This article was written by Joni Nurmi ,Zhen Shi and Sun Hai,
source of figure: http://fiberoptic101.blogspot.fi/2010/11/history-of-fiber-optic.html
Principle of operation:
Fiber optical cables are highly transparent, cylindrical conduits for light. These cables are formed of two materials with different refractive indices. This creates a optimal waveguide for transmitting light. When light enters the fiber made of material with higher refractive index than the cladding surrounding it, it stays inside the material due to total internal reflection and is thus transmitted forward.
...
Constructions are different
source of figure: http://www.rp-photonics.com/multimode_fibers.html
Transmissions are different
Special-purpose fiber - Polarization-maintaining fibers written by Hai source of figure: http://www.arcelect.com/fibercable.htm
What is polarization-maintaining fibers?
...