Difference Between Single Mode And Multimode Fiber Cable

Multimode fiber distance and bandwidth.

Difference between single mode and multimode fiber cable.

The main difference between singlemode and multimode fiber patch cables is the size of their respective cores. Much larger than the wavelength of the light carried in it. What s the differences between single mode and multimode fiber. This means that the core to cladding diameter ratio is 9 microns to 125 microns.

Multimode fiber optic cable. Multimode fiber optic cable has a large diametral core that allows multiple modes of light to propagate. Single mode means the fiber enables one type of light mode to be propagated at a time. While multimode is faster than single mode it also has a shorter maximum distance.

Core diameter single mode fiber has a small diametral core 8 3 to 10 microns that allows only one mode of light to propagate. Multimode fiber optic cable has a large diametral core 50 to 100 microns that allows multiple modes of light to propagate. Even tiny dust particles or debris can cause issues with signal transmission. The downside to using a thicker core is the increased attenuation.

While multimode means the fiber can propagate multiple modes. The differences between single mode and multimode fiber mainly lies in fiber core diameter wavelength light source bandwidth color sheath distance and cost. Singlemode cables have a core of 8 to 10 microns. Multimode fiber optic cables.

In single mode cables light travels toward the center of the core in a single wavelength. These larger cores have more space for bouncing lasers down the length of the cable which increases signal speed. Multimode cables are made with thicker cores than single mode cables typically around 50 60 μm. Single mode fiber has a core that measures around 5um while the multimode fiber core measures 50um or more.

Multimode fiber has two types of light propagation step index and graded index while single mode fiber has only one step index. Single mode fiber is usually 9 125 in construction. Designed for long distance communication a single mode fiber cable allows light signals to travel more than 10 miles a much longer distance than multimode. Some studies report a difference of 100 000 ghz.

Single mode fiber also accommodates much higher bandwidths than multimode. Comparison with single mode fiber the main difference between multi mode and single mode optical fiber is that the former has much larger core diameter typically 50 100 micrometers. With a 9 micron diametral core single mode cables must be kept extremely clean. So for greater speed it is better to use multimode fibers as a single cable is capable of handling what would otherwise require multiple single mode cables.