Introduction Optical fiber (or "fiber optic") refers to the medium and the technology associated with the

transmission of information as light pulses along a glass or plastic strand or fiber. Optical fiber carries much more information than conventional copper wire and is in general not subject to electromagnetic interference and the need to retransmit signals. The main advantages of using optical fibres in the communications industry are: A much greater amount of information can be carried on an optical fibre compared to a copper cable. In all cables some of the energy is lost as the signal goes along the cable. The signal then needs to be boosted using regenerators. For copper cable systems these are required every 2 to 3km but with optical fibre systems they are only needed every 50km. Unlike copper cables, optical fibres do not experience any electrical interference. Neither will they cause sparks so they can be used in explosive environments such as oil refineries or gas pumping stations For equal capacity, optical fibres are cheaper and thinner than copper cables which make them easier to install and maintain. Construction and working of an optical fibre An Optical fiber comprises of a light carrying core surrounded by a cladding which traps the light in the core by the principle of total internal reflection. Most optical fibres are made of glass, although some of them are made of plastic. The core and cladding are usually fused silica glass which is covered by a plastic coating called the buffer or primary buffer coating which protects the glass fiber from physical damage and moisture. There are some all plastic fibres used for specific applications. Glass optical fibres are the most common type used in communication applications.

Some Important Applications of Optical Fibres: Telephone In the telecommunication, single mode fiber is used to connect long distance switches, central offices and SLCs (subscriber loop carriers, small switches in pedestals in subdivisions or office parks or in the basement of a larger building). To send telephone conversations through a fiber optic cable, analog voice signals are translated into digital signals. A laser at one end of the pipe switches on and off to send each bit. Modern fiber systems with a single laser can transmit billions of bits per second -- the laser can turn on and off several billions of times per second. The newest systems use multiple lasers with different colours to fit multiple signals into the same fiber. Modern fiber optic cables can carry a signal quite a distance -- perhaps 60 miles (100 km). On a long distance line, there is an equipment hut every 40 to 60 miles. The hut contains equipment that picks up and retransmits the signal down the next segment at full strength. The main advantages of using optical fibres in the communications industry are: - A much greater amount of information can be carried on an optical fibre compared to a copper cable. - In all cables some of the energy is lost as the signal goes along the cable. The signal then needs to be boosted using regenerators. For copper cable systems these are required every 2 to 3km but with optical fibre systems they are only needed every 50km. - Unlike copper cables, optical fibres do not experience any electrical interference. N - For equal capacity, optical fibres are cheaper and thinner than copper cables which makes them easier to install and maintain. Medicine Industry Optical fibres have paved the way for a whole new field of surgery, called laparoscopic surgery (or more commonly, keyhole surgery), which is usually used for operations in the stomach area such as appendectomies. One bundle of optical fibres can be used to illuminate the chosen area, and another bundle can be used to bring information back to the surgeon. Moreover, this can be coupled with laser surgery, by using an optical fibre to carry the laser beam to the relevant spot, which would then be able to be used to cut the tissue or affect it in some other way. LANs Local Area Networks (LANs) use fiber optics primarily in the backbone of the network, however the use of fiber optics to the desk is increasing. The LAN backbone often needs longer distance transmissions and more bandwidth than copper cable is capable of providing. Fiber easily offers the higher bandwidth needed to prepare the network for the much higher speeds projected for the near future. HFC and Cable Modems In addition to conducting fiber-to-the-home trials, the cable TV industry has been busy upgrading a good portion of its infrastructure using a hybrid fiber coax (HFC) cable combination. Through the use of HFC between 500 and 3000, cable TV subscribers can be supported by one fiber main trunk node being connected to coax feeder and drop cables. In addition, the large bandwidth of the fiber trunk cable enables the CATV operator to support transmission in the return direction from subscribers in a large service area via the fiber trunk.

