<s>
Plastic	B-Application
optical	I-Application
fiber	I-Application
(	O
POF	O
)	O
or	O
polymer	B-Application
optical	I-Application
fiber	I-Application
is	O
an	O
optical	B-Architecture
fiber	I-Architecture
that	O
is	O
made	O
out	O
of	O
polymer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Similar	O
to	O
glass	B-Architecture
optical	I-Architecture
fiber	I-Architecture
,	O
POF	O
transmits	O
light	O
(	O
for	O
illumination	O
or	O
data	O
)	O
through	O
the	O
core	O
of	O
the	O
fiber	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Its	O
chief	O
advantage	O
over	O
the	O
glass	O
product	O
,	O
other	O
aspect	O
being	O
equal	O
,	O
is	O
its	O
robustness	O
under	O
bending	O
and	O
stretching	B-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
of	O
the	O
most	B-Application
exciting	O
developments	O
in	O
polymer	O
fibers	O
has	O
been	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
microstructured	O
polymer	B-Application
optical	I-Application
fibers	I-Application
(	O
mPOF	O
)	O
,	O
a	O
type	O
of	O
photonic	B-Device
crystal	I-Device
fiber	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Traditionally	O
,	O
PMMA	O
(	O
acrylic	O
)	O
comprises	O
the	O
core	O
(	O
96%	O
of	O
the	O
cross	O
section	O
in	O
a	O
fiber	O
1mm	O
in	O
diameter	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
fluorinated	O
polymers	O
are	O
the	O
cladding	B-Device
material	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Polymer	B-Application
optical	I-Application
fibers	I-Application
are	O
typically	O
manufactured	O
using	O
extrusion	O
,	O
in	O
contrast	O
to	O
the	O
method	O
of	O
pulling	O
used	O
for	O
glass	O
fibers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Generally	O
,	O
fiber	O
cladding	B-Device
is	O
made	O
of	O
silicone	O
resin	O
(	O
refractive	O
index	O
~	O
1.46	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
High	O
refractive	O
index	O
difference	O
is	O
maintained	O
between	O
core	O
and	O
cladding	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Industry-standard	O
(	O
IEC	O
60793-2-40	O
A4a.2	O
)	O
step-index	B-Device
fiber	I-Device
has	O
a	O
core	O
diameter	O
of	O
1mm	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
POF	O
has	O
been	O
called	O
the	O
"	O
consumer	O
"	O
optical	B-Architecture
fiber	I-Architecture
because	O
the	O
fiber	O
and	O
associated	O
optical	O
links	O
,	O
connectors	O
,	O
and	O
installation	O
are	O
all	O
inexpensive	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Due	O
to	O
the	O
attenuation	O
and	O
distortion	O
characteristics	O
of	O
PMMA	O
fibers	O
,	O
they	O
are	O
commonly	O
used	O
for	O
low-speed	O
,	O
short-distance	O
(	O
up	O
to	O
100	O
meters	O
)	O
applications	O
in	O
digital	O
home	O
appliances	O
,	O
home	O
networks	O
,	O
industrial	O
networks	O
(	O
PROFIBUS	O
,	O
PROFINET	B-Protocol
,	O
Sercos	B-Protocol
,	O
EtherCAT	B-Protocol
)	O
,	O
and	O
car	O
networks	O
(	O
MOST	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
perfluorinated	O
polymer	O
fibers	O
are	O
commonly	O
used	O
for	O
much	O
higher-speed	O
applications	O
such	O
as	O
data	O
center	O
wiring	O
and	O
building	O
LAN	B-General_Concept
wiring	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Polymer	B-Application
optical	I-Application
fibers	I-Application
can	O
be	O
used	O
for	O
remote	O
sensing	O
and	O
multiplexing	O
due	O
to	O
their	O
low	O
cost	O
and	O
high	O
resistance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
possible	O
to	O
write	O
fiber	B-Device
Bragg	I-Device
gratings	I-Device
in	O
single	O
and	O
multimode	O
POF	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Optical	B-Architecture
fiber	I-Architecture
used	O
in	O
telecommunications	O
is	O
governed	O
by	O
European	O
Standards	O
EN	O
60793-2-40-2011	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
Gigabit	O
POF	O
IEEE	O
standard	O
is	O
based	O
on	O
multilevel	O
PAM	B-Device
modulation	I-Device
a	O
frame	O
structure	O
,	O
Tomlinson-Harashima	O
Precoding	O
and	O
Multilevel	O
coset	O
coding	O
modulation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
alternatives	O
are	O
schemes	O
like	O
DMT	B-Protocol
,	O
PAM-2	O
NRZ	B-Protocol
,	O
DFE	O
equalization	O
or	O
PAM-4	O
.	O
</s>
