Fiber Optic Cable

Experience interruption-free, back-to-back network success with enhanced bandwidth and premium optic fiber performance in a longer range.

There’s no doubt that most optic fiber cables are manufactured in China; but when it comes to choosing the best cable supplier from the whole bunch of fiber optic makers, OTSCABLE gives the most incomparable low-cost and capacity-wise bandwidth fiber solution you could ever find.

Our customers’ optical product needs are paramount. We will work hand-in-hand with you to optimize your system demands to work fast and efficient. We do our best to deliver the most recent fiber optic technology and solution to topple over connectivity issues and pave a path for a robust fiber optic experience. 

OTSCABLE is a Fiber Optic Cable manufacturer, exporter, OEM/ODM provider and wholesale supplier. We have a variety of Indoor and Outdoor Fiber Optic Cables you can choose from. Each of them are specialized and manufactured to meet certain environmental requirements. Plus, you can easily manage and integrate the routing of the cables by choosing the right fiber optic cable size. We will guide you in every step of the way.

Quick Navigation:

What is Fiber Optic Cable?

Why Use an Optic Fiber?

Fiber Optic Cable Construction

Fiber Optic Cable Principle: How Fiber Optic Works?

Fiber Optic Cable Manufacturing Process

Our Quality Control Standards

Certifications

Features of Fiber Optic Cables

Types of Fiber Optic Cable

Benefits of Fiber Optic Cable

Applications

Frequently Asked Questions

• FAQ’s About Fiber Optic Reliability
• Products Order FAQS
• Products Sample FAQS

Why Choose Otscable Fiber Optic Cables?

What is Fiber Optic Cable?

A Fiber Optic Cable is a network cable that is composed of strands of glass fibers bundled together in a casing. The casing is insulated to protect the glass fibers as they are very vulnerable. 

In communication systems, Fiber optic cables connect datalinks that permits the conversion of an analog electronic signal (telephone) into digital pulses. The pulses are transmitted through the optical fiber to another datalink, where a light detector reconverts them into an electronic signal. These conversions are made at an incredible speed.

If you want an enhanced bandwidth performance with no attenuation for your telecom and networking needs, then Fiber Optic Cable is your solution. Fiber optic cables have now dominated the network cabling needs of the world for internet, telephone and television.

Why use an optic fiber?

Optic fibers are used as a media to transmit light waves between two ends of the fiber. It is commonly used in fiber optic communication cables to permit the travel of light pulses over long distances. In addition, optic fibers are also used to transmit telephone signals and cable television signals. 

The good thing about fibers is it can allow higher bandwidth capabilities that metal wire. Plus, they are secured from crosstalks with their immunity from electromagnetic interference so you can be sure that your network system can deliver and transmit noise-free signals.

Fiber Optic Cable Construction

An optical fiber cable is composed of bundles of thin strands of glass that act as waveguide to channel signal through light pulses over long distances. 

Parts of a Fiber Optic Cable

The parts of the fiber optic cable from the innermost layer to its outermost part is composed of the core, cladding, coating, strengthening fibers and cable jacket. 

The core and the cladding are two layers of glass which have different refractive indices, and where the refractive index of the core is higher than that of the cladding. The jacket surrounds the exterior of the cladding. Outside, a group of optical fibers are bundled together and are secured by an overall outer sheath which protects and keeps the fibers together.

Core: It is a physical medium that delivers optical signals from where the light originates to the device that receives it. The core is made from doped silica with an index of refraction of 1.4475. The size of the core diameter dictates how efficient it is in transferring data. The larger core diameter, the higher network data is transferred.

Cladding: It’s a thinner layer of glass that extends over the length of the core. It carries the light waves that permit data to be delivered to the device. The cladding is made of pure silica with an index of 1.444 at 1500 nm.

Coating: It is made of plastic that protects the fiber core and cladding from external forces and cable bends. 

Strengthening fibers: The fibers stand as protection for the core against compressive forces or crushing and tension or excessive pulling. Material used can be Kevlar®, wire strands or even gel-filled component. A dark glass is placed with the fibers to absorb light and prevent leaking. Thus, cross-talk between the fibers are reduced.

Cable jacket: The outer covering of the cable is the jacket. This can also be called its sheath. The purpose is to shield the cable from hazards, such as in installations and even from sharks in underwater fiber cable installations as they are attracted to electrical fields created by the cable.

Fiber Optic Cable Principle: How they work?

The principle is covered by physics and explains how light can travel along differing mediums. If you know the concept of Refraction and Reflection you can easily find out how fiber optics work or how they transmit and translate signals from one point to another.

