Fiber Optics

Whenever people talk about the internet, the cable television system or the telephone system it is very likely that you hear about cables that are fiber optic. They are considered strands of optically pure thin glass that carry digital information over long distances. Fiber optics is very thin strands of glass or plastic fiber that carry light along its length and is widely used in fiber optic communications because it allows communication over long distances at higher bandwidths compared to other forms of communication.

Fiber optics communication systems have certainly developed the telecommunications industry and because of its advantages over electrical transmission, copper wire communications in core networks have been replaced by optical fibers. How it works is fiber optics are long, thin strands of pure thin glass that are arranged in bundles referred to as optical cables that are used to transmit light signals over long distances. A single optical fiber consists of a core that is the thin glass center of the fiber where the light travels, cladding which is the outer optical material around the core that reflects the light back into the core and a buffer coating which is a plastic coating that protects the fibers from damage and moisture.

In general fiber optics is recommended for systems that require higher bandwidth across longer distances because it accommodates smoother than electrical cabling. Some main benefits of using fiber optics is its low loss, high data carrying capacity where a single high bandwidth fiber cable replaces thousands of electrical links and long distances between amplifiers. When fiber cables run alongside each other for long distances, they don’t experience crosstalk unlike some types of electrical transmission lines. Several miles of optical cable could be cheaper than copper wire saving your provider and you money. Fiber optics is thinner which is why unlike electrical signals in copper wires; light signals from one fiber do not interfere with those of other fibers in the same cable which results in clearer reception. The loss of signal is also less in fiber optics than in electrical copper wires which is why lower-power transmitters can be used instead of the high-voltage electrical transmitters.

Fiber optics is most often suited for carrying digital information which is why most industries such as telecommunications and computer networks are frequent users of it. Medical imaging, mechanical imaging and plumbing use fiber optics in many of their digital cameras due to its flexibility.