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The number of ways the modern world has to transmit data is staggering. Copper wire has long been at the core of the process''though fiber optic cables stand to change that to a large degree. How do fiber optic cables work? What makes them such a revolutionary advance over older data transmission methods? Actuallyfiber optics is not new. They've been theorized for more than a centurythough an actual working model had to await the coming of better technology. In essencefiber optic cables are actually quite simple. How so you ask?
At the heart of fiber optic cables lies a material that has been around since antiquity. The core of these cables is formed of glass. However''not just any glass will do and this is one reason that the technology had to wait for so long to become a reality. The glass used in fiber optic cables is of the highest qualitythe utmost puritycapable of transmitting signal for an incredible distancewith very little loss. Actuallythe minimum requirement for this glass is that it transmits the signal for 1 kilometerat which point 1% of the signal would remain. Today's glass is much more capable than this though.
How do fiber optic cables transmit data? What transmission method is used? Unlike other forms of technology that utilize electricity to transmit data over great distances'' fiber optic cables utilize pulses of light. The glass fiber at the core of the fiber optic cable acts much like a hollow tube lined with mirrors. The light travels down the 'tube''' bouncing off the mirrored edges. Depending on the size of the fiber (measured in microns)'' the signal may attenuate and distort. Wide fibers such as multi-mode fiber optic cables require very specific timing of light pulses in order to avoid signal overlap and distortion.
However''these wider cables are excellent for certain applications. For instanceif the distance needed to travel is less than 5 kilometersthe signal will not suffer serious degradation and will arrive intact. Howeverfor distances greater than thissingle-mode fiber optic cables are usedwhich have a range of over 100 kilometers without serious signal loss. These cables are far more expensive than multi-mode cablesthough so they are used almost exclusively for long-distance applications.
Fiber optic cables are coming to constitute a significant part of the telecommunications infrastructure and could revolutionize the way in which people communicate in the near future.
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