Long-stroke ball screws drive optimisation of 5G fibre optic filament production

摘要

Wireless carriers are just beginning to roll out 5G communications, but even the most conservative estimates are projecting at least a tenfold speed increase over 4G. This will impact everything from mobilephones and laptops to driv-erless cars. The realisation of 5G communications is boosting the demand for high-bandwidth fibre optic cable, which requires continuous improvement in the manufacturing process. This begins with the creation of preforms - highly treated, multi-layered silicon rods. These provide the silicon that will eventually be drawn into filaments that are approximately the width of a human hair. They are joined with hundreds of similar strands to produce the fibre optic transmission cables that will carry the 5G signals.