Abstract

In general, optical cable applications can be divided into four major market segments. These are telecommunication, data, video, and military communication. For the majority of the telecommunication, data, and video applications, a loose tube or loose ribbon design can be manufactured without incurring a microbending loss penalty. Fiber performance in the loose tube cables can be maximized by optimizing the lay length, tube dimension, and pitch diameter. Single-mode and multimode cables with ultimate low loss of 0.5 dB/km at 1300 nm and very high bandwidths have been successfully installed in many cities.

© 1984 Optical Society of America