<s>
ClearCurve	B-Device
is	O
Corning	O
's	O
brand	O
name	O
for	O
a	O
new	O
optical	B-Architecture
fiber	I-Architecture
that	O
can	O
be	O
bent	O
around	O
short-radius	O
curves	O
without	O
losing	O
its	O
signal	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ClearCurve	B-Device
is	O
hundreds	O
of	O
times	O
more	O
flexible	O
than	O
conventional	O
optical	O
cable	O
,	O
transmitting	O
high-quality	O
signals	O
even	O
when	O
wrapped	O
around	O
small	O
objects	O
like	O
a	O
pen	O
,	O
where	O
a	O
conventional	O
cable	O
would	O
lose	O
the	O
signal	O
completely	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
originally	O
introduced	O
to	O
serve	O
the	O
needs	O
of	O
pulling	O
fiber	O
in	O
apartment	O
buildings	O
and	O
other	O
high-density	O
units	O
where	O
conventional	O
fiber	O
is	O
too	O
inflexible	O
,	O
in	O
2009	O
Intel	O
announced	O
their	O
intention	O
to	O
use	O
it	O
as	O
the	O
basis	O
of	O
a	O
new	O
computer	O
interconnect	B-General_Concept
system	O
code-named	O
Light	B-Protocol
Peak	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
ClearCurve	B-Device
's	O
small	O
size	O
and	O
high	O
bandwidth	O
capabilities	O
offer	O
great	O
improvements	O
over	O
existing	O
copper	O
wiring	O
in	O
this	O
role	O
,	O
and	O
Intel	O
is	O
positioning	O
Light	B-Protocol
Peak	I-Protocol
as	O
a	O
truly	O
universal	O
bus	O
that	O
can	O
carry	O
any	O
existing	O
traffic	O
over	O
a	O
single	O
cable	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Conventional	O
optical	B-Architecture
fiber	I-Architecture
consists	O
of	O
a	O
thin	O
inner	O
cylindrical	O
core	O
of	O
glass	O
or	O
plastic	O
with	O
a	O
similar	O
material	O
layered	O
in	O
a	O
thin	O
coating	O
around	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Even	O
cables	O
designed	O
to	O
be	O
flexible	O
,	O
like	O
TOSLINK	B-Protocol
,	O
are	O
less	O
flexible	O
than	O
a	O
similar	O
sized	O
braided	O
copper	O
cable	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
signals	O
are	O
then	O
converted	O
into	O
other	O
forms	O
at	O
the	O
company	O
end	B-Device
offices	I-Device
,	O
and	O
distributed	O
from	O
there	O
in	O
some	O
other	O
form	O
,	O
typically	O
telephone	O
wiring	O
or	O
coax	O
cable	O
in	O
the	O
case	O
of	O
cable	O
television	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
the	O
1990s	O
there	O
has	O
been	O
an	O
ongoing	O
effort	O
to	O
supply	O
fiber	B-Architecture
to	I-Architecture
the	I-Architecture
home	I-Architecture
(	O
FTTH	B-Architecture
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ClearCurve	B-Device
fibers	O
are	O
constructed	O
in	O
a	O
fashion	O
similar	O
to	O
existing	O
cables	O
,	O
starting	O
with	O
a	O
traditional	O
glass	O
fiber	O
in	O
the	O
center	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ClearCurve	B-Device
then	O
adds	O
a	O
third	O
layer	O
to	O
the	O
sandwich	O
,	O
a	O
plastic	O
sheath	O
that	O
is	O
infused	O
with	O
microscopic	O
reflectors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
corners	O
of	O
tight	O
bends	O
,	O
the	O
reflectors	O
serve	O
to	O
increase	O
the	O
amount	O
of	O
signal	O
retained	O
within	O
the	O
cable	O
,	O
allowing	O
ClearCurve	B-Device
to	O
be	O
hundreds	O
of	O
times	O
more	O
flexible	O
than	O
conventional	O
cables	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
conventional	O
fibers	O
,	O
ClearCurve	B-Device
does	O
not	O
have	O
to	O
be	O
held	O
straight	O
,	O
and	O
therefore	O
eliminates	O
the	O
armour	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Lacking	O
armour	O
,	O
there	O
is	O
no	O
lower	O
limit	O
to	O
the	O
size	O
of	O
a	O
ClearCurve	B-Device
cable	O
,	O
which	O
can	O
be	O
as	O
small	O
as	O
a	O
single	O
fiber	O
,	O
although	O
normally	O
they	O
contain	O
two	O
fibres	O
,	O
one	O
upstream	O
and	O
one	O
down	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Two-fiber	O
ClearCurve	B-Device
cables	O
are	O
smaller	O
than	O
the	O
wire	O
on	O
a	O
typical	O
computer	B-Device
mouse	I-Device
,	O
yet	O
the	O
high-performance	O
single-mode	O
versions	O
carry	O
25Gbit/s	O
over	O
long	O
lengths	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
video	O
demonstration	O
,	O
Corning	O
showed	O
a	O
ClearCurve	B-Device
drop	O
cable	O
being	O
wrapped	O
dozens	O
of	O
times	O
around	O
a	O
small	O
