The use of fiber optic patch cables

Fiber optic patch cables (also is known as optial fiber jumer) are widely used for high speed communication needs and they can be found in routers, fiber patch panels, media converters and even in hubs and switches. Fiber optic patch cables are preferred over normal copper cables because use of fiber optic patch cables result in comparatively lower loss of signal and because they are highly reliable. The military prefers fiber optic patch cables because these cables are hundred percent immune to any electromagnetic interference.

The cost factor effects the choices of many people where the battle between copper cables and fiber optic patch cables are concerned. However, one prominent point to distinguish is that fiber optic patch cables are hundreds of times, if not thousands, faster than regular ones. A cleverly designed and planned out cabling network using fiber optic patch cables could actually end up being less expensive for you.

Also remember the faster the copper cable gets, the more it will cost you. So after all, maybe copper cables might not be as cheap as you think. If you think in terms of networks cost and not 
just of cabling component costs you might even find that fiber optic patch cables are comparatively cheaper.

If you are looking for quotes for fiber optic patch cabels then you might find thousands of quotes online. But don’t just think about the cost; remember that a cheaper product might end up costing you more in the long run as such a product will likely have a shorter lifetime. Always settle for fiber optic patch cables that come with a good warranty and after service facilites.

Fiber optic patch cables are used in a variety of conditions from local area network to airplanes. Especially with communication industry hiking up the list of importance, fiber optic patch cables have walked hand in hand in the journey, facilitating many a thousand requirements around the globe.

If you by any chance, hope to get in to telecommunications or similar, accquiring thorough knowledge about fiber optic patch cable is a must. To get the basic idea you can get plenty of material online but to get a comprehensive idea about fiber optic patch cables you might need some expert advice and there are probably thousands of detailed books and other material on this subject.

As the professional fiber optic patch cables provider, FiberStore supply a range of optical patch cord, such as LC fiber cable, ST fiber cable, MTP MPO cable, LC SC patch cord and more. If you would like to purchase our optical patch cables, please contact us.

How To Choose LC Fiber Patch Cables

The History of LC connectors

The LC connector was developed by Lucent Technologies. It is a evolutionary approach to achieving the goals of SFF (Small Form Factor) connector. The LC connector utilizes the traditional components of a SC duplex connector having independent ceramic ferrules and housings with the overall size scaled down by one half.

The LC family of connectors includes a stand-alone simplex design, a behind-the-wall connector, and the duplex connector available in both single mode and multimode tolerances, all designed using the RJ-style latch.

The most critical parameters you should be looking

Many manufacturers make LC fiber cable, but they are not all created equal. Here are the most critical optical performance parameters you should be looking closely.

. Single mode lc fiber patch cables

Single mode LC patch cords comes in several polishing favors: PC, UPC and APC.

PC stands for physical contact

This is the most basic polishing. The back reflection is not too good, especially for a single mode fiber system. The back reflection is less than -45dB. Since single mode fiber systems are 
particularly sensitive to back reflections, we don’t recommend using PC polish. You should always choose a UPC polish for single mode LC fibers.

UPC stands for Ultra Physical Contact.

It provides a better back reflection performance: less than -50dB. While not offering the superior optical return loss performance of an APC connector – UPC connector has return loss (back 
reflection) characteristics that are acceptable for intraplant serial digital video or data transmissions.

APC stands for Angled Physical Contact.

The endface is polished precisely at an 8 degree angle to the fiber cladding so that most return loss is reflected into the cladding where it cannot interfere with the transmitted signal or damage the laser source.

As a result, APC connectors offer a superior RL performance of -65 dB. APC LC fiber cables are best for high bandwidth applications and long haul links since it offers the lowest return loss (RL) characteristics of connectors currently available.

However, it is extremely difficult to terminate an LC APC connector at 8 degrees with any consistent level of success in the field.

. Multimode LC fiber patch cables

Multimode LC fiber optic patch cords have only one type of polishing: PC (Physical Contact) polishing.

However, there are at least three types of common multimode fibers to choose from. 62.5/125um multimode fiber (also called OM1), 50/125um multimode fiber (also called OM2), and 10Gig laser 
optimized 50/125um multimode fiber (also called OM3).

Among multimode LC fiber patch cables, usually you only care about the insertion loss which should be no more than 0.3 to 0.5dB.

Fiber cable LC come in many different configurations, such as LC to FC, LC to ST, LC to LC, LC to MTRJ, LC SC patch cord and more. LC fibers are also available in simplex and duplex configurations. What type of lc patch cords do you would like to buy?