• A Hybrid Conference – In-Person and Virtual Presentations
  • Technical Conference:  24 – 28 March 2024
  • Exhibition: 26 – 28 March 2024
  • San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, California, USA

Short Courses

SC465 - Transmission Fiber and Cables

Monday, 25 March
09:00 - 12:00 (Pacific Time (US & Canada), UTC - 08:00)

Short Course Level: Advanced Beginner

Instructor:

John Hedgpeth, Corning Optical Communications, USA
 

Short Course Description:

With over 3 billion kilometers of transmission optical fiber deployed world-wide, and many hundreds of millions of kilometers being added annually to support the ever-increasing demand for bandwidth, the future has never looked brighter for optical networking. Optical fiber cable has long served as the backbone for long distance high-bit-rate networks, and over the past ten years has been become the preferred technology for many network operators to enable “last-mile” connections to homes and businesses. Additionally, the drive to cloud services has resulted in large scale investments in hyper-scale data centers which rely on specialized optical fiber cables to connect servers and routers, as well as to interconnect the data centers themselves.

This short course will discuss the fundamentals of optical fiber production methods as well as provide some insight into the history of optical fiber and the physical principles which enable an optical fiber to be such a capable medium for communications. We will address the different categories of transmission of optical fibers that have been deployed, as well as dive into the newer fibers that have evolved to meet the challenges of today’s network deployments. A focus of this short course will also be on the cabling options, standards and performance considerations for various environments and the trade-offs that may exist for different cable types.

Short Course Benefits:

This course will enable you to:

  • Describe the motivation for the invention and initial applications of optical fiber cables for telecommunications
  • Understand at a high level the key optical physics principles that enable optical fiber to function as the backbone of high speed communications
  • Explain the different manufacturing processes and steps used in the fabrication of optical fiber, as well as the primary performance attributes for many optical networking applications
  • Appreciate the relevant specified optical fiber attributes and their importance to network performance
  • Compare the different transmission optical fiber types and their associated ITU-T standards, and intended uses
  • Provide an overview on the primary optical cable types and their relevant applications in transmission networks from the LAN to trans-oceanic
  • List the important performance elements and specifications and where they are applied for optical fiber cables to ensure successful deployments and longevity
  • Discuss future trends in optical fiber cable technology
  • Short Course Audience:
  • This interactive course is intended for those with an interest in the fundamental physical building block of any optical network, the optical fiber cable. No prior knowledge of optical fiber, cable or networking required.
Short Course Audience:

This course is intended for the technical community seeking to understand the basics of optical fiber and cable for typical telecommunications systems, focusing on products which are standards-compliant and have the broadest application.  The course will cover single-mode and multi-mode fiber as well as submarine and other high data rate fibers.  In addition to specific fiber attributes, the course will also describe typical cable designs to protect fibers from the stresses encountered in the service environment.  Note that SC208 “Optical Fiber Design for Telecommunications and Specialty Applications” has similar background topics but focuses on tailoring the properties of optical fiber for specific uses.

Instructor Biography:

John Hedgpeth is Worldwide Applications Engineering Manager at Corning, supporting optical fiber products. John has held several positions during his 10-year tenure at Corning, including manufacturing support, quality management and product line management for submarine optical fiber. In addition to his work at Corning, John’s career has allowed for experiences in process engineering, research, and product management, all gained through working in the electronic components industry. John holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from NC State University.