How to Identify High-Quality Fiber Optic Patch Cord?

Optical modules and fiber optic patch cords play an important role in optical fiber data transmission, especially between switches and devices. They are now widely used in telecommunications and data communication. Telecom test equipment also requires optical fiber jumpers to connect to the system for testing. In addition to data center connections and interconnections, optical fiber jumpers can be used for a variety of access methods, such as CATV connections and last-mile FFTH.

Features of the fiber optic patch cord

A fiber optic patch cord is constructed by capping the end of a multi-mode or single-mode cable with a connector that snaps into place with a connector tail of the same type connected to the active board or port of an optical device.

The fiber and connector are the two main components that determine the function of the fiber patch cord types: low insertion loss, high return loss, good interchangeability, and environmental adaptability. The transmission medium is single-mode or multi-mode optical fiber. Usually, yellow stands for single-mode fiber for long-distance transmission, while orange, light green or magenta represent multi-mode fiber for short-distance transmission.

What are the different modes of optical fiber jumper?

There are single-mode optical fiber jumper and multi-mode optical fiber jumper. The term mode refers to the light transmission way in the fiber core. Single-mode jumpers are made of 9/125u fiberglass, which is yellow, while multi-mode jumpers are made of OM1-62.5/125u or OM2-50/125u glass, which is orange. In addition, there are 10 Megabyte laser-optimized OM3 and OM4, whose jacket is usually light green. Meanwhile, OM4 is mainly available in magenta.

What are the structures of the fiber optic patch cord?

A simplex fiber optic patch cord consists of a single-core optical fiber, while a duplex fiber optic patch cord consists of two cores and can be multi-mode or single-mode. In addition, there are strip branch optical cable components that one end of which is a strip optical fiber with multiple optical fibers and a strip optical fiber connector, such as MTP connector; the other end is a multi-simplex optical cable with connectors, such as ST jumper, SC jumper, SC to ST fiber patch cable, LC jumper, etc.

What are the different connector types for the fiber optic patch cord?

Choosing the right type of connector is critical for the specific purpose of the jumper. For example, it is inappropriate to use jumpers with FC-FC connectors to connect the upper tail fiber type SC for interconnecting devices with the intervention of remote telecommunication nodes. Most current configurations include LC-LC, SC-SC, ST-ST, E2000-E2000, LC-SC, LC-ST and LC-E2000.

What are the available lengths of the fiber optic patch cord?

Jumper length mainly affects attenuation. The attenuation value of multi-mode fiber is 3.5 dB/km. We accept custom requests.

What are the effects of the optical fiber jumper on the transmission system?

Because the transmission system is designed to use optical fibers as the primary medium for carrying data streams and for interconnecting telecommunications equipment, the system architect must consider the insertion losses of passive components: Fiber Optic Patch Cord attenuation is proportional to its length, and the attenuator supplied with the fiber quick connector acts as a compensator.

It is important to reply on the properties of these components in order to perform the correct work in an optical system. Optical fiber jumpers do not maintain fiber quality, and connectors deteriorate over time.