Guest Posting from Corning Optical Communications
OM5, previously known as wide band multimode fiber or WB MMF, has been quite the hot-button topic as the standards have been widely debated and are now finally concrete.
So what is OM5 exactly? Most simply, it’s a version of the OM4 fiber with additional bandwidth characterization at 953 nm.
But of course, that’s not all.
What’s new in standards?
Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) initiated a workgroup in October 2014 to develop guidance for a wide band multimode fiber (WBMMF) 50/125 μm standard to support short wavelength division multiplexing (SWDM) transmission. The TIA-492AAAE Standard was published in June 2016. The IEC WB MMF standard is anticipated to be completed by early 2017.
What is different about OM5?
The OM5 optical and mechanical attributes are compliant with OM4 50/125 μm specifications and include the additional specifications of effective modal bandwidth and attenuation at 953 nm. WB MMF is intended for operation using vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) transceivers across the 846 to 953 nm wavelength range.
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