Optical Communications Questions and Answers Part-11

1. When optical fibers are to be installed in a working environment, the most important parameter to be considered is?
a) Transmission property of the fiber
b) Mechanical property of the fiber
c) Core cladding ratio of the fiber
d) Numerical aperture of the fiber

Answer: b
Explanation: Nowadays, optical fibers are used alternatively to electric transmission lines. They are installed safely and maintained in all environments including underground areas. This requires mechanical strengthening of fibers in order to ensure proper transmission.

2. It is not important to cover these optical fibers required for transmission.
a) True
b) False

Answer: b
Explanation: Unprotected optical fibers have number of losses regarding its strength and durability. Bare glass fibers are brittle and have small cross-section area that makes them highly susceptible to damages while handling and maintenance. Thus, to improve tensile strength, optical fibers should be covered by surrounding them with number of protective layers.

3. Optical fibers for communication use are mostly fabricated from ___________
a) Plastic
b) Silica or multicomponent glass
c) Ceramics
d) Copper

Answer: b
Explanation: Silica or a compound of glass are brittle and have almost perfect elasticity until reaching their breaking point. Strength of these materials is high. Thus, optical fibers are fabricated from these materials.

4. Which statistics are used for calculations of strengths of optical fibers?
a) Edwin statistics
b) Newton statistics
c) Wei-bull statistics
d) Gamma statistics

Answer: c
Explanation: Calculations of strengths are conducted using Wei-bull statistics in case of optical fibers. It describes the strength behavior of a system that is dependent on the weakest link of the system. The Wei-bull statistics gives the probability of failure of the optical fiber at a given strength.

5. Stress corrosion must be considered while designing and testing optical fiber cables.
a) True
b) False

Answer: a
Explanation: Stress corrosion means growth of flaws due to stress and water. This occurs as a result of molecular bonds at the tip of crack being attacked by water. Hence, it is important to have a protection against water to avoid stress corrosion.

6. The cable must be designed such that the strain on the fiber in the cable does not exceed __________
a) 0.002%
b) 0.01%
c) 0.2%
d) 0.160%

Answer: c
Explanation: The constraints included in cable design are stability, protection, strength and jointing of the fibers. The fiber cable does not get affected if the strain exerted on it is below 0.2%. Although, it is suggested that the permanent strain on the fiber should be less than 0.1%.

7. How many categories exists in case of cable design?
a) Two
b) Three
c) One
d) Foue

Answer: b
Explanation: Cable design is separated into three categories. They are fiber buffering, cable structural and strength and cable sheath and water barrier. After successfully going through these tests, an optical cable is designed.

8. How many types of buffer jackets are used in fiber buffering?
a) Three
b) One
c) Two
d) Four

Answer: a
Explanation: The buffer jacket is designed to protect the fiber from micro-bending losses. There are three types of buffer jackets used in fiber buffering. They are tight buffer jackets, loose tube buffer jackets and filled loose tube buffer jacket.

9. Loose tube buffer jackets exhibits a low resistance to movement of the fiber.
a) True
b) False

Answer: a
Explanation: Loose tube buffering is achieved by using a hard, smooth, flexible material in the form of extruded tube. The buffer tube is smooth from inside. Thus, it exhibits a low resistance to movement of the fiber. Also, it can be easily stripped for jointing or fiber termination.

10. An inclusion of one or more structural members in an optical fiber so as to serve as a cable core foundation around which the buffer fibers may be wrapped is called _____________
a) Attenuation
b) Splicing
c) Buffering
d) Stranding

Answer: d
Explanation: Optical fiber is made structurally stronger by adding one or more strength members. The core fiber is trapped with buffered fibers or they are slotted in the core foundation. This approach is called as stranding.