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OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4 and OS2 Over Different Networks

When selecting fiber optic cables or fiber optic patch cords, the factor that you must consider is the fiber type. The most commonly used fiber type in today’s network are multimode fiber optic and single-mode fiber optic. The multimode optical fiber can be further divided into OM1, OM2, OM3 and OM4. For single-mode fiber optic, there are generally two types—OS1 and OS2. Among these different types of fibers, OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4 and OS2 are the most commonly used one.

 what are OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4 and OS2: OM3 and OS2 patch cords

Fiber Type Is Important to Fiber Optic Network Performance

Apparently different types of the optical fibers provide different performances. Multimode fibers are typically used for inside building or short transmission distances. OM1 and OM2 are the older generation of multimode optical fibers with work well over fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet. However, with the appearance of 10G, 40G and 100G Ethernet coming into being, OM1 and OM2 can no longer provide performance as well as fast Ethernet or Gigabit Ethernet and can not satisfy the transmission distance requirements. That’s why OM3 and OM4 are created. Similarly, the appearance of OS2 is also well explained.

Basic Difference of OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4 and OS2

Generally, OM1 fiber optic cable comes with an orange jacket and has a core size of 62.5 micrometers and is usually used for Gigabit Ethernet transmission in short-haul networks, Local Area Network, and Private Network. OM2 has the same jacket color and similar application as OM1. However, it can has a core size of 50.0 micrometers and support longer transmission distance. Both OM3 and OM4 are designed with Aqua jackets and 50.0 micrometers core size and are suggested for 10G, 40G and 100G Ethernet. Now OM1 and OM2 are gradually being replaced by OM3 and OM4. OS2 is the currently widely deployed in our fiber optic network, it has a core size of 9 micrometers.

Specific Performance of OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4 and OS2 Over Different Networks

Not matter what the structure or materials that makes these optical fibers, what we care most is the performance in fiber optic network. Especially factors like transmission distance, wavelength and data rate. For instance, the same type of fiber optic cable will have different performance when working on different data rate or wavelengths. Fiber type plays an important role in the performance of optical communication products like fiber optic transceivers, fiber media converters and DWDM/CWDM MUX/DEMUX. This part will provide several tables which offer the specific performances of the current most popular optical fibers—OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4 and OS2.

OM1 Performance

OM1 Performance
Wavelength
850 nm
1300 nm
Performance
Distances
Loss Budget(dB)
Distances
Loss Budget(dB)
Ethernet
2000m
n/s
n/s
n/s
Fast Ethernet
300m
11
2000m
11
1GbE
275m
3.6
550m
3.6
10GbE
26m
2.6
n/s
2.6
40GbE
n/s
1.9
n/s
1.9
100GbE
n/s
1.9/1.5
n/s
1.9/1.5
Typical Bandwidth
200MHz
500MHz

OM2 Performance

OM2 Performance
Wavelength
850 nm
1300 nm
Performance
Distances
Loss Budget(dB)
Distances
Loss Budget(dB)
Ethernet
2000m
n/s
n/s
n/s
Fast Ethernet
300m
11
2000m
11
1GbE
550m
3.6
550m
3.6
10GbE
82m
2.6
82m
2.6
40GbE
n/s
1.9
n/s
1.9
100GbE
n/s
1.9/1.5
n/s
1.9/1.5
Typical Bandwidth
500MHz
800MHz

OM3 Performance

OM3 Performance
Wavelength
850 nm
1300 nm
Performance
Distances
Loss Budget(dB)
Distances
Loss Budget(dB)
Ethernet
2000m
n/s
n/s
n/s
Fast Ethernet
300m
11
2000m
11
1GbE
550m
3.6
550m
3.6
10GbE
300m
2.6
300m
2.6
40GbE
100m
1.9
n/s
1.9
100GbE
100m
1.9/1.5
n/s
1.9/1.5
Typical Bandwidth
1500MHz
500MHz

