Definitions for teachers by teachers

Fiber Optics

The transmission of data in the form of pulses of light. Fiber optics uses cables containing glass or silica fibers no thicker than a human hair. There is very little signal loss, and information can be transmitted at high speed over long distances. Fiber optic cables do not have problems with external noise like wire cables do, and are better for transmissions requiring security.

Fiber-optic cables consist of thin filaments of glass (or other transparent materials), which can carry beams of light. A laser transmitter encodes frequency signals into pulses of light and sends them down the optical fiber to a receiver, which translates the light signals back into frequencies. Less susceptible to noise and interference than other kinds of cables, optical fibers can transmit data greater distances without amplification. But because the glass filaments are fragile, optical fiber must be run underground rather than overhead on telephone poles.

Cables of optical fibers can be made smaller and lighter than conventional cables using copper wires or coaxial tubes, yet they can carry much more information, making them useful for transmitting large amounts of data between computers and for carrying data-intensive television pictures or many simultaneous telephone conversations. Optical fibers are immune to electromagnetic interference (from lightning, nearby electric motors, and similar sources) and to crosstalk from adjoining wires, and tapping into them is more easily detected. They also require fewer repeaters over a given distance than copper wire does to keep a signal from deteriorating. In addition to communications, optical fibers are used to transmit light in automobiles and aircraft, in medical equipment, and in other products.

by Constanza Bacca & Pedro Willging

Fiber optic (The term I was given was fiber optic network, but a look at fiber optics helps)

Fiber optic (or "optical fiber") refers to the medium and the technology associated with the transmission of information as light impulses along a glass or plastic wire or fiber. Fiber optic wire carries much more information than conventional copper wire and is far less subject to electromagnetic interference. Most telephone company long-distance lines are now fiber optic.

Transmission on fiber optic wire requires repeating at distance intervals. The glass fiber requires more protection within an outer cable than copper. For these reasons and because the installation of any new wiring is labor-intensive, few communities yet have fiber optic wires or cables from the phone company's branch office to local customers (known as local loop).

Fiber optics network

 Communications systems that use optical fibers for transmission. Fiber-optic transmission became widely used in the 1980s when the long-distance carriers created nationwide systems for carrying voice conversations digitally over optical fibers.  

Eventually, all transmission systems may become fiber optic-based. Also, in time, the internals of computers may be partially or even fully made of light circuits rather than electrical circuits.

by Steve Ramsdell

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