Optical Fiber: Definition, Advantages and Disadvantages

Optical Fiber

A Fiber Optic cable is a light pipe that is used to carry a light beam from one place to another. Optical fiber consists of thin strands of glass-like material. The light sources used are either light-emitting diodes (LEDs) or Laser diodes (LDs). The Fiber Optic Cable consists of three pieces-

1. Core - The glass or plastic through which the light travels.
2. Cladding - Cover of the core that reflects light back to the core.
3. Coating - It protects the fiber cable from a hostile environment.

Types of Optical Fiber Cable

There are two types of Optical Fiber Cable.

1. Single-node: It supports a segment length of up to 2 km and bandwidth of up to 100 Mbps.
2. Multi-node: It supports a segment length of up to 100 km and bandwidth of up to 2 Gbps.

Advantages of Optical Fiber

1. It is immune to electrical and magnetic Interface.
2. It is guaranteed secure transmission and has a very high transmission capacity.
3. It can be used for broadband.

Disadvantages of Optical Fiber

1. It is difficult to install and maintain since they are quite fragile.
2. It is most expensive in all the cables.
3. Connecting two fiber cable together is a difficult process.