Fibercore, a UK-based provider of specialty optical fibre, has developed a new capability for the fabrication of multicore fibres. The standard product used for demonstration has four cores, but the fabrication method allows for virtually any practical configuration, spacing and number of cores.
In the telecoms sector, multicore fibers can be used to reduce the amount of space required and increase the bandwidth of cables used in datacentres and exchanges.
Data cables can be reduced in size by having, for instance, eight cores within one fibre. This would replace the existing technology from an eight-fibre ribbon to a single-fibre cable, dramatically reducing the cross-sectional area of a cable. Alternatively, the eight fibres can be replaced by eight multicore fibres, increasing the cable bandwidth by eight times. Fibercore also offer a drilling technology to position the cores, making it possible to place virtually any core in any position within the fibre.
‘Our multicore fibre technology provides us with extreme flexibility to design what the customer needs and does not limit them to stack-and-draw design constraints’ said Dr Andy Gillooly, technical business development executive at Fibercore.