CONNECTORS / TERMINATIONS WITH FIBER GLOSSARY (8)

Plenum Cable: Cable made of fire-retardant material that meets electrical code requirements (UL 910) for low smoke generation and installation in air space.

Receiver: A device that detects an optical signal and converts it into an electrical form usable by other devices.

Refraction: The bending of light as it passes between materials of different refractive index.

Riser: A pathway for indoor cables that passes between floors, normally in a vertical shaft or space. Also a fire-code rating for indoor cable.

Simplex: Single element (e.g., a simplex connector is a single-fiber connector).

Simplex Cable: A term sometimes used for single-fiber cable.

Single Mode: Containing only one more. When dealing with lasers, beware of ambiguities because of the difference between transverse and longitudinal modes. A type of low-loss optical waveguide with a very small core (2 – 9 microns). It requires a laser source for input signals due to the very small entrance aperture.

Single Mode Fiber (SMF): A small-core optical fiber through which only one mode will propagate. The typical diameter is 8 – 9 microns.

Tight Buffer: A material tightly surrounding a fiber in a cable, holding it rigidly in place.

Tight Buffered Cable: A protective coating extruded tightly over fiber for mechanical and environmental protection. The coating material is either nylon or PVC. This buffering offers excellent physical and flexing properties, but higher micro-bending sensitivity.

Total Internal Reflection: Total reflection of light back into a material when it strikes the interface with a material having a lower refractive index at an angle below a critical angle value.

October 25, 2011

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