Chapter 3: Optical-Fiber Technology

Chapter 3: Optical-Fiber Technology

?Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee.?

?The Common Prayer Book

3.1 Background

Optical fiber offers a number of advantages over coaxial cable for transmission in the core network, notably with respect to bandwidth, attenuation, and cost. In particular, the need for repeaters to compensate for signal attenuation on high-traffic coaxial links in the core network can be reduced if optical-fiber links are used, because the attenuation of optical fiber is much less than that of coaxial cable. This eliminates the maintenance costs, powering difficulties, and reliability hazards associated with large numbers of repeaters. For submarine links, especially intercontinental links across oceans, these advantages have been overwhelming.

The cost reductions possible through the use of optical fiber in the core network has encouraged the development of optical-fiber technology and has led to suggestions as to how optical fiber can be used in access networks. This is not as simple as in the core network because there are no immediate cost savings. The story of optical access networks is really the story of the search for cost-effective approaches to the use of optical fiber in the access network and for revenue generating high-bandwidth services to justify it.

Synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH) technology will not be covered here. This is not because SDH has no role to play in access networks, but because SDH links and rings are more likely to be used as feeder transmission systems to support other forms of access technology. SDH may become more...

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Chapter 3: Optical-Fiber Technology

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