FIBER OPTIC 101

Fiber-optic communication is a way of transmitting information from one place to another by sending light all the way through an optical fiber. The light forms an electromagnetic carrier wave that is modulated to carry information. First developed in the 1970s, fiber-optic communication systems have revolutionized the telecommunications industry and played a major role in the advent of the Information Age. This is because advantages over transmission, the use of optical fiber have largely replaced copper wire communications in core networks in the developed world.

The process of communicating using fiber-optics involves the following basic steps:   
a)    Creating the optical signal using a transmitter.
b)    Relaying the signal along the fiber.
c)    Ensuring that the signal does not become too distorted or weak.
d)    Receiving the optical signal and converting it into an electrical signal.

Optical fiber systems have many advantages over metallic-based communication systems. These advantages include:

Consider a ray of light passing between two media of different refractive indexes n1 and n2 as shown in figure 3. If n1> n2 the light ray as it passes from one media to the next will bend away from an imaginary line (the normal) perpendicular to the media’s mating surface. Conversely if n1 < n2 then the ray will bend towards the normal. Total internal reflection occurs when n1 > n2 and the incident ray of light makes an angle, Θc, such that it does not enter the adjacent medium but travels along the interface. At angles greater than Θc the ray will be reflected back into medium 

Total Internal Reflection

In this new era, we need a technology to improve our life style. We have come out with a new idea than can make our life more efficient that is fiber optics. Fiber optic is the overlap of applied science and engineering concerned with the design and application of optical fibers. The introduction of fiber optic technology has had a dramatic effect on the Communications industry. Generally, this fiber optic is used for transfer data transmitted on a beam of light which is more effective than before.