Index of Refraction

The Index of Refraction is a method of measuring the speed of light in a material. It’s a dimensionless number that is calculated by dividing the speed of light in vacuum to the speed of light in a medium. In this case, we are pertaining to the medium as the core and the cladding. 

Summarizing the properties of the core and the cladding:

Cladding – pure silica; 1.444 index of refraction

Core – doped silica – 1.4475 index of refraction

As you can see, the core, made of doped silica, has a higher index of refraction which means that light travels slower in that material than in pure silica (cladding material). This is obvious as doped silica is denser than pure silica so it is a little more difficult for light to travel in a thicker media.

Total Internal Reflection

With the different index of refraction of the core and the cladding, two things occur within the jacket of one optic fiber: transmission and receiving. The cladding or boundary transmits signal by simply reflecting the light pulse. The core receives the signal and lets it pass through the other side of the cladding. The signal then bounces back and forth along the line of the cable in long distances.

Technically speaking, the light undergoes Total Internal Reflection upon hitting the cladding at a certain range of angles that are larger than the critical angle from the optical normal axis of the core. Thus we call this range of angles of the fiber as the Acceptance Cone. The size of this acceptance cone is dependent on the refractive index difference between the fiber’s core and cladding.

So that’s how simple fiber optic cables work.

Fiber Optic Cable Manufacturing Process: How Optic Fiber Cables are Made

As mentioned earlier, optic fibers are made of pure optical glass. Pure optical glass is a highly purified silica glass with very few impurities than what we can see anywhere.

The following steps summarizes the process in manufacturing fiber optic cable.

1. Manufacturing a preform glass cylinder
2. Drawing process of the fibers
3. Coating Process

#1 Manufacturing a preform glass cylinder

The glass used in the preform is made through Modified Chemical Vapor Deposition, or MCVD. In this process, a precise mixture of Germanium Chloride (GeCl4), Silicon Chloride (SiCl4), and many other chemicals is bubbled with oxygen. The mixture will dictate the physical and chemical properties of the glass to be formed. 

The mixture is then placed inside a quartz tube or synthetic silica which are cleaned in hydrofluoric acid. This glass tube is spun in a lathe while being heated with a torch outside the tube. The heat will result in chemical reactions, forming Silicon dioxide and germanium dioxide. Both of them will be deposited and fused inside the glass tube. This is the preform glass cylinder which will be drawn into fibers. 

#2 Drawing Process of the Fibers

A special equipment called the drawing tower will be used to produce the fibers. The preform is loaded vertically in the tower, while the preform tip is exposed by a furnace. The heat, which ranges from 1,900 to 2,200 degrees Celsius, melts the preform until it falls down through gravity. As it drops slowly, it cools down and forms the thread-like fiber. 

#3 Coating Process

After the fibers are made, they pass through several coating cups and an ultraviolet light curing ovens. This process coats the fiber with multi-layers of plastics that function to preserve strength, absorb shock and provide additional fiber protection. 

A spool controlled by a tractor mechanism slowly pulls the created fiber and creates the spool of the fiber, but is monitored and controlled by a laser micrometer. The measurements taken by the micrometer will ensure the precision of the fiber diameter throughout its length. Typically, the fibers are pulled at a rate of 10 to 20 m/s. 

Quality Control

OTSCABLE not only assures the best quality Fiber Optic Cables are delivered into the market, but also upholds an environmental responsibility of disposing raw materials, in-process products and end-products which can potentially harm the environment. 

OTSCABLE follows a round of quality checks throughout the production process from raw material acceptance to production and to end-products processing prior to shipping.

Raw-Material Quality Control (RMQC)

High-quality raw material is paramount in delivering standard-wise end-products. Upon delivery of the raw materials, they go through inspection that determines whether they pass or fail. Failure to meet specific standards will automatically reject the raw materials.

Production Quality Control (PQC)

Mass producing fiber optic cables from the raw materials stored in the warehouse is carried out in the production area. 

OTSCABLE also carries out a series of quality checks in the production area whether daily, weekly, monthly or yearly. This is to check if certain measures should be done in their machines or manufacturing process should be improved or fixed to meet safety standards for both the process and their employees.

In-Process Quality Control (IPQC) and Unfinished Product Quality Control (uPQC)

These are checks that are carried out during mass production is completed. In-process materials would be strictly tested for identity, quality, strength and purity as appropriate and approved or rejected by the quality control unit during the production process.

