TABLE OF CONTENTS Up to this point, you have learned about transmitters, receivers, couplers, attenuators, connectors, splices, and fiber optic cable. These pieces are part of the building block of a fiber optic system. A basic fiber optic system contains a transmitter, receiver, fiber optic cable, and connectors.
There are many ways to approach fiber optic system design and there are many different fiber optic systems. Fortunately there are industry standards that simplify fiber optic system design. This chapter focuses on the basic design considerations for a fiber optic system, compares optical fiber to copper, explains how to break down a fiber optic link to analyze performance, and shows how to prepare a power budget.
Before beginning a basic fiber optic system design, two questions need to be answered. How much data needs to be moved and what is the transmission distance? Throughout this book, you have learned how the physical properties of light and of the optical fiber determine bandwidth and transmission distance. Now let's take some of these lessons learned and apply them in the design of a basic fiber optic system.
We mentioned earlier that before you begin a design, the data rate and transmission distance must be known. Let's look at two rules of thumb that will help you design a link to meet your data rate and transmission distance expectations. Rule of thumb number one: For data rates up to 155 Mbps with a transmission distance no greater than 2000 m, choose...
