Fiber Optics
...er is placed before the cable to encode the light signals. A transmitter uses the coded electronic pulse from a copper wire and transmits it to light pulses that are accepted by the optic cable. It also creates a correct sequence to generate the light in. A transmitter may have a lens to focus the light into the fiber. Some signal loss will occur when the light is transmitted through the cable or traveling long distances. The signal loss from the cable will occur because of the impurities in the glass, otherwise the loss would be because of the length the signal is traveling. An optical regenerator is spliced along the cable and has a sole purpose to boost the tainted light signals. When the degraded signal comes to the doped coating, the energy produced by the lasers turns the doped molecules into lasers as well, in order to rejuvenat the outgoing signal. An optical receiver takes the incoming light signals and decodes them into useful information. This information could be for uses of a computer, television or telephone. The receiver uses photocell or photodiode to detect the light signal. The optical receiver then decodes the light signals back into information. What Are the Advantages of Fiber Optics Over long distances fiber optics becomes less expensive. If the cable is to extend over a long distance, the optic cable would actually be cheaper than the equivalent of copper wire. This would in turn save the consumer and provider money. On the other hand optic cable is much more expensive for small installations such as digital cameras and computers, but is much better quality and is worth the extra money. Fiber optics has less signal degradation. The loss of signal is much less in an optic cable as in a copper wire. In an fiber optic, signal is lost from impurities in the glass and can be rejuvenated by an optical regenerator. In a copper wire, current can be lost through interference, broken coating and many other ways. No interference with other fibers in the same cable. Light signals from one fiber will not interfere with the light signals of other fibers in the same cable. With an electrical signal in a copper wire it is easy for the signals to interfere with each other. The outcome of no interference with optical fibers results in clearer phone conversations or clearer television reception. Since there is no electricity passed through an optical fiber, there is absolutely no fire hazard. The light from the fiber if in contact with another material will not create a spark or short out. Since the signals in fiber optics degrade much less, a low-power transmitter can be used in the place of high-voltage electrical transmitters needed to produce the needed amount of electricity for copper wires. This will save the consumer and provider money. Another good reason fiber optics is better is because it is difficult to jam or tap, so that it cannot be used buy unwanted sources. What Are Some of the Disadvantages of Fiber Optics Fiber Optics, when bought in small bundles can become very expensive. To use fiber optics for a small distance you are going to need a transmitter and a receiver, which are expensive, just as you’d need them for long distances. Therefore, for a short distance copper wire would do just fine unless the operation needs the quality of the optical fiber such as a digital camera. They have a very small diameter and require specialized tools to align the cables correctly and join them. The workmanship also has to be more precise and unfortunately much more time consuming. Although the cable is flexible, it’s only flexible when it comes to curves, not so much sharp bends. The core of the optical fiber is made of glass and any sharp bend or stretching can cause it to crack. Over a short distance, the time it would take for the electricity to go through the transmitter and down the optic cable, through an optical receiver and back into electrical current would be a big waste of time. Today everything has to be fast, so we don’t have time to wait for electricity to turn to light and back into electricity. The optical fiber is very fragile and has to be handled with care. If an impurity in the glass will cause signal loss, imagine what would happen is the core cracked. There would be so much loss that you would have to replace the cable, which would be very pricey. How Could the Cost Be Regained By A Company Over long distances, the cost of fiber optic cable is comparable to the cost of CAT 6 copper wire. There is a link length when it comes to fiber optic cable and copper wire. Around 500-1000 meters of length the costs of fiber optic cable and copper wire are equal to each other. After that the copper wire becomes more expensive. The total installed cost of fiber optics compared to CAT 5 grade copper w...