metal	O
rod	O
,	O
and	O
suffering	O
almost	O
no	O
signal	O
loss	O
and	O
providing	O
a	O
perfect	O
video	O
feed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ClearCurve	B-Device
is	O
the	O
end	O
result	O
of	O
a	O
Corning	O
research	O
project	O
looking	O
for	O
products	O
better	O
tailored	O
to	O
the	O
fiber	B-Architecture
to	I-Architecture
the	I-Architecture
home	I-Architecture
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Running	O
since	O
1988	O
at	O
their	O
Sullivan	O
Park	O
research	O
center	O
in	O
New	O
York	O
,	O
Corning	O
announced	O
ClearCurve	B-Device
at	O
a	O
press	O
event	O
on	O
19	O
September	O
2007	O
and	O
showed	O
it	O
publicly	O
at	O
the	O
FTTH	B-Architecture
Conference	O
later	O
that	O
month	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Using	O
ClearCurve	B-Device
,	O
a	O
FTTH	B-Architecture
installation	O
can	O
use	O
existing	O
armoured	O
cabling	O
to	O
deliver	O
the	O
signal	O
to	O
a	O
utility	O
room	O
,	O
then	O
connect	O
individual	O
ClearCurve	B-Device
cables	O
to	O
the	O
fibers	O
in	O
the	O
bundle	O
for	O
distribution	O
within	O
the	O
building	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
sort	O
of	O
installation	O
dramatically	O
simplifies	O
the	O
overall	O
complexity	O
of	O
FTTH	B-Architecture
wiring	O
in	O
multi-unit	O
dwellings	O
,	O
eliminating	O
both	O
the	O
large	O
coax	O
cabling	O
and	O
the	O
need	O
to	O
convert	O
formats	O
from	O
light	O
to	O
electrical	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
were	O
quickly	O
forthcoming	O
;	O
announced	O
in	O
September	O
,	O
only	O
a	O
month	O
later	O
an	O
official	O
press	O
release	O
announced	O
that	O
Connexion	O
Technologies	O
would	O
be	O
using	O
ClearCurve	B-Device
on	O
30	O
November	O
2007	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
comparison	O
,	O
multi-mode	B-Device
have	O
wider	O
cores	O
that	O
are	O
easier	O
to	O
connect	O
to	O
and	O
can	O
be	O
effectively	O
driven	O
by	O
lower-cost	O
devices	O
like	O
solid-state	O
IR	O
lasers	O
or	O
vertical-cavity	O
surface-emitting	O
lasers	O
(	O
VCSELs	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Multi-mode	B-Device
fiber	I-Device
found	O
some	O
uses	O
in	O
high-performance	B-Architecture
computing	I-Architecture
applications	O
,	O
notably	O
the	O
Fibre	B-Architecture
Channel	I-Architecture
system	O
for	O
high	O
speed	O
disks	O
and	O
some	O
parallel	B-Operating_System
computing	I-Operating_System
interconnection	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fiber	O
has	O
found	O
one	O
consumer	O
use	O
,	O
the	O
TOSLINK	B-Protocol
cable	O
used	O
in	O
digital	O
audio	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
role	O
uses	O
lower	O
quality	O
multi-mode	B-Device
plastic	O
fibre	O
with	O
limited	O
bandwidth	O
,	O
about	O
125Mbit/s	O
,	O
driven	O
by	O
red	O
LEDs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
advances	O
in	O
computers	O
have	O
demanded	O
ever	O
increasing	O
bandwidth	O
,	O
and	O
modern	O
computer	B-General_Concept
bus	I-General_Concept
systems	O
are	O
quickly	O
reaching	O
their	O
limits	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
was	O
some	O
discussion	O
of	O
moving	O
to	O
optical	B-Architecture
fiber	I-Architecture
for	O
the	O
USB3	O
standard	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
decision	O
was	O
made	O
to	O
move	O
ahead	O
with	O
copper	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Corning	O
announced	O
a	O
multi-mode	B-Device
version	O
of	O
ClearCurve	B-Device
cabling	O
on	O
13	O
January	O
2009	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
it	O
was	O
mentioned	O
only	O
in	O
passing	O
,	O
Intel	O
's	O
new	O
Light	B-Protocol
Peak	I-Protocol
interconnection	O
system	O
uses	O
ClearCurve	B-Device
cabling	O
as	O
its	O
basis	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Light	B-Protocol
Peak	I-Protocol
uses	O
a	O
two-fiber	O
cable	O
running	O
at	O
10Gbit/s	O
in	O
both	O
directions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
most	O
optical	O
connection	O
systems	O
,	O
Light	B-Protocol
Peak	I-Protocol
is	O
being	O
designed	O
to	O
allow	O
daisy-chaining	O
and	O
supply	O
power	O
through	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
coaxial	O
copper	O
wires	O
.	O
</s>
