Fiber-optic communication – a way of information transfer at which as the directing systems fiber-optic cables are used and serves as the media of a signal the electromagnetic radiation of an optical band. From all existing communication systems the fiber-optic lines have the highest throughput which can be measured by terabits per second
Optical fiber device
The fiber-optic cable consists of glass fiber of the serving central conductor of light surrounded with the glass cover having smaller index of refraction, than the central conductor. The light beam formed by the diode or junction laser extends on the central conductor, without going beyond its limits thanks to a glass cover.
On April 22, 1977 to Long Beach, the State of California, the General Telephone and Electronics company for the first time used an optical link for transfer of telephone traffic at a speed of 6 Mbps.
History of creation
The data transmission technology by means of optics is not particularly complex and was developed for a long time. In 1840 the scientists Jacques Babinett and Daniel Kolladon made an experiment with change of the direction of a luminous flux by its refraction. In 1870 John Tyndall released the work devoted to the nature of light in which he referred to the experiment made by Babinett and Kolladon. The new technology received the first practical application in the twenties the 20th century. Then two experimenters John Byrd and Clarence Hasnell showed to the scientific public a possibility of image transfer through optical tubes. Doctor Heinrich Lamm began to use this opportunity for inspection of patients.
The first fiber-optic cable was invented and created as a result of a series of experiments in 1952 by the physicist Narinderom Singh Kapani. He created a bundle from glass threads, with a core and a cover which had different indices of refraction. The cover served as a mirror for more transparent core in Kapani's cable that solved a problem of fast dispersion of a ray of light. Thanks to it the light beam began to reach the end of optical thread that allowed to use such method of data transmission on considerable distances.
In 1960 the problem with a light source was solved with an invention and development enough compact semiconductor GaAs-lasers. In 1970 the specialists of the Corning Incorporated company created the high-quality fiber-optic cable which is not using in the to work repeaters. Emergence of these inventions gave a powerful spur to development of a new perspective view of wire communication.
The cost of use of fiber-optic technology decreases that does this service competitive in comparison with traditional services.
Today the fiber-optic cable is the fastest way of data transmission, it is used for adjustment of high-speed lines of the Internet, in medicine and many other spheres. Optical fiber is laid through continents and on a bottom of oceans on tens of millions of kilometers, but even it does not influence the high speed of data transmission. Therefore, despite quite big high cost of the equipment and tools, fiber-optic technologies continue to develop actively and are the most demanded way of fast information transfer.