Fiber-optic communication
Fiber-optic communication is a method of transmitting information from one place to another by sending pulses of infrared light through an optical fiber. The light forms an electromagnetic carrier wave that is modulated to carry information. Fiber is preferred over electrical cabling when high bandwidth, long distance, or immunity to electromagnetic interference are required. This type of communication can transmit voice, video, and telemetry through local area networks, computer networks, or across long distances.
Optical fiber is used by many telecommunications companies to transmit telephone signals, Internet communication, and cable television signals. Researchers at Bell Labs have reached internet speeds of over 100 petabit×kilometer per second using fiber-optic communication.
Due to much lower attenuation and interference,
optical fiber has large advantages over existing copper wire in
long-distance, high-demand applications. However, infrastructure
development within cities was relatively difficult and time-consuming,
and fiber-optic systems were complex and expensive to install and
operate. Due to these difficulties, fiber-optic communication systems
have primarily been installed in long-distance applications, where they
can be used to their full transmission capacity, offsetting the
increased cost. The prices of fiber-optic communications have dropped
considerably since 2000.
The price for rolling out fiber to homes has currently become more cost-effective than that of rolling out a copper based network. Prices have dropped to $850 per subscriber in the US and lower in countries like The Netherlands, where digging costs are low and housing density is high.
Since 1990, when optical-amplification systems became commercially available, the telecommunications industry, has laid a vast network of intercity and transoceanic fiber communication lines. By 2002, an intercontinental network of 250,000 km of submarine communications cable with a capacity of 2.56 Tb/s was completed, and although specific network capacities are privileged information, telecommunications investment reports indicate that network capacity has increased dramatically since 2004.
Fiber-optic communication is a method of transmitting information from one place to another by sending pulses of infrared light through an optical fiber. The light forms an electromagnetic carrier wave that is modulated to carry information. Fiber is preferred over electrical cabling when high bandwidth, long distance, or immunity to electromagnetic interference are required. This type of communication can transmit voice, video, and telemetry through local area networks, computer networks, or across long distances.
Optical fiber is used by many telecommunications companies to transmit telephone signals, Internet communication, and cable television signals. Researchers at Bell Labs have reached internet speeds of over 100 petabit×kilometer per second using fiber-optic communication.
Applications
Optical fiber is used by many telecommunications companies to transmit telephone signals, Internet communication and cable television signals. It is also used in a multitude of other industries, including medical, defense/government, for data storage, and industrial/commercial. In addition to serving the purposes of telecommunications, it is used as light guides, for imaging tools, lasers, hydrophones for seismic waves, SONAR, and as sensors to measure pressure and temperature.
The price for rolling out fiber to homes has currently become more cost-effective than that of rolling out a copper based network. Prices have dropped to $850 per subscriber in the US and lower in countries like The Netherlands, where digging costs are low and housing density is high.
Since 1990, when optical-amplification systems became commercially available, the telecommunications industry, has laid a vast network of intercity and transoceanic fiber communication lines. By 2002, an intercontinental network of 250,000 km of submarine communications cable with a capacity of 2.56 Tb/s was completed, and although specific network capacities are privileged information, telecommunications investment reports indicate that network capacity has increased dramatically since 2004.
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