What are Fibre Optic Cables South Africa

Fibre optic cable is an advanced type of network cable, offering significantly improved performance in terms of bandwidth and data carrying than traditional copper cables.

The fibre-optic cable is a flexible cable that uses light to transmit information. The cable consists of glass fibres which are coated with plastic or rubber sheathing. This prevents the fibres from being damaged by external forces such as bending, compression or stretching. It also protects the fibres from moisture and dirt.

The fibre-optic cable can be used for both long distance and local networks. It has replaced much of the use of coaxial cable for interconnecting computers within buildings.

Fiber-optic systems

A fiber-optic system is any combination of hardware and software designed to provide optical communication services over a point-to-point link between two endpoints.

A typical fiber-optic system comprises one or more transceivers (also known as nodes), one or more repeaters, and one or more distribution hubs.

Transceiver

A transceiver is an electronic device that converts electrical signals into optical signals and vice versa. Transceivers may be implemented using laser diodes, photodetectors, or other devices.

Repeater

A repeater amplifies the signal and retransmits it on another wavelength. Repeaters are usually located at intervals along the length of the fibre-optic line. The amplification process allows the transmission capacity of the line to be increased without having to increase the number of physical connections.

Distribution hub

A distribution hub is a central location where all the lines coming in from different locations converge. At this point, they are split up and distributed to their final destinations. In some cases, the same hub will serve multiple sites.

Types of fibre-optic links

There are three main types of fibre-optic link: single mode, multimode, and metro area network. Each of these have different characteristics and applications.

Single Mode Optical Link

This is commonly referred to as SMO. A single mode fibre-optic link transmits only one wavelength of light at a time. This means that each fibre-optic channel is limited to a maximum of 1 gigabit per second.

Multimode Optical Link

This is commonly referred to as MMOD. Multimode fibre-optic links carry many wavelengths simultaneously. These wavelengths are separated by a small amount of frequency called a baud rate. For example, a 10GBase-T Ethernet connection operates at 250MHz. This means there are 62.5 million possible frequencies, allowing up to 62.5 million simultaneous wavelengths to be transmitted.

Metropolitan Area Network

A metropolitan area network (MAN) is a collection of high speed communications links connecting businesses and homes in a defined geographic region.

Fiber optics

Fiber optics is the name given to glass fibers for transmitting light pulses. Fiber optics is made up of thin strands of glass or plastic that are extremely fine and strong. They are used to transmit data, voice, video, and even sound.

Optical fibre is composed of silica glass. Silica glass is transparent to visible light but absorbs ultraviolet radiation. Therefore, when you look through an optical fibre, you see nothing because no light