Fiber Optics

Introduction
Fiber Optic (also spelled Fibre Optic) technology is a cutting edge method of sending and receiving information over great distances (150 km without using a repeater) using light as the data's carrier. The signal cannot be disrupted by outside sources like electricity, rain, humidity, or other things that tend to damage conventional copper wire signals.

Fiber optic cables are composed of glass, silica Fiber, or plastic. Silica Fiber is used mainly for high power applications, and plastic is reserved for isolating sensitive systems from the threat of high voltages. Neither silica nor plastic are capable of sending data-streams over long distances because of their inherent impurities - instead, specialty glass fibers are used.

Fiber optic systems offer high security because they do not induce or emit any external energy. A signal loss can be detected almost immediately as long as the system is monitored.

Types Of Fiber Optic Cable

There are two types of optical Fiber cable, Singlemode and Multimode Fiber.

Singlemode Fiber is used mainly in operations where information is to be transferred over great distances, typically between 8 and 150 kilometers (5 and 93 miles). Lasers are used as the light source because they can produce focused, parallel light that translates into low loss.

Multimode Fiber is designed to be used in 8-10km (5 - 6mi) applications. The light used to send information is an LED, or Light Emitting Diode. LEDs don't provide light at the same high frequency as lasers do and thus the quality of information being sent via the cable cannot be trusted over great distances. Fiber optic systems are more cost effective than conventional means because the initial and maintenance cost of copper systems is greater than Fiber. Practically, copper is a nonrenewable resource and is become scarcer than the raw material used to create the glass inside Optical Fiber, sand. Commercially available Fiber optic systems can transmit data for miles without requiring a repeater. This is compared to a copper wire that requires repeater spacing almost once per mile. A repeater consists of a transmitter and receiver or transceiver. It is used to regenerate a signal to increase the system length.

Handle With Care!

Fiber Optic cables need to be protected against tensile, torsion, and bending stresses. The glass fibers are very susceptible to twisting, which can compromise its integrity. If fibers are bent too far, the optimum characteristic of the cable is compromised.

Fiber optic cable is an ideal medium for transmitting information. Networks linked with high speed Optical Fiber will make downloading times immediate and will provide instant two-way communication.

Why fiber?

The answer is in the news every day. Exploding bandwidth demands are rewriting the rules, and restructuring the fortunes of companies large and small.

E-commerce is here. Internet II is coming. Voice, data and video are converging, and your company’s fate may depend on its ability to compete on the vast, packet-switched networks that comprise the markets of the future.