Comparison Between Twisted Pair Cable, Coaxial Cable and Fiber Optic Cable

In a communication system, a wire or cable is usually used to connect transmitting and receiving devices. Currently in the market, there are mainly three types of cables deployed in communication systems, which are twisted pair cables, coaxial cables and fiber optic cables. Each type has been widely utilized and applied in different applications. What's the difference between these three kinds of cables? This article will make a comparison between them.

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FiberstoreWhitePaper|ComparisonBetweenTwistedPairCable,CoaxialCableandFiberOpticCable
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Inacommunicationsystem,awireorcableisusuallyusedtoconnecttransmittingandreceiving
devices.Currentlyinthemarket,therearemainlythreetypesofcablesdeployedincommunication
systems,whicharetwistedpaircables,coaxialcablesandfiberopticcables.Eachtypehasbeen
widelyutilizedandappliedindifferentapplications.What'sthedifferencebetweenthesethree
kindsofcables?Thisarticlewillmakeacomparisonbetweenthem.
TwistedPairCables
Twistedpaircableconsistsofapairofinsulatedwirestwistedtogether,whichhasbeenadaptedin
thefieldoftelecommunicationforalongtime.Withthecabletwistingtogether,ithelpstoreduce
noisefromoutsidesourcesandcrosstalkonmulti-paircables.Basically,twistedpaircablecanbe
dividedintotwotypes:unshieldedtwisted-pair(UTP)cableandshieldedtwisted-pair(STP)cable.
UTPcable,suchasdatacommunicationcablesandnormaltelephonecables,servesasthemost
commonlyusedcabletypewithmerelytwoinsulatedwirestwistedtogether.STPcable
distinguishesitselffromUTPcableinthatitincludesafoiljacketwhichhelpstopreventcrosstalk
andnoisefromoutsidesource.STPcableistypicallyusedtoeliminateinductiveandcapacitive
coupling,anditcanbeappliedbetweenequipment,racksandbuildings.Thetablebelowshows
severaldifferenttypesoftwistedpaircables.
CoaxialCables
Coaxialcableisatypeofhigh-frequencytransmissioncablewhichcontainsasinglesolid-copper
core.Acoaxialcablehasover80timesthetransmissioncapabilityofthetwisted-paircable.Coaxial
cablesarecommonlyusedtodelivertelevisionsignalsandtoconnectcomputersinanetworkas
ComparisonBetweenTwistedPairCable,
CoaxialCableandFiberOpticCable

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well.Therearemainlytwokindsofcoaxialcables:75Ohmcoaxialcableand50Ohmcoaxialcable.
75Ohmcoaxialcable
Theprimaryuseof75Ohmcoaxialcablesistotransmitvideosignals.Onetypicalapplicationof75
Ohmcoaxialcableistotransmittelevisionsignalsovercable,whichiswhysometimesitiscalled
signalfeedcables.ThemostcommonconnectortypeusedinthisapplicationisaTypeF.Another
applicationisvideosignalsbetweencomponents,suchasDVDplayers,VCRsorreceiverscommonly
knownasaudio/video(A/V)cables.Inthiscase,BNCandRCAconnectorsareoftenfound.Inboth
applications,RG59withbothsolidcenterconductor(RG59B/U)andstrandedcenterconductor
(RG59A/U)aswellasRG6arecommonchoices.
50Ohmcoaxialcable
Theprimaryuseof50Ohmcoaxialcablesisthetransmissionofdatasignalsinatwo-way
communicationsystem.Severalcommonapplicationsfor50Ohmcoaxialcablesarecomputer
ethernetbackbones,wirelessantennafeedcables,GPS(GlobalPositioningSatellite)antennafeed
cablesandcellphonesystems.
FiberOpticCables
Computinganddatacommunicationsarefast-developingtechnologies.Tomeetthetransmissionof

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FiberstoreWhitePaper|ComparisonBetweenTwistedPairCable,CoaxialCableandFiberOpticCable
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ever-increasingdatarates,therecomesanewgenerationoftransmissionmedium,whichisfiber
opticcable.Fiberopticcabletransmitsinformationusingbeamsoflightatlightspeedratherthan
pulsesofelectricity.Itreferstothecompleteassemblyofopticalfiber.Afiberopticcablecan
containoneormorestrandsofopticalfibertotransmitdata.Eachstrandofopticalfiberis
individuallycoatedbyplasticlayersandcontainedinaprotectivetube.Fiberopticcabletransmits
dataaspulsesoflightgothroughtinytubesofglass,thetransmissioncapacityofwhichis26,000
timeshigherthanthatoftwisted-paircable.Whencomparingwithcoaxialcables,fiberopticcables
arelighterandmorereliablefortransmittingdata.
Twowidelyusedtypesoffiberopticcablesaresingle-modefiberopticcablesandmultimodefiber
opticcables.Asingle-modeopticalfiberhasasmallcore,andonlyallowsonemodeoflightto
propagateatatime.Itisgenerallyadaptedtohighspeedandlong-distanceapplications.A
multimodeopticalfiberhasalargercorediameterthanasingle-modeopticalfiberanditis
designedtocarrymultiplelightrays,ormodesatthesametime.Itismostlyusedfor
communicationovershortdistancesbecauseofitshighcapacityandreliability,servingasa
backboneapplicationsinbuildings.Andtherearemanyconnectortypesforfiberopticcable,such
asLC,SC,STorFCconnector.Youcanchoosefiberopticcablesterminatedatbothendswiththe
sameordifferentconnectortypestoconnectdifferentdevices,likeLCSCfiberpatchcable,LCtoLC
fiberpatchcable.Therearebothsingle-modeandmultimode,andsimplxandduplexfiberoptic
patchcablesforyouroptions,suchasLCtoLCmultimodeduplexfiberopticpatchcable,LCtoSC
duplexsingle-modefiberopticpatchcable,orLCLCmultimodefiberpatchcord.
Conclusion
Asweknow,thetechnologyinthefieldofcommunicationnetworksisdevelopingrapidly.Amongall
thesethreekindsofcables,fiberopticcablesseemtohavebeenthetrendtomeettheincreasing
demandofdataratesinthemarket.However,whethertochoosetwistedpaircables,coaxialcables
orfiberopticcablesstillheavilydependsonapplications.Andotherfactors,suchasthecost,
transmissiondistanceandperformance,alsoneedtobetakenintoconsiderationwhenmakinga
choice.

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FiberstoreWhitePaper|ComparisonBetweenTwistedPairCable,CoaxialCableandFiberOpticCable
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