Quality Control Before Packing and Final Quality Control

Before the spooled fiber optic cables are packed or boxed, the QC unit checks the products for the following:

• Tensile strength of the fiber
• Attenuation
• Bandwidth 
• Numerical aperture
• Cut-off wavelength
• Mode field diameter
• Chromatic dispersion

The following physical checks are also performed for both multimode and single-mode fibers:

• Cladding circularity/eccentricity
• Cladding diameter
• Coating outer diameter
• Coating outer non-circularity
• Coating concentricity error
• Core-clad concentricity error
• Core non-circularity
• Core diameter

Certifications

CE Approved

Products with a CE marking indicates conformity with safety, health and environmental protection standards for products sold within the European Economic Area (EEA), however, this is also recognizable worldwide.

RoHs 

RoHS stands for Restriction of Hazardous Substances. A RoHS listed product means the product has passed qualifications preventing the use of banned hazardous materials electrical and electronic products. These materials are hazardous to the environment and cause pollution to landfills. Moreover, they are dangerous when exposed during manufacturing and recycling.

UL

Underwriters Laboratories (UL) is a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL) recognized by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). As an NRTL, UL devises, publishes, updates, and maintains minimal standards that certain types of products: magnetic components, electronics, plastics, potable water and others.

Features

Non-flammable Sheath

The sheath covering the fiber optic cable is not susceptible to fire hazards as optical fiber, being dielectric, does not use electricity. 

Faster Speed

Typically, optical fiber transmits data faster than copper Ethernet cable and has the potential to be incredibly fast. In fact, a single optical fiber strand has been shown to transmit data at a rate of 100 terabits per second.

Secured Connectivity

Information sent via fiber optic cables is much more difficult to intercept because light can’t be read in the same way signals sent via copper cabling can be.

High Capacity and Bandwidth

Multimode optical fiber can transmit over 1000MHz in a distance of a hundred meter.

Two Types of Fiber Optic Cable

There are two types of fiber optic cable. These are the single mode fiber (OS1 and OS2) and multimode fiber (OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4). The OM/OS naming standards are all defined under the fiber optic cabling system.

Single Mode Fiber

The single mode fiber (OS) can propagate light in a straight path where the light does not bounce. The purpose is to eliminate possible dispersion of light or light scattering so that signal transmission is maximized and bandwidth capability is much higher. 

In this case, the diameter of the optical fiber of the single mode fiber cable is reduced up to a few wavelengths of light. The core is so thin that a single human hair is even larger than it. It is approximately 8 to 10 microns in diameter.

With its increase bandwidth capability, the single mode fiber is more costly than multimode fiber.

There are 2 single mode fiber types. These are OS1 and OS2.

What are the differences between the four OS fiber optic cables?

OS1 and OS2 differ by how they are made and not by the diameter of the core and cladding. OS1 fiber optic cable is a tightly buffered cable while OS2 is loosely-made or has a blown cable design. For a loosely-made cable construction, the cable experiences less internal stress.

The purpose of the tightness in construction of the OS1 type is to deliver 10 Gb/s speed over a limited distance of 2,000 m whereas the OS2 type can deliver the same data speed rate over a distance of 5,000 to 10,000 m. 

Multimode fiber

The multimode fiber (OM) has a larger diameter than the single mode fiber. It is around 50 microns in diameter. Thus, with its less intricate feature, it is easier to manufacture multimode optical fiber than single mode optical fiber.

Multimode fiber is much more efficient in capturing light and catapulting it to the end of the fiber line because of the greater diameter. Also, precise connectors are not required for this fiber type.

One of the limitations of the multimode fiber is it experiences a greater value of loss than single mode fiber. Another thing is this type of fiber cable suffers from multi-mode modal dispersion which hinders bandwidth capability. 

There are 4 multi mode fiber optic cable types. These are OM1, OM2, OM3 and OM4.

What are the differences between the four OM fiber optic cables?

The OM1 and OM2 multimode cables have different optical diameters wherein OM1 has a specification of 62.5/125 µm and OM2 has a specification of 50/125 µm (OM2). These types of cables are found in LED transmitters and commonly deliver 10 Mbit/s (Ethernet), 1 Gbit/s (Giga Ethernet).

What was once unachievable was later found out to be achievable. With OM3 and OM4, network speeds are higher as these cables have laser-optimized 50/125 µm specifications. 

These can provide bandwidth that transmit data above 10 Gb/s. OM3 and OM4 are known as laser optimized multi-mode (LOMMF) cables that are made for 850 nm VCSELs. They can also do better with LEDs, with modulation speed of 622 Mbit/s. 

Benefits/Advantages of Fiber Optic

• • Immune to EMI – Fiber optic is a dielectric, which means that it is electrically non-conductive. Thus, data being transmitted in the optical fiber is unaffected by electromagnetic interference and electromagnetic pulses.
  • Negligible attenuation loss – Attenuation loss accounts for only 0.2 dB/km in optical fiber cables. Repeaters are also not needed in installations.
  • It’s practically an electrical insulator – What’s great is optical fibers don’t conduct electricity as metals do so it’s not susceptible to lightning issues.
  • Enhanced security – Since it is not made of metal, information cannot be tapped with optical fibers.
  • Optical fibers have practically unlimited information.
  • Fiber optic cable does not dissipate heat.

