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BRIEF
OVER VIEW OF FIBER OPTIC CABLE ADVANTAGES OVER COPPER:
•
SPEED: Fiber optic networks operate at high speeds - up into the gigabits
•
BANDWIDTH: large carrying capacity
• DISTANCE: Signals can be transmitted
further without needing to be "refreshed" or strengthened.
•
RESISTANCE: Greater resistance to electromagnetic noise such as radios, motors
or other nearby cables.
• MAINTENANCE: Fiber optic cables costs much less
to maintain.
In
recent years it has become apparent that fiber-optics are steadily replacing copper
wire as an appropriate means of communication signal transmission. They span the
long distances between local phone systems as well as providing the backbone for
many network systems. Other system users include cable television services, university
campuses, office buildings, industrial plants, and electric utility companies.
A
fiber-optic system is similar to the copper wire system that fiber-optics is replacing.
The difference is that fiber-optics use light pulses to transmit information down
fiber lines instead of using electronic pulses to transmit information down copper
lines. Looking at the components in a fiber-optic chain will give a better understanding
of how the system works in conjunction with wire based systems.
At
one end of the system is a transmitter. This is the place of origin for information
coming on to fiber-optic lines. The transmitter accepts coded electronic pulse
information coming from copper wire. It then processes and translates that information
into equivalently coded light pulses. A light-emitting diode (LED) or an injection-laser
diode (ILD) can be used for generating the light pulses. Using a lens, the light
pulses are funneled into the fiber-optic medium where they transmit themselves
down the line.
Think
of a fiber cable in terms of very long cardboard roll (from the inside roll of
paper towel) that is coated with a mirror.
If you shine a flashlight in one
you can see light at the far end - even if bent the roll around a corner.
Light
pulses move easily down the fiber-optic line because of a principle known as total
internal reflection. "This principle of total internal reflection states
that when the angle of incidence exceeds a critical value, light cannot get out
of the glass; instead, the light bounces back in. When this principle is applied
to the construction of the fiber-optic strand, it is possible to transmit information
down fiber lines in the form of light pulses.Fiber optic cable functions as a
"light guide," guiding the light introduced at one end of the cable
through to the other end. The light source can either be a light-emitting diode
(LED)) or a laser.
The
light source is pulsed on and off, and a light-sensitive receiver on the other
end of the cable converts the pulses back into the digital ones and zeros of the
original signal.
Even
laser light shining through a fiber optic cable is subject to loss of strength,
primarily through dispersion and scattering of the light, within the cable itself.
The faster the laser fluctuates, the greater the risk of dispersion. Light strengtheners,
called repeaters, may be necessary to refresh the signal in certain applications.
While
fiber optic cable itself has become cheaper over time - a equivalent length of
copper cable cost less per foot but not in capacity. Fiber optic cable connectors
and the equipment needed to install them are still more expensive than their copper
counterparts.
The
use of fiber-optics was generally not available until 1970 when Corning Glass
Works was able to produce a fiber with a loss of 20 dB/km. It was recognized that
optical fiber would be feasible for telecommunication transmission only if glass
could be developed so pure that attenuation would be 20dB/km or less. That is,
1% of the light would remain after traveling 1 km. Today's optical fiber attenuation
ranges from 0.5dB/km to 1000dB/km depending on the optical fiber used. Attenuation
limits are based on intended application.
The
applications of optical fiber communications have increased at a rapid rate, since
the first commercial installation of a fiber-optic system in 1977. Telephone companies
began early on, replacing their old copper wire systems with optical fiber lines.
Today's telephone companies use optical fiber throughout their system as the backbone
architecture and as the long-distance connection between city phone systems.
Cable
television companies have also began integrating fiber-optics into their cable
systems. The trunk lines that connect central offices have generally been replaced
with optical fiber. Some providers have begun experimenting with fiber to the
curb using a fiber/coaxial hybrid. Such a hybrid allows for the integration of
fiber and coaxial at a neighborhood location. This location, called a node, would
provide the optical receiver that converts the light impulses back to electronic
signals. The signals could then be fed to individual homes via coaxial cable.
Local
Area Networks (LAN) is a collective group of computers, or computer systems, connected
to each other allowing for shared program software or data bases. Colleges, universities,
office buildings, and industrial plants, just to name a few, all make use of optical
fiber within their LAN systems.
Power
companies are an emerging group that have begun to utilize fiber-optics in their
communication systems. Most power utilities already have fiber-optic communication
systems in use for monitoring their power grid systems.
Single
Mode cable is a single stand of glass fiber with a diameter of 8.3 to 10 microns
that has one mode of transmission. Single Mode Fiber with a relatively narrow
diameter, through which only one mode will propagate typically 1310 or 1550nm.
Carries higher bandwidth than multimode fiber, but requires a light source with
a narrow spectral width. Synonyms mono-mode optical fiber, single-mode fiber,
single-mode optical waveguide, uni-mode fiber.
Single-mode
fiber gives you a higher transmission rate and up to 50 times more distance than
multimode, but it also costs more. Single-mode fiber has a much smaller core than
multimode. The small core and single light-wave virtually eliminate any distortion
that could result from overlapping light pulses, providing the least signal attenuation
and the highest transmission speeds of any fiber cable type.
Single-mode
optical fiber is an optical fiber in which only the lowest order bound mode can
propagate at the wavelength of interest typically 1300 to 1320nm.
Multimode
cable is made of of glass fibers, with a common diameters in the 50-to-100 micron
range for the light carry component (the most common size is 62.5). POF is a newer
plastic-based cable which promises performance similar to glass cable on very
short runs, but at a lower cost.
Multimode
fiber gives you high bandwidth at high speeds over medium distances. Light waves
are dispersed into numerous paths, or modes, as they travel through the cable's
core typically 850 or 1300nm. Typical multimode fiber core diameters are 50, 62.5,
and 100 micrometers. However, in long cable runs (greater than 3000 feet [914.4
ml), multiple paths of light can cause signal distortion at the receiving end,
resulting in an unclear and incomplete data transmission.
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