Thus, an HFC infrastructure provides the opportunity for cable TV operators to provide telephone service, Internet access, and other services that require economical bidirectional transmission. Other Applications -The military uses fibre because it's nearly tap-proof and impossible to jam. -Fibre is even used by the aviation and aerospace industries because of its smaller size and weight. -Optical fibres can be used for the purposes of illumination, often carrying light from outside to rooms in the interiors of large buildings. - Another important application of optical fibres is in sensors. If a fibre is stretched or squeezed, heated or cooled or subjected to some other change of environment, there is usually a small but measurable change in light transmission. International Systems SL Underwater Cable The advent of optical-fibre technology for undersea cables provides point-to-point channel capacity equal to satellite systems at reduced cost and without long transmission delays, unstable environmental interference, induced noise, and broadcast of potentially sensitive information to half the world. Undersea cable systems have some understandably difficult environmental requirements. The environment includes pressures of 10,000 pounds per square inch (psi) at depths of 7,300 meters, salt water, and the possibility of mechanical damage from anchors and earth movement in shallow waters. An important requirement for these systems is that the regenerator spacing be as wide as possible to cut down on the system failure probability and the power requirements, because power must be fed from the ends of the cable. A schematic of the SL Undersea Light guide System is shown in Figure 7.17. It is composed of a high-voltage power supply, a supervisory terminal, a multiplexer with inputs for several types of information, the cable light source, the cable itself, and the repeaters. The cable is made of a central core and a surrounding support, as shown in Figure 7.18. The core has an outside diameter of 2.6 mm and consists of 12 optical fibres wound helically around a central copper-clad steel wire called a king wire, all embedded in an elastomeric substance and covered with a nylon sheath. This assembly is in turn covered with steel strands, a continuously welded copper tube, and an insulation of low-density polyethylene for electrical insulation and abrasion resistance. The outside diameter of the completed cable is 21 mm (about 0.8 in.). SONET [Synchronous optical networking] Advances in the use of fibre-optic transmission systems resulted in a requirement for standards to enable interoperability between interexchange carriers and telephone companies. In addition, a considerable growth in communications from companies and government agencies resulted in a requirement to define the interface of commercial communications equipment to an evolving optical network. The resulting standard, known as the Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) in North America and Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) in Europe, represents a transport vehicle capable of supporting data rates in the gigabit range, optical interfaces, network management, and diagnostic testing methods.

Until SONET standards were developed, there was a void in compatibility between fibre terminal equipment operating at rates above the DS3 transmission rate of 44.736Mbps. That operating rate is formed by a communications carrier using a device known as an M13 multiplexer to combine 28 DS1 channels into a DS3 signal. The resulting DS3 signal is asynchronous because each DS1 signal is independently timed. Although each DS1 signal includes 8000 bits per second for framing, the resulting multiplexed DS3 signal includes three intermixed framing signals, which makes it almost impossible to locate an individual DS0 signal within the DS3 signal. Thus, to remove one PCM digitized voice signal in a carrier's DS3 transmission hierarchy, the carrier typically had to first demultiplex the DS3 signal, requiring additional equipment and adding to the cost of the carrier's infrastructure. Recognizing this problem, the developers of the SONET standard developed a frame structure that enables lower-speed channels within a higher-speed signal to be easily removed from or added to the signal. This process is known as drop (removal of the signal on a channel) and inserts (addition of a signal on a channel). From FTTN to FTTH:- Fibre To The Node to Fibre To The House In FTTN all the devices were supplied the data from a common optical fibre via copper wires but in FTTH the devices are directly provided with optical fibre thus making the transmission faster, less loss and highly efficient. Gesture recognitionGesture recognition uses an optical sensor to sense the body movements which has wide applications in motion sensor gaming and also in the industry. Cricketers are also tested for chucking (throwing) by using fibre optics and optical sensors. Concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) cells efficiently concentrate sunlight in solar panels for clean energy production. This CPV technique is used in solar system integrators along with optical fibre cables which directly convert solar energy to light energy. There is no need of conversion to the electrical form. Multi-Terabit Networks DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) opens the door to multi-terabit transmission. The interest in developing multi-terabit networks is driven by the increasing availability of more bandwidth in fibre optic networks. One terabit network was achieved by using 10 GB /s data rate combined with 100 DWDM channels. Future Needs in Fibre-Optic Transmission Spectral Efficiency higher than 1.5 b/s/Hz 100 Gb/s per wavelength Regeneration-free optical reach greater than 1500 km Security encryption technique that is Low in Cost and in Size, Weight and Power