The Advantages of Fiber Optic Networking

Let us now have a quick look at the many advantages to using fiber optic cable as a transmission medium.

Immunity to Noise and Interference

There can be little doubt that the high degree of immunity to noise, Electromagnetic Interference (EMI), Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) and crosstalk are the strongest factors in influencing the selection and implementation of a network based around fiber optic technologies.

The reasons for fiber optic cable as a transmission medium providing a high degree of immunization to noise (EMI) as opposed to other transmission media all stem from the use of light to convey the information (signals) and the construction of the medium (the fiber optic cable).

Reduced Costs

Fiber optic cable and fiber optic network hardware are now considerably cheaper than at any time in the past and are now pretty much on a par with copper-based transmission media. It should therefore come as no great surprise to learn that market research and survey companies are reporting that the rate of fiber optic network roll-out is more prevalent now than at any other time in the past. One most interesting aspect of their reported findings is that the rate of fiber optic network roll-out is actually accelerating across the board.

Spanning Large Distances

With the fiber optic technologies currently available today signal degradation and regeneration issues are not what they once were. Thus the distance factor that had for so long limited the practical maximum distance over which fiber optic cable could be used as a transmission medium is no longer of any consequence. In fact, fiber optic cable now out performs copper-based cable considerably in every facet. So much so that for transcontinental and transoceanic backbone links fiber optic cable is now the medium of choice.

Environmental Hazards

With respect to fiber optic cable environment factors such as moisture and Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) are also not of the same order of criticality as they are for copper-based media. With such a high degree of tolerance to environmental factors fiber optic cable is the medium of choice for implementations wherever the environment generally and regular adverse environmental factors are of concern. If needing to run cable though or in close proximity to strong electromagnetic fields fiber optic cable will generally be used.

Collateral Damage

Implementations in which negative environmental factors that might originate from the transmission media such as when the cable run is near life support systems or other sensitive electronic and electrical equipment then fiber optic cable will in all likelihood prove to be the best option.

Security

Due to the degree of difficulty in “tapping” fiber optic transmission lines without being detected, fiber optic transmission media offers a far more secure medium than copper-based or wireless technologies. The result is that fiber optic transmission media are the media of choice when it comes to “long haul” applications such as intercontinental, cross-continental and oceanic (marine) backbone links. It is also the preferred medium for tier one ISP backbone links. This means that new WAN implementations and applications are now predominantly fiber optic cable based. Wireless rollouts being the major exception.

Additional information regarding fiber optic cable construction, signal propagation, signal regeneration, connectors, cable rollout and modes (single-mode and multi-mode fibers) can be found at Fiber Optic Cable.

Next up I will discuss the major standards and implementations of fiber optic networking starting with the Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) standard and then the Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET) and the Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH).