Fiber-Optic - Digital Transmission Through Light
What is Fiber-optic Transmission?
Fiber optics is yet another way to connect to the Internet. By using fiber-optic communication technology, data is sent in the form of light through optical fibers. The light is actually converted into electromagnetic waves that carry the data to its destination. This type of communication has actually been around for quite a while, and has been used in most modes of telecommunications all over the world. Fiber-optic is greatly used for high-speed Internet connections today.
How Fiber Optic Communication Started
In the world of communications, there is always room for improvement. The development of fiber-optic technology was developed when electrical systems posed many limitations. For one thing, electrical systems cannot have much repeater spacing. Microwave systems, on the other hand, cannot offer much frequency. So the idea of having an optical type of communications carrier was born.
Lasers were developed to answer the problems presented by electrical systems. The creation of optical fibers came about to address the problems with microwave systems. Corning Glass Works came up with optical fibers in 1970, which possessed low attenuation that was perfect for communication.
There have been many versions of fiber optics developed throughout the years, and it came to be that not only was this type of technology used in telecommunications, but in Internet connectivity as well.
How Do Fiber Optics Work?
In order to effectively transmit information, fiber-optic technology uses an optical transmitter to turn electrical waves into optical signals, or light. These signals will then pass through the optical fibers, and will have to go through amplifiers as well. Afterwards, it will be received by an optical receiver, which then converts the optical signal back to electrical waves. This is how fiber optics transmits information.
Today, there are two different types of optical fibers used in communication. There is the multi-mode and the single-mode. Multi-mode wires allow you to use cheaper transmitters. It is the larger model of the two 50 micrometers. However, because it costs less, you may encounter distortions, which translates to less bandwidth.
Single-mode fiber, on the other hand, is tiny at 10 micrometers, but yields more expensive equipment. But you'll be rewarded for it, because it performs so much better than multi-mode.
Advantages of Fiber Optics
Compared to metal-based communication lines or cables, fiber optics offers more for consumers because they can handle a much bigger bandwidth capacity. This means data can be transferred much faster, simply because fiber optics can transmit more data at a time. Data transmission is also faster because there is no need to convert data from digital to analog and vise versa, since fiber optics can carry digital data through its wires.
Another great advantage over metal-based lines is that fiber optics are rarely affected by various types of interference, so your connection will have better chances of being clear and your access smooth.
Convenience-wise, optical fiber wires weigh much less and occupy less space because they are thinner than other wires.
The Disadvantages of Fiber Optics
With the number of advantages it poses compared to cumbersome cable wires, using fiber optics can be quite costly. These light, thin wires actually cost so much more than usual cables, and can also incur a lot of expenses upon installation. You also have to be more careful when using them, because they’re very delicate. Installers may also have a hard time splicing them.