OM4 Performance

OM4 Performance
Wavelength
850 nm
1300 nm
Performance
Distances
Loss Budget(dB)
Distances
Loss Budget(dB)
Ethernet
n/s
n/s
n/s
n/s
Fast Ethernet
n/s
11
n/s
11
1GbE
550m
3.6
550m
3.6
10GbE
550m
2.6
550m
2.6
40GbE
150m
1.9
n/s
1.9
100GbE
150m
1.9/1.5
n/s
1.9/1.5
Typical Bandwidth
3500MHz
500MHz

OS2 Performance

OS2 Performance
Wavelength
1310 nm
1550 nm
Performance
Distances
Loss Budget(dB)
Distances
Loss Budget(dB)
Ethernet
n/s
n/s
n/s
n/s
Fast Ethernet
n/s
11
n/s
11
1GbE
5000m
3.6
n/s
3.6
10GbE
10000m
2.6
40000m
2.6
40GbE
10000m
1.9
40000m
1.9
100GbE
10000m
1.9/1.5
40000m
1.9/1.5
Typical Bandwidth
n/a
n/a

Kindly contact sale@fs.com or visit FS.COM for more details about OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4 and OS2.

Related Articles: Migrating to 40/100G With OM3/OM4 Fiber
                               Single Mode vs Multimode Fiber: What’s the Difference?

OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4: Standardization of Multi-mode Fiber Optic Cables

Standardization in fiber optic industry is one of the most confusing areas for people who involved in the business. “OM” terminology in fiber optic technology is new to both users and fiber optic manufacturers. The letters “OM” stand for optical multi-mode, which is marked multi-mode optical fiber specifications. There are four standards in fiber optic terminology: OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4. This post is going to illustrate what they are.

According to ISO 11801 standard, multi-mode fiber cables are described using a system of classification determined by OM1, OM2, and OM3. OM4 is a laser-optimized, high bandwidth 50µm multi-mode fiber. In August of 2009, TIA/EIA approved and released 492AAAD, which defines the performance criteria for this grade of optical fiber. While they developed the original “OM” designations, IEC has not yet released an approved equivalent standard that will eventually be documented as fiber type A1a.3 in IEC 60793-2-10.

OM1 cable typically comes with an orange jacket and has a core size of 62.5 micrometers (µm). It can support 10 Gigabit Ethernet at lengths up 33 meters. It is most commonly used for 100 Megabit Ethernet applications.

OM2 also has a suggested jacket color of orange. Its core size is 50µm instead of 62.5µm. It supports 10 Gigabit Ethernet at lengths up to 82 meters but is more commonly used for 1 Gigabit Ethernet applications.

OM3 has a suggested jacket color of aqua. Like OM2, its core size is 50µm, but the cable is optimized for laser based equipment that uses fewer modes of light. As a result of this optimization, it is capable of running 10 Gigabit Ethernet at lengths up to 300 meters. Since its inception, production techniques have improved the overall capabilities of OM3 to enable its use with 40 Gigabit and 100 Gigabit Ethernet up to 100 meters. 10 Gigabit Ethernet is its most common use.

OM4 also has a suggested jacket color of aqua. It is a further improvement to OM3. It uses a 50µm core but supports 10 Gigabit Ethernet at lengths up 550 meters and it supports 100 Gigabit Ethernet at lengths up to 150 meters.

OM 1234

Higher bandwidth requirements have accelerated 40 and 100 Gb/s applications. OM4 effectively provides an additional layer of performance that supports these applications at longer distances, thereby limiting the number of installations truly require OS2 single-mode fiber. OM4 can provide a minimum reach of 125m over multi-mode fiber within the 40 and 100 GbE standards.

Standardization of OM used not only for fiber optic cables but also fiber patch cables. Multi-mode 50 125 duplex fiber patch cable LC-LC provides 10 gigabit data transfer speeds in high bandwidth applications via 50/125µm laser-optimized OM4 fiber. They are 5 times faster than standard 50um fiber cable and work with both VCSEL laser and LED sources.