It is important to understand the different varieties of core characteristics that are available within the fiber optic cabling itself, as each of these different characteristics will have different effects on your ability to transmit information reliably. Have a look at the most common fiber optics cores used in the industry nowadays.

Simplex optical fiber Cable

Simplex means this cable is with only one thread of fiber optic glass inside the single core. And simplex cables are with one single outer jacket. Simplex fiber optic cable is used in applications that only require one-way data transfer. For instance, an interstate trucking scale that sends the weight of the truck to a monitoring station or an oil line monitor that sends data about oil flow to a central location. There are singlemode and simplex multimode fiber optic cable available. Single-mode simplex fiber optic cable is a great option for anyone setting up a cable network that will require data to travel in one direction over long distances. Since this type of cable only carries one ray of light at a time, it’s better for long-distance transmissions. Single-mode fiber itself has a high-carrying capacity, is very reliable, and has lower power consumption than other options.

Analog to digital data readouts, interstate highway sensor relays, and automated speed and boundary sensors (for sports applications) are all great uses of Simplex fiber optic cable. This form of fiber cable can be cheaper than Duplex cables, because less material is involved. Simplex cable is compatible with any HDMI extender.

Duplex Fiber Optic Cables

Duplex fiber cable can be regarded as two simplex cables, either single mode or multimode, having their jackets conjoined by a strip of jacket material, usually in a zipcord (side-by-side) style. Use duplex multimode or singlemode fiber optic cable for applications that require simultaneous, bi-directional data transfer(One fiber transmits data one direction; the other fiber transmits data in the opposite direction). Duplex fiber is available in singlemode and multimode.

Duplex Fiber Cable and Singlemode duplex cable alike are used for two-way data transfers. Larger workstations, switches, servers, and major networking hardware tends to require duplex fiber optic cable. Duplex cables can be more expensive than Simplex cables, and are compatible with any HDMI extender.

Simplex and duplex are with various cable structure types; they are different from single mode and multi mode which are related to fiber optic glass types.

Multi Fiber Cables

Both multi fiber cables and simplex cables are with a single outer jacket, but simplex only has one thread fiber glass inside the core, while multi fiber has many threads of fiber optic glass inside the core. For example, an 8-core multi fiber cable. There are ribbon type and bundle type multi fiber cables.

Single-mode fiber cables and multi-mode fiber cables are similar in many ways, with the main difference being that the glass center of single-mode cables is significantly smaller, at about 10 microns in diameter. The smaller size is what allows these cables to transmit data up to 40 miles with a bandwidth of 1Gbs.

Only need a simplex fiber cable if data will be traveling in one direction, such as with a security camera or truck weigh station. And if your data will be traveling a long distance – for instance between buildings or from one station to another – then you’re better off with a single-mode fiber cable.