Fiber Optic Services

FIBER OPTIC SERVICES

Fiber optic internet (FiOS) uses cutting edge technology. To reach the fastest speeds available today, as fast as 10000 Mbps (1Gpbs). It was created to provide a communication service for home and personal use. This technology in Internet connections is the future of broadband and its overcoming out of its competitors. This is the best option if you are looking to get a great bandwidth with longer transmission distances in comparison to copper. In a network the longest distance recommended is 100m while fiber distance can be 2km. Fiber Internet is immune to electromagnetic interference and it won’t be affected by electricsal noise.

HOW IT WORKS:

“Fiber” refers to a thin glass wire inside of a protective cable. Light travels down a fiber optic cable by bouncing off the walls of the cable repeatedly. The same way as copercables, fiber cables vary in specifications depending on the applications they are designed for. The fiber optic cable has the following components:

Optical Fibers:

Fiber cables are made up of many smaller optical fibers. These fibers are extremely thin, to be specific they are less than a tenth as thick as a human hair. Though they are thin, they have a lot going on. Each optical fiber has two parts:

Core:

Usually made of glass, the core is the innermost part of the fiber, where the light passes through.

Cladding:

Usually made of a thicker layer of plastic or glass, the cladding is wrapped around the core.

These two parts work together to create a phenomenon called total internal reflection. Total internal reflection is how light is able to move down the fibers, without escaping. It is when the light hits the glass at an extremely shallow angle, less than 42 degrees, and reflects back again as if reflecting against a mirror. The cladding keeps the light in the core because the glass/plastic it is made of has a different optical density or lower refractive index. Both these terms refer to how the glass bends (refraction)and therefore slows down the light.

Light is transmitted down the fiber in LED or Laser pulses that travel extremely fast. These pulses carry binary data, which is a coding system that makes up everything we see on the Internet, even the words you are reading right now. Binary code is made up of bits, which are just ones and zeroes. These bits send messages in organized eight-part patterns, called bytes. It is easy to translate the bits of binary into light pulses. One pulse means one and no pulse means zero. These pulses can travel sixty miles before they experience any degradation. To transport data across thousands of miles these pulses go through optical amplifiers that boost their signal so that no data is lost.

Multi-Mode:

Fiber optic multi-mode is a type of optical fiber mostly used for communication over short distances, such as within building or on a campus. Fiber optic multi-mode cable has alarge diametrical core that allows multiple modes of light to propagate. Because of this, the number of light reflections created as the light passes through the core increases, creating the ability for more data to pass through at a given time.

Because of the high dispersion and attenuation rate with this type of fiber, the quality of the signal is reduced over long distances.

Single-Mode:

Fiber optic single-mode cable has a small diametral core that allows only one mode of light to propagate. Because of this, the number of light reflections created as the light passes through the core decreases, lowering attenuation and creating the ability for the signal to travel further.

Fiber optic multi-mode:

Multimode fiber is usually 50/125 and 62.5/125 in construction. This means that the core to cladding diameter ratio is 50 microns to 125 microns and 62.5 microns to 125 microns.

Fiber optic single-mode:

Single Mode fiber is usually 9/125 in construction. This means that the core to cladding diameter ratio is 9 microns to 125 microns.

Splicing:

Fiber optic splicing is a method to connect two fiber optic cables if there is an available fiber optic cable is not long enough for the required distance. Splicing is also designed to restore fiber optic cables when they are accidentally broken.

Nowadays fiber optic splicing is widely deployed in telecommunications, LAN, and networking projects. Typically, fiber optic splices can be undertaken in two ways: fusion splices and mechanical splices. Fusion splicing is a permanent connection of two or more optical fibers by welding them together using an electronic arc. It is the most widely used method of splicing as it provides for the lowest loss, less reflectance, strongest, and most reliable joint between two fibers.

Installation:

Although it is not a fragile medium, fiber optic installation cable must be carefully and expertly installed. To realize its full potential, On the outside, fiber-optic cable may look similar to copper-wire cable. But, what lies beneath the sheath is very different. As cabling installers are increasingly called upon to put in fiber backbones and even fiber to the desk-it. It becomes essential that they understand this difference between copper and glass. Develop appropriate installation procedures for each medium.

There are many aspects of fiber optic installation that could be examined. Two of the most important from a practical standpoint are general guidelines for installation in the building spaces. Most commonly associated with premises wiring-horizontal runs, runs above ceilings and below floors. Runs in cable trays, riser runs-and specific procedural hints that apply to most or all optical-fiber cable pulls-jacket removal. Handling core components, fiber stripping and using breakout kits.

