss.
• Negligent electromagnetic interference.

STL are leaders in fibre optic technology. STL Tech brings a series of optical fibre products in UK, with bend insensitive fibre. STL’s optic fibre solutions cater to a wide range of applications:

• Stellar^TM Series: Stellar^TM the installer’s fibre is the world’s first G.657.A2 macro-bend insensitive fibre. Stellar Seriesis legacy networks compatible consisting of G.657.A1 and G.652D. Stellar^TM Fibre is used in many sections of a data communication network –namely, core, metro and/oraccess.
• BOW-LITE^TM Series : STL's BOW-LITE^TM series optical fibreproducts are industry leading bend insensitive single mode fibres, suitable for FTTx (fibre to the x) applications and high fibre density cables.
• OH-LITE® Series: STL offers variations in G.657.A1 and G.652.D type optical fibre which take into consideration enhanced attenuation, geometry, dispersion and macro-bend loss properties. This accentuates better performance in wide application areas like long haul, metro-city, access and CATV networks.
• DOF-LITE^TM Series :This series of Non-Zero dispersion shifted single mode optical fibrecomplying with ITU-T G.655 recommendations, is mostly suitable for long-haul and metropolitan networks. DOF-LITE (LEA) is for the long-haul, and DOF-LITE (METRO) is appliedfor metro network.

Let us understand a bit more about optical fibre:

What are types of optical fibre?

Optical fibre isprimarily of two types– Single mode and multimode fibre. Here’s an over view of single mode vs multimode fibre:

Single mode fibre has

• a smaller core, about 8-9 microns, and carries the light signal straight down the fibre.
• Lower loss and distortion, unlimited bandwidth and applied for long distance transmission of data. It is used for telecommunication network, internet, CATV, remote offices, undersea.
• Is lesser in cost than multimode fibre.
• Types of single mode fibre cable are: Standard single mode fibre (G.652), Cutoff shifted fibre (G.654), Low water peak fibre (G.652), Dispersion shifted fibre (G.653), Non-zero dispersion shifted fibre (G.655), Bend insensitive fibre (G.657)

The multimode fibre has

• a five to six times larger core (approximately 50-60 microns) and the light signals follow various paths travelling within the core
• It is mainly for short distance transmission of data. Used mostly for LED sources, slower local area networks and connecting computer networks.
• More expensive than single mode fibre
• Types of multimode fibre cable are om1 fibre, om2 fibre, om3 fibre, om4 fibre, om5 fibre.

How does optical fibre work?

When data has to be transmitted through a fibre, it starts as electrical energy, converts into photons or light rays, travelling in waves through inner core of the fibre. The core of the optical fibrecarry the light rays to transmit data through principle of total internal reflection. The photons (light particles) bob up and down the fibre core. An outer layer, called the cladding keeps the light in the core secure, without letting it escape. When the light particles reach the other-end an optical receiver decodes and converts it back to electrical energy, which then the receiving device is able to read and display as data for the user.

Optical fibre in UK

Wireless communications and cloud computing are gaining importance, however, presently the majority of data in voice and video signals are still transmitted through optical fibrenetwork. According to various reports,

• Fibre optic broadband is already available to 96% of UK properties, although many users are still considering switching.
• By end of 2020, additional 3.2 million homes and businesses in hard to reach, remote parts of UK are ready to be connected with gigabit ready full fibre broadband.

STL’s contribution in the fibre optics space:

STL has been contributing in the fibre optics space, getting series of optical fibre products through innovative measures, to its users. STL Opticonn, the Optical Connectivity Solution is constructed to allow telecom operators, ISPs, citizen networks and large organizations to roll out networks faster, better and cost efficiently. The solution offers end-to-end capability ranging from optical fibre products, pre-connectorized kits to post-sales support. The optical products offered by STL include:

• Bend insensitive range of optical fibres
• World’s 1st backward compatible G.657.A2 fibre.
• Range of High-Density Ribbon and Loose Tube optical fibre cable suitable for Aerial, Duct and Underground Installation.

To build exceptional optical fibre, STL employs its core strengths and carefully orchestrates the following:

Chemical Vapor deposition – Closely inspected deposition of glass particles to create soot preform.

High precision sintering – constructing the soot preform in a solid form of high-quality pure glass.

Ultra-pure glass pre-form – glass preforms are transformed into best quality optical fibre.

Optical fibre drawing – state of art machinery employed by STL, along-with its expertise helps produce variety of ace grade optical fibre.

Some other STL related products on offer are –

• Optical Interconnect Products: Increasing data demands need to create new fibre deep networks and data centres, which would encourage faster 5G and FTTH adoption. STL considers a wide range of optical interconnect devices with bespoke designs suitable for several applications. Solutions like patch cords, fibre termination boxes, joint closures and fibre management systems are what STL offers to ensure compatibility across network bandwidths.
• Optical and Specialty Cables
• Glass Preform – Glass Preform is the basic material for optical fibres. STL starts with silicone metal and transforms it into high quality glass preforms.

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