Overview

1. General. Optical fibers are hair-thin strands of ultra-pure glass, and are used for the transmission of signals. Unlike most signaling methods, optical fiber transits light, rather than electricity.

Pulses or waves of light can be used in the same ways as pulses or waves of electricity and magnetism to transfer data from one place to another. Because of the transmission characteristics of light through optical fiber, it is in many ways superior to using electricity through conductors.

The current importance of optical fiber data transmission is difficult to overestimate. Not only has optical fiber become essential to long-distance telephone transmissions, but it is becoming increasingly important for all other forms of data transmission.

Use of optical fiber for the transmission of cable television signals is gaining quickly, and is in fact the standard distribution means for almost everything except the coaxial cable drops into businesses and residences, and, of course, interior wiring.

Computer networks are quickly exceeding the capacity of copper conductors, and are beginning to change over from copper to fiber. The newest computer networks are specifying optical fiber transmission, simply because the standards groups are uncertain that there will be a workable copper transmission method.

THE ADVANTAGES OF FIBER OPTICS

A well-designed system of fiber optics as a communications medium offers four primary advantages over traditional electrical systems:

1. Performance. Optical fiber cables have a much greater bandwidth operation than wire. This allows for high-volume, high-speed data transfer. Data transmission of optical fiber can...