Engineering and Science (Optical Fiber Communication)

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Optical Fiber Communication is the use of light and optical fiber for the transmission of a communication signal. The communication signals are transmitted as light through optical fibers from one place to another. These signals can be video, audio, or telemetry, which is transmitted over long distances in the form of light. Statistics have shown that optical fiber is a good medium for long-distance transfer at high speed. It is the innovation now used for communication purposes.

How does Fiber Optic Communication work

In my explanation, I will divide the process into three sections. The Transmitter block, Fiber optic cable, and Receiver block. As I mentioned above, the signal is converted to light and transmitted and is converted back at the receiving end. Let's look at a breakdown of what I'm trying to say.

In the Transmitter Block, it is made up of the coder or converter and the light source transmitter circuit. The data is analog and sent to the converter, which then converts the signal to digital pulsed and sent to the light source transmitter circuit. The light transmitter circuit converts the digital pulse to light waves, which are sent to the optical fiber cable.

The Fiber Optic Cable receives the light waves and transmits them from the source location to the receiving destination where we have the receiver block.

The Receiver Block is made up of the photocell or light detector and decoder. The light detector receives the light waves from the optical fiber cable, passes them through the amplifier, and converts it to a digital signal. The digital pulse is then converted back to analog using the decoder circuit.

So we can see how the process of Optical Fiber Communication is clear from the point where the electrical signal(analog information) is converted to light and transmitted through a fiber optic cable.

Why Fiber is used instead of copper

• Fiber has more advantages over copper wire when used for transmission purposes.
• Fiber has a large transmission capacity which can carry a good number of telephone channels in one fiber.
• Small loss of signal(0.2bB/km) during transmission over the large distance cover
• The large number of channels transmitted are Easy Amplified
• Due to the large capacity of transmission, the cost per transportation will below
• Fiber cables are lighter in weight when compared to copper.

Characteristics of Fiber Optic Communication

Bandwidth: Here a good amount of signal can be transmitted per second with single laser light. To move long distances, there is a need for high bandwidth.

Smaller diameter: a Fiber Optic cables are about 300 micrometers in diameter

Light-weight: A fiber optical cable is lighter in weight

Transmite Long-distance signal: The signal is converted to laser light, which doesn't disperse. lasers' light can be transmitted over long distances.

Low attenuation: The laser light travels through the fiber with only about 0.2dB/km loss during transmission.

Transmission security: The absence of electromagnetic signal help to secure data transmitted through an optical fiber.

Applications of Optical Fiber

• Telephone Signals transmission.
• Internet Communication.
• Cable Television Signal transmission.
• Office and Industries small Distance transmission

Optical fiber is taken over the transmission process, and the impact is also on IoT(Internet Of Things) as these devices will connect to the internet and will need high speed for data to catch up with real-time. When dealing with IoT, data security is important as a large amount of data is being transferred between a large number of devices. Applying optical fiber communication will make it difficult for data to be hacked, and no data loss during transmission due to interference. This innovation is gradually taking ground as most government sites are put in infrastructures for optical fiber communication to advance the technological level of the country.

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