Cables with bend insensitive optical fibers

1. A fiber optic cable comprising:

a plurality of optical fibers, wherein any lay length of the optical fibers is greater than or equal to about 1000 mm;

strength material surrounding the plurality of optical fibers, wherein any lay length of the strength material is greater than or equal to about 1000 mm; and

a polymer jacket surrounding the strength material;

wherein each of the optical fibers is configured to exhibit a bend-induced optical attenuation of less than 0.5 dB when wrapped one turn around a 10 mm diameter mandrel at an 850 nm wavelength.

2. The fiber optic cable of claim 1 , wherein the strength material comprises strength members that are substantially parallel to one another.

3. The fiber optic cable of claim 1 , wherein the strength material is stranded around the plurality of optical fibers.

4. The fiber optic cable of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of optical fibers are substantially parallel to one another.

5. The fiber optic cable of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of optical fibers is stranded.

6. The fiber optic cable of claim 1 , wherein each of the optical fibers is configured to exhibit a bend-induced optical attenuation of less than 0.2 dB when wrapped one turn around a 10 mm diameter mandrel at an 850 nm wavelength.

7. The fiber optic cable of claim 1 , wherein each of the optical fibers is a configured to exhibit a bend-induced optical attenuation of no more than 0.1 dB when wrapped one turn around a 10 mm diameter mandrel at all wavelengths between 800 nm and 1400 nm.

8. The fiber optic cable of claim 1 , wherein each of the optical fibers is tight buffered optical fiber.

9. The fiber optic cable of claim 1 , wherein the strength material comprises aramid fibers.

10. A fiber optic cable comprising:

a plurality of tight buffered optical fibers having a lay length of greater than 1000 mm, wherein each optical fiber comprises a core and a cladding that surrounds and is directly adjacent to the core, wherein the cladding of each optical fiber is surrounded by at least one coating, wherein the coating includes a low-modulus primary coating and a high-modulus secondary coating, wherein the coating is surrounded by the tight buffer, and wherein the tight buffer of each optical fiber is a substantially-cylindrical, outer extrusion of polymeric material that extends substantially coaxially around and is fixedly connected to the corresponding optical fiber;

strength material surrounding the plurality of tight buffered optical fibers; and

a polymer jacket surrounding the strength material;

wherein each of the tight buffered optical fibers is configured to exhibit a bend-induced optical attenuation of less than 0.5 dB when wrapped one turn around a 10 mm diameter mandrel at an 850 nm wavelength.

11. The fiber optic cable of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of tight buffered optical fibers are substantially parallel to one another.

12. The fiber optic cable of claim 10 , wherein each of the tight buffered optical fibers is configured to exhibit a bend-induced optical attenuation of less than 0.2 dB when wrapped one turn around a 10 mm diameter mandrel at an 850 nm wavelength.

13. The fiber optic cable of claim 10 , wherein each of the tight buffered optical fibers is configured to exhibit a bend-induced optical attenuation of no more than 0.1 dB when wrapped one turn around a 10 mm diameter mandrel at all wavelengths between 800 nm and 1400 nm.

14. The fiber optic cable of claim 10 , wherein the strength material comprises strength members that are substantially parallel to one another.

15. The fiber optic cable of claim 10 , wherein the strength material has a lay length greater than or equal to about 500 mm.

16. The fiber optic cable of claim 10 , wherein the strength material has a lay length greater than or equal to about 1000 mm.

17. The fiber optic cable of claim 16 , wherein the strength material comprises aramid fibers.

18. The fiber optic cable of claim 10 , wherein each of the tight buffered optical fibers exhibits an intrinsic optical attenuation of less than or equal to about 3.0 dB/km.

19. The fiber optic cable of claim 10 , wherein there are at least 24 of the tight buffered optical fibers in the fiber optic cable.

20. The fiber optic cable of claim 10 , wherein the polymeric material of the tight buffer is polyvinyl chloride.

21. The fiber optic cable of claim 10 , wherein the optical fibers are stranded together with a lay length that approaches infinity.

22. A fiber optic cable comprising:

a plurality of tight buffered optical fibers having a lay length of greater than 1000 mm, wherein the tight buffer of each optical fiber is a substantially-cylindrical, outer extrusion of polymeric material that extends substantially coaxially around and is fixedly connected to the corresponding optical fiber, wherein:

a first group of the tight buffered optical fibers resides within an inner layer and a second group of the tight buffered optical fibers resides within an outer layer; and

the first group is immediately adjacent to the second group;

strength material surrounding the plurality of tight buffered optical fibers; and

a polymer jacket surrounding the strength material;

wherein each of the tight buffered optical fibers is configured to exhibit a bend-induced optical attenuation of less than 0.5 dB when wrapped one turn around a 10 mm diameter mandrel at an 850 nm wavelength.

23. The fiber optic cable of claim 22 , wherein when flattened, the optical fibers of the inner and outer layers intermingle to minimize crushing forces and attenuation.

24. The fiber optic cable of claim 22 , wherein the inner layer comprises three inner optical fibers and the outer layer comprises nine outer optical fibers.

25. The fiber optic cable of claim 22 , wherein strength material is not positioned between the inner and outer layers of optical fibers, whereby when the cable is bent, the optical fibers there are easily displaced to form a flattened configuration at the bend.

26. The fiber optic cable of claim 22 , wherein the outer layer of the optical fibers is positioned immediately adjacent to and surrounding the inner layer of optical fibers, thereby helping to reduce the diameter of the cable.