Fiber optics Essay

1.List the basic elements of a Fiber-Optic communication system †¢A fiber optic transmission strand that can carry the signal. †¢A source of invisible infrared radiation modulated to impress digital data or an analog signal on the light beam. †¢A photosensitive detector to convert the optical signal back into an electrical signal at the receiver. †¢Optical connectors at the light source-to-cable interface and at the cable-to-photo detector interface. 2.List Five advantages of an optical communications link †¢Extremely wide system bandwidth when compared with other sources. †¢Lower costs due to the fact that optical fiber costs continue to decline. †¢Elimination of crosstalk because the light in one glass fiber does not interfere with the light in an adjacent fiber. †¢Optical communication links are not as susceptible to corrosion as other forms of data transmission links. †¢An optical communication link can be used in the most secure environments due to its immunity from electromagnetic coupling and radiation. 3.What are the commonly used wavelengths in fiber-optic systems? The three most commonly used wavelengths are 850 nm to 1310 nm, 1310 nm to 1550 nm, and 1600 nm to 1625 nm. 4.A campus network is planning to install fiber-optic cables to replace outdated coaxial cables. They have the choice of installing single-mode, multimode, or combination of single-multimode filer in the ground. Which fiber type should they select and why? Both single-mode and multimode have their own advantages and disadvantages. Because of this, I would suggest that the campus network install a combination of single-mode and multimode. The use of the single-mode fiber can be used to run long distances across campus which is one of the greatest advantages of the single-mode fiber. Similarly, multimode fiber can be used at its best in short distances because it can carry higher bandwidth in shorter distances than single-mode. 5.The networking cables for a new building are being installed. You are asked to prepare a study about which cable type should be used. Discuss the issues related to the cable selection. In order to keep up with the latest technological advances in computer networking, I would like to recommend  that you use fiber optic cable. Fiber optic cable provides substantially increased bandwidth and can handle the combined traffic of PC’s, switches, routers, video and voice services. Fiber optic cable has greater capacity enabling it to transfer data at faster speeds which in turn diminishes congestion problems, but also provides tremendous growth potential for each of the fiber runs.