User guide

ManualsBrandsMagenta ManualsComputer equipmentVoyager

Installation

INSTALLATION AND USER GUIDE 21

Fiber-Optic Cable Terminology

Whenspecifyingandusingfiber‐opticcableandsystems,oftenthereisconsiderableconfusionsurrounding

variouscommontermsrelatingtothem.

Single‐ModevsMulti‐Mode:

ThesetermsrefertotheTYPEandSIZEofglassfiber.Specifically,howtheglassfiber‐opticcoreis

manufactured.Bothtypeshaveanouter

(buffer)diameterofapproximately125microns,andanouter

protectivejacketstructure.Fortypicalfiber‐opticcables,multi‐modeandsingle‐modefiberhavethefollowing

generalfeatures:

Multi‐modefiber:

 Fibercorediameter:50or62.5micronsindiameter.Outerbufferdiameteristypically125microns.

 Fiber

qualityratings:OM4iscurrentlytherecommendedbestquality.Lowergrades,OM3,OM2and

evenOM1,canlikelystillfunctionwithVoyager,thoughwithreducedextensioncapability.

 Extensiondistanceismoreafunctionoffiberqualityrating,notfiberloss(dBlosspermeter).Signal

qualitydegrades(signaldistortionincreases)

morequicklythantherateatwhichlightisattenuated.

 Patchcordsandotherfiber‐to‐fibercouplingmethodswillcertainlyintroducesomeadditionalsignal

distortionandlosseswhichmustbeaccountedfor.

 TypicalextensionrangeforVoyager,usingasinglelengthofhighqualityOM4cableis

2km.

 Multi‐modefiberoptictransceiversaregenerallymuchlessexpensivethansingle‐modeoptics.

Single‐modefiber:

 Fibercorediameter:9micronsindiameter.Outerbufferdiameteristypically125microns.

 Fiberqualityratings:OS1iscurrentlytherecommendedbestquality.Lowergrades,suchasungraded

single

‐modefiber,canlikelystillfunctionwithVoyager,thoughwithreducedextensioncapability.

 ExtensiondistanceismoreafunctionoffiberdBlossratingnotfiberquality.Signalintegrityis

maintainedfairlywellwithSMfiber–butthedBlossinopticalpoweristheprimarylimitfor

extension

distance.

 Patchcordsandotherfiber‐to‐fibercouplingmethodswillcertainlyintroduceadditionaldBsignal

losseswhichmustbeaccountedfor.

 TypicalextensionrangeforVoyager,usingasinglelengthofhighqualityOS2cableis4km(withshort‐

rangeSM4Koptics)or30km(withlong‐range

SM30Koptics)

 Single‐modefiberoptictransceiversaregenerallymuchmoreexpensivethanmulti‐modeoptics.

Itcanbedifficulttodeterminevisuallywhetherthefiber‐coreisthesingle‐ormulti‐modetype.Primarily,the

mostreliablemeansofcheckingthetypeistorefertothejacket

color,LC‐connectorcolor,andprintingonthe

outerjacketofthefiber‐opticcable.Itshouldalwaysidentifythemanufacturer’snameandseriesormodel

numberofthecablematerial.

SimplexvsDuplex:

ThesetermsnoNOTrefertothetypeofglassfiber,onlywhetheryouuseasingle

ordualfibercableto

interconnectVoyagerunits.InaSimplexsystemconfiguration,asinglefiberisusedbetweenatransmitterand

receiver.Thisallowsvideo,audioandserialdatatobesenttothereceiver;however,therecanbenoreturn

traffic(suchasupstream‐serialdataorEDID

data).WhileSimplexmodehassomelimitations,itisagood

solutionforthoseapplicationsthatmustuseonly1fiber(foravarietyofreasons),orsimplydon’tneedthe

extrafunctionalitythataDuplexconnectionoffers.

InaDuplexsystemconfiguration,adual‐fiber,alsocalledtwin‐fiber,between

atransmitterandreceiver.This

allowsvideo,audioandserialdatatobesenttothereceiver,andalsosupportupstreamtrafficsuchasserial

dataandEDIDdata.Itisalsomorerobustandsecureintermsofmanagingandmonitoringreceiversandtheir

attacheddisplays.