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The Advantages Of Fibre Optics

Fiber Optics: Light-Wave Communication
Mathew Geraghty 0647712
Wednesday, 11:30am
ENG-1P03, Prof. D. Jones
Guest Lecture #3, Yaser Haddara

Fiber Optics: Light-Wave Communication
It's the Best to be at the Speed of Light

It is general knowledge that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light, not even Superman. But, no one ever said that the idea of hitching a ride on top of a wave of light is entirely impossible. Granted it is not possible for you or me to get a piggyback from a photon, but for electrical information it is another story. This is where the theory of fiber optics comes in. Fiber optics, by definition, is the science of using light as a means for transferring light by using very fine, flexible glass fibers. By its definition alone you can tell that fiber optics is something huge in the world of communication. It has revolutionized our thoughts of a speedy transfer. The process of a fiber optics system is actually rather simple. It all begins when an electrical signal is converted into light. This light is transmitted through the fiber to another location and converted back into an electrical signal for the receiver. The input signal can be in digital form (on or off) or analog form (video, sound, etc). Digital modulation is far more popular because it allows for greater transmission distances with the same power as analog modulation. A typical system has five major points: the encoder, the light source (transmitter), the optical fiber, the light receiver, and the decoder. The encoder converts the signal to a format that is useful to the transmitter, and the transmitter then converts this signal into a light pulse. This light pulse is guided down the cable to the light receiver, where it is converted to an electrical current corresponding to the intensity of the transmitted light; the signal is now decoded and is a replica of the original. ("Introduction to Fiber Optics," 2005) Optical fiber provides a low-loss path for the light to...