Fiber optic communication

The fiber optic technology has been developed mostly for use in communication. Fiber optic communication is transmitting information from one place to another by sending pulses of light through an optical fiber technology that uses glass or threads to transmit data. A basic fiber optic system consists of a transmitting device that converts an electrical signal into a light signal, an optical fiber cable that carries the light, and a receiver that accepts the light signal and converts it back into an electrical signal. The fiber optics is a particularly popular technology for local area networks.

Fiber Optic Transmitters and Receivers

• Transmitters: – The most commonly used optical transmitters are semiconductor devices such as LED (light emitting diode) and laser diodes.
• Receivers: – The main component of an optical receiver is a photo detector, which converts light into electricity using the photoelectric effect.

Fiber optics are long, thin strands of very pure glass about the size of a human hair. They are arranged in bundles called optical cables and used to transmit signals over long distances.

Optical fiber types

There are two major categories:

• Graded index fiber optic cabling.
• Step index fiber optic cabling.