At Dicsan Technology Fiber optic installation is simple an reliable you can get in contact with our team to get a FREE consultation.

General cabling guidelines:

In whatever space your optical-fiber cable is being installed, there are some basic guidelines that must be followed. Support the cable and avoid crushing, stressing and overbending it. Every cable will have values for minimum bend radius and maximum tensile loading; do not exceed these values. Cables should never be allowed to hang freely for long distances or to press against edges in an installation.

When pulling cable in conduit, all transition points, such as those going from conduit to pull box or exiting the conduit, should be kept smooth. Sometimes the addition of a piece of conduit beyond the transition will keep the cable from resting on a sharp edge. Bushings designed to fit the ends of conduit are also available.

Flexible conduit can be placed within boxes or at interfaces to prevent pressure against the cable or scraping on rough edges. Flexible conduit can also be added in areas open to frequent access, such as raised computer-room floors, where there is a higher potential risk to the cable.

Optimize your system and take care for cabling damages:

Complying with the cable`s minimum bend radius cannot be overstressed. Some applications may present conditions where the configuration of the equipment will damage the cable by overbending it if precautions are not taken. Conduit bends, pull boxes and joints must be checked to verify that the bend radius is not too small. Innerduct or flexible conduit can be used to ease or sweep the cable around tight corners. The inside radius of conduit bends for fiber-optic cable should be at least 10 times the diameter of the cable. Pulls through tightly bent elbow fixtures should be backfed; in other words, the cable is not pulled from end to end, but to and out of an opened junction box, then coiled loosely on the ground and fed through the rest of the run.

In tray and rack installations, the minimum bend radius must also be monitored, because the cable will be routed around corners or through transitions. Where raceway or rack transitions expose the cable, flexible conduit should be used for protection.

Restoring fiber - Optic area:

Fiber-optic technology provides the capability to transmit huge amounts of information over long distances. This makes it an ideal medium for long-haul applications such as long- distance telephone trunk lines and cable-TV loops. However, the high bandwidth of optical fiber has also made it useful in campus and premises applications–mostly in backbones, where its information-handling capacity and long transmission distance have offset perceived drawbacks, including high cost and difficulty of installation.

Telephone companies and other service providers have well- established routines for restoration following outages. They need such procedures because their long cable spans often run in exposed aerial locations where cable is strung between utility poles, or cables are direct-buried where they can be cut by backhoes and other digging equipment. Restoration practices, then, are critical to the operation of these long-distance telecommunications systems.

Local area networks (LANs), on the other hand, consist of intrabuilding and interbuilding links covering relatively short distances when compared to the wide-area and metropolitan-area networks usually associated with optical communications. As a result, LANs require different approaches and equipment if the cabling installer or maintainer is to be responsive to emergencies and provide restoration service quickly.

Troubleshooting:

If you are experiencing issues with your fiber network, the issue is likely related to cleaning in some way. Fiber optic troubleshooting will help you to clean your fiber network equipment will often find that a simple cleaning of both hardware and fiber cabling (don’t overlook fiber patch panels) does the trick. Take a look at your cables every now and then to ensure that they have not accumulated dirt. If they are dirty, grime will be pressed right into the optics. For hardware fiber inputs, you can use the same canned air that cleans off your computer keyboard to blow the dust, dirt and grime out of the optics.

Let´s check the cables problems:

If you run your fiber-optic cables through areas that receive a lot of foot traffic, they might have been compromised by someone’s misstep or a rolling chair. The little bit of pressure provided by a footstep or chair caster can severely compromise fiber integrity. Even a cleaning crew member scooting a desk out from a wall by a few inches to vacuum can damage cables. Cables will also malfunction when handled in an inappropriate manner.

Fiber optic troubleshooting was once reserved for high-performance needs, but today it’s turning up in all kinds of networks. If you have copper cable you will realize that fiber optic internet is quite different because is also far more fragile than copper cable, so there aare more potential causes of trouble.

Fiber optic troubleshooting it’s a complicated process and it will be helpful to know where to start looking for a problem, here are some of the most common problems fiber optic cable can have:

Broken fibers because of physical stress or excessive bending
Insufficient transmitting power
Excessive signal loss due to a cable span that's too long
Excessive signal loss due to a contaminated connector
Excessive signal loss due to having too deficient splices or connectors
Excessive signal loss due to having too many splices or connectors
Deficient connection of fiber to the patch panel or in the splice tray