• Cost for installation is practically lower.

• Fiber optic cable has longer life expectancy than copper or coaxial cable.

Application

Data Storage

Fiber cables are greatly effective in storing large amounts of data. Because of that, fiber optic cables are often used in research and development and testing.

Telecommunications

Fiber optic cable is avidly used in the telecommunications industry for receiving and transmitting applications. Telephone is the number one use of fiber optic cables for communication. 

Networking

Fiber optic cable is also popular around the world for network data transfer, used in connecting servers. It presents accurate data transmission, speedy transfers and high bandwidth capabilities over long distances.

Industrial/Commercial

Imaging is also a popular use of fiber as it can effectively relay signals in sensory devices that completely eliminates EMI problems. It is often found in many industrial applications. Even CATV Cable companies use fiber optic cables for wiring HDTV, CATV, video-on-demand, the internet and many other applications.

Defense/Government

Fiber optic cables can be used in hydrophones for SONAR or other seismic uses, such as underwater wiring in submarines, aircraft, and other vehicles.

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQS About Fiber Optic Reliability

1. How fast is the speed of fiber optic cable?

For Single mode fiber optic cable, the speed rate of data transfer can reach up to 100 Mbit/s or Gbit/s at a transmission distance of 5 km or 5000 m.

For Multimode fiber optic cable, speed rate is about 100 Mbit/s for 2 km (100BASE-FX), Gbit/s are up to 1000m, and 10 Gbit/s are up to 550 m. 

2. How long does fiber cable last?

Fiber optic cables are assumed to have a service life of 25-28 years, but it can presumably be more than that. There are existing optic fiber cables that are around 30 years old now. It depends on the quality of the fiber optic cable and where it is installed. 

Indoor fiber optic cables have much longer life expectancy than outdoor fiber optic cables because of the environmental hazards and stress the outdoor situation can present on the cable.

3. Can the glass of fiber optic cables degrade through creep after many years?

No. Glass is liquid above the transition temperature and solid below that temperature. The temperature of glass transition for optical fiber is in above 1000C. This temperature is above the service temperatures of fiber optic cables.

4. Does optical fiber experience degradation on its total internal reflection after many years?

No. The maximum known temperature that can penetrate the fiber optic cable cannot degrade the total internal reflection, so it is maintained after many years.

Products Order FAQS

How is your terms of payment?

Our terms of payment is usually via telegraphic transfer (T/T), but you can suggest other options that we may consider such as Letter of credit (L/C). We usually let the customer pay 30% in advance and 70% balance before shipping.

What’s your delivery time?

Our delivery time is usually after 30 days, but special considerations for short orders may be accommodated for a shorter time. At OTSCABLE, we value intimate communications with our clients so that both parties are satisfied at the end of the day.

How about your price and MOQ?

About the price, it is best that you contact us, but at this early stage of wanting to know about our price range, we can assure you the best quality with the most competitive price you could ever find. 

We have also special considerations for small orders so you won’t have to worry about MOQ.

Can I get the schedule of my order?

Sure, when we begin your order, we could tell you everything.

When will I receive my customs clearance documents?

After we confirm that we have received your remittance, we will immediately arrange a DHL shipping to your requested address.

Products Sample FAQS

How can I get a free sample?

The purpose of the business is Win-Win, we are glad to receive your email about enquiry, free sample,etc.

Which information do i must provide?

Name, Email, Company, Country, City, Address.

Which express company do you have?

DHL, UPS, EMS, TNT, FEDEX or you can suggest.

How long does it take to my address?

One week is the usual duration before you can receive your free sample.

Why Choose OTSCABLE Fiber Optic Cable?

If you are looking for your ODM/OEM of fiber optic cable in China, you have come to the right place. 

We design and manufacture high quality and high performance fiber optic cables with a variety of indoor and outdoor options you can choose from.

Our network cables create vast opportunities for data centers, home fiber internet providers and telecommunications industries with the best and most cost-efficient optical systems we provide.

We have been a trusted China cable supplier for more than 17 years and have actively and reliably supplied different countries around the globe. Our responsive and expert team members can collaborate with you from your design stage to feature selection, fiber optic cable manufacture, up to product delivery. 

Here at Otscable, we give the highest dedication and passion in what we do to meet and exceed your cabling requirements and provide the best customer-service and after-sales service.