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Pulses of light move through a glass fiber at the speed of light (the fasted possible transmission speed). Other factors aside, fiber optic networks offer the highest bandwidth of any communication media. Optical fibers have several advantages over copper wire, including:
So why does anyone still use copper? The main answer is that fiber optic cable is very expensive to install; in fact, most of the cost is in the installation! One key difficulty is that connecting two glass fibers is more difficult than connecting two copper wires. To connect two copper wires, you simply twist them together. By contrast, you can't just twist two glass fibers together. Instead, the fibers must be connected using a special connector that (hopefully) bonds the fibers together seamlessly. More precisely, light refracts when it passes from one medium to another, and unless the two glass fibers being connected are bonded without a seam, the seam may represent a change of medium. Thus, light crossing a connection with a seam may refract, and the refraction can cause the light pulse to change in frequency or wavelength. Since the light pulse represents information, such changes will change the information being transmitted across the connection. The chief disadvantage of glass fiber is thus the difficulty of connecting two fibers in such a way that the light passes through the connection unaltered. Finally, fiber optic cable is also more fragile than copper cable and difficult to bend. Thus, it can sometimes be difficult to find a path for the cable. |
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If you encounter technical errors, contact rit@calvin.edu. |
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