Understanding Optical Fibre Communications SystemTypes, Applications, Advantages & Disadvantages

Signal Communication in Fibre Network

The applications of optical fibre in data, video, and voice communications have increased in the recent past. Optical fibre has penetrated everywhere and it is no longer confined in big towns like it was some years back.

Unlike copper cables that utilize electricity to transmit pulses of signal from one point to another, optical fibre uses pulses of light for signal communications.

So how does video, voice or data signal travel in a fibre network?

Fibre optic cables provide communication pathways between systems or devices. This bidirectional (two-way) communication is mostly achieved by using two different fibres.

Electronic signals are converted into optical signals by semiconductor lasers or LEDs in the transmitter. Most links that transmit at less than 100 Mb/s use LEDs for signal conversion.

The receiver end of a fibre communications system utilizes a photodiode that converts optical signal into an electrical current. For optimized performance, the receiver is matched to power level, wavelength, bit rate, fibre size, and transmitter type. To overcome the internal noise of the receiver that can cause signal interference, the power of the optical signal must exceed the minimal level.

Types of Optical Fibre Cables & their Applications

Single mode & Multimode Single-mode fibre is designed and optimized for long transmission distances and it is

therefore ideal for multinational television broadcasting and long-distance telephony. On the other hand, multimode fibre is designed and optimized for short transmission distances making it a suitable option for video surveillance and LAN systems.

Multimode fibre has a broad array of performance levels (optical multi-modes). OM1 and OM2 standards were widely used in various applications for many years. Their applications later shifted to OM3 which offered a better performance. OM4, the latest multimode standard in the market, offers higher performance than its predecessor.

The traditional single-mode standard, OS1, has wide applications in the telecommunications industry. The newer standard, OS2, is optimized to support higher performance than its predecessor. It allows greater bandwidths and longer transmission distances. With its mind-blowing performance, this standard will allow the realization of 40G and 100G networks.

Advantages

Greater bandwidth: Optical fibre cables offer a greater bandwidth as compared to metal cables. This allows transmission of more information per unit time.

Immune to interference: Fibre cables have a high resistance to electromagnetic interference and their performance is not lowered by electrical noise.

Minimum power loss: Optical fibre cables have low power losses and they are therefore ideal for long distance transmissions.

Secure communication: It is hard to tap or intercept information on optical fibre links. Flexible. A fibre cable is more flexible than steel or copper cables of same dimensions

due to its higher tensile strength. It is cheaper to produce glass since the raw materials are readily available.

Disadvantages

Optical fibre cables require more protection than copper cables. Fibre transmission requires uses of repeaters at distance intervals. Although fibre cables can last longer when installed, the cost of installation is high.

Read more about it…

http://qccau.blogspot.com/2015/09/understanding-optical-fibre.html