Fiber optics is a technique and a technology for transmitting information on computer networks. Once reserved for inter-enterprise links, optical fiber can be generalized as a means of access to the Internet because it allows downloads very high speed (up to 100 Mbits / s against 22 Mbit / s for ADSL 2 +).The optical fiber cable means a yarn which contains a glass or plastic capable of carrying light. It is this light that will be transported in the network and interpreted upon receipt. The optical fiber also has the advantage of being naturally insensitive to external electrical interference. We can thus establish a fiber optic link across thousands of kilometers.
Fiber-optic cables have greater "bandwidth": they can carry much more data than metal cable. Because fiber optics is based on light beams, the transmissions are more impervious to electrical noise and can also be carried greater distances before fading. The cables are thinner than metal wires. Fiber-optic cable delivers data in digital code instead of an analog signal, the delivery method of metal cables; computers are structured for digital, so there is a natural symbiosis. The main disadvantage is cost: fiber optics are much more expensive than traditional metal cable.
Modern fiber optic cables can carry a signal quite a distance -- perhaps 60 miles (100 km). On a long distance line, there is an equipment hut every 40 to 60 miles. The hut contains equipment that picks up and retransmits the signal down the next segment at full strength.
Fiber-optic cables are currently the best way to carry very high rates of digital information, and the needs in this area are likely to increase sharply in the near future. It is likely that the demand for a simple Internet connection, the next few years will be identical to what we have come to expect a LAN (100 Mbit / s at least). Under these conditions, the panorama of information has completely changed. Telephony, radio, television and transfers "computer" data will be provided by the same connection, the interpenetration of these various means of information will be much larger, at least this is a quite realistic scenario.
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