OPTICAL FIBERS

                    With the advent of fiber optics, data can be very easily and rapidly transmitted over long distances, through glass fibers, of the size of a human hair and soon it is expected to become as common as electrical wiring in the automobile or in the house. Fiber optics technology no doubt will take its own time to develop fully. However, it is increasingly replacing wire transmission lines in communication system.

                        Every now and then prototype models are moving from the research laboratories to commercial and industrial applications.

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                        WHAT ARE OPTICAL FIBERS?

                         Optical fibers are the light equivalent of microwaves waveguides with the additional advantage of a very wide bandwidth. Physically an optical fiber is a very thin and flexible medium, having a cylindrical shape consisting of three sections:

                         

                          *  The core

                          *   The cladding

                          *   The jacket

                            Out of these, the core is the innermost section and is made of glass or plastic. This is the actual fiber and has the remarkable property of conducting an optical beam. It is surrounded by its own cladding, a glass or plastic coating, that has optical properties which are very different from those of the core. The outer section is called the Jacket made of plastic or polymer and other materials and is provided for protection against moisture, absorption, crushing and other other-environmental dangers.

                        An optical fiber has very clear cut advantages over wire or radio system and this is why telecommunication industries have introduced the fiber optic systems importantly.

               Some advantages of optical fiber

                 * Attenuation in a fiber is markedly lower than the coaxial cable or twisted pair and is constant over a very wide rang. So transmission within wide range of the distance is possible without  repeaters etc. 

                 *  Smaller size and lighter weight Optical fibers are considerably thinner than the coaxial cable or bundled twisted-pair cable. So they occupy much less space.