Multimode Fiber Cables: OM1,OM2,OM3, OM4,OM5
Multimode Fiber Cables: OM1,OM2,OM3, OM4,OM5
Apr 26 , 2021Either single mode fiber or multimode fiber for the fiber optic cabling projects/needs,we also know,singlemode enables one type of light mode to be propagated at a time, multimode is an optical fiber cable that allows the light impulses emitted to travel in two separate paths known as “modes”.
Multimode fiber is a common choice to achieve 10 Gbit/s speed over distances required by LAN enterprise and data center applications. There are several kinds of multimode fiber types available for high-speed network installations, and each with a different reach and data-rate capability.There are 5 grades of multimode fiber: OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4, and now OM5. What exactly makes them different?
What Is Multimode Fiber?
Multimode cable has a large-diameter core that lets multiple modes of light pass through it. This means that more types of data can be transmitted. Multimode comes in two core sizes and five varieties: 62.5-micron OM1, 50-micron OM2, 50-micron OM3, 50-micron OM4 and 50-micron OM5. (OM stands for "optical mode".)
How Many Types of Multimode Fiber?
Identified by ISO 11801 standard, multimode fiber optic cables can be classified into OM1 fiber, OM2 fiber, OM3 fiber, OM4 fiber and newly released OM5 fiber.
What are the benefits of multimode fiber?
- Multimode cables are less expensive to operate, install, and maintain.
- High speed and high bandwidth over short distances.
- Allow several mode optical signals to be transmitted at once.
Where is multimode fiber used?
This application is typically used for short distance, data and audio/video applications in LANs. RF broadband signals, such as what cable companies commonly use, cannot be transmitted over multimode fiber. Above: Multimode fiber is usually 50/125 and 62.5/125 in construction.
What is the difference between OM1,OM2,OM3,OM4?
The OM stands for optical multi-mode.OM1, OM2, OM3 and OM4 represent different generations of multimode fiber (MMF).
OM1 is 62.5µm core diameter, while OM2, OM3 and OM4 are 50µm core diameter.
OM2 is considered standard 50µm MMF, while OM3 and OM4 fibers are laser-optimized multimode fibers (LOMMF). ... OM1 MMF is generally defined by an orange jacket.
Now OM3 and OM4 have been around for years but OM4 was just recently ratified in 2009. The difference between OM3 and OM4 fiber is bandwidth - 2,500 megahertz versus 4,700 megahertz. What this translates to is longer transmission distances for the OM4 fiber.
OM5 is the first approved as WBMMF (Wide Band Multimode Fiber) is designed to specifically handle high-speed data center applications with using two fibers to transmit from 40GBs up to 100GBs and is powered by shortwave wavelength division multiplexing (SWDM).
Physical Difference
Physical difference mainly lies in diameter, jacket color, optical source and bandwidth, which is described in the following table.
| MMF Cable Type | Diameter | Jacket Color | Optical Source | Bandwidth |
| OM1 | 62.5/125µm | Orange | LED | 200MHz*km |
| OM2 | 50/125µm | Orange | LED | 500MHz*km |
| OM3 | 50/125µm | Aqua | VSCEL | 2000MHz*km |
| OM4 | 50/125µm | Aqua | VSCEL | 4700MHz*km |
| OM5 | 50/125µm | Lime Green | VSCEL | 28000MHz*km |
Practical Difference
Multimode fibers are able to transmit different distance ranges at various data rate. You can choose the most suited one according to your actual application. The max multimode fiber distance comparison at different data rate is specified below.
| MMF Category | Fast Ethernet | 1GbE | 10GbE | 40GbE | 100GbE |
| OM1 | 2000m | 275m | 33m | / | / |
| OM2 | 2000m | 550m | 82m | / | / |
| OM3 | 2000m | / | 300m | 100m | 70m |
| OM4 | 2000m | / | 550m | 150m | 150m |
| OM5 | / | / | 550m | 150m | 150m |
Due to its high capacity and reliability, multimode fiber is usually used for backbone applications in buildings. In general, mmf cable continues to be the most cost-effective choice for enterprise and data center applications up to the 500-600 meter range. But it’s not to say that we can substitute single mode fiber with multimode fiber cable, as for whether to choose a single mode fiber patch cord or multimode patch cord, it all depends on applications that you need, transmission distance to be covered as well as the overall budget allowed.
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