Summary
Multi-mode optical fiber is a type of optical fiber mostly used for communication over short distances, such as within a building or on a campus. Multi-mode links can be used for data rates up to 100 Gbit/s. Multi-mode fiber has a fairly large core diameter that enables multiple light modes to be propagated and limits the maximum length of a transmission link because of modal dispersion. The standard G.651.1 defines the most widely used forms of multi-mode optical fiber. The equipment used for communications over multi-mode optical fiber is less expensive than that for single-mode optical fiber. Typical transmission speed and distance limits are 100 Mbit/s for distances up to 2 km (100BASE-FX), 1 Gbit/s up to 1000 m, and 10 Gbit/s up to 550 m. Because of its high capacity and reliability, multi-mode optical fiber generally is used for backbone applications in buildings. An increasing number of users are taking the benefits of fiber closer to the user by running fiber to the desktop or to the zone. Standards-compliant architectures such as Centralized Cabling and fiber to the telecom enclosure offer users the ability to leverage the distance capabilities of fiber by centralizing electronics in telecommunications rooms, rather than having active electronics on each floor. Multi-mode fiber is used for transporting light signals to and from miniature fiber optic spectroscopy equipment (spectrometers, sources, and sampling accessories) and was instrumental in the development of the first portable spectrometer. Multi-mode fiber is also used when high optical powers are to be carried through an optical fiber, such as in laser welding. The main difference between multi-mode and single-mode optical fiber is that the former has much larger core diameter, typically 50–100 micrometers; much larger than the wavelength of the light carried in it. Because of the large core and also the possibility of large numerical aperture, multi-mode fiber has higher "light-gathering" capacity than single-mode fiber.
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