20 February 2018

Advantages and disadvantages of optical fiber

Fiber optic system currently used extensively as the transmission line between terrestrial hardwired systems. The fiber optics are used for transmission of data from point to point location, so its very accurate result in fiber optic system. Here are the main advantages and disadvantages of optical fiber to learn or know more details about optical fiber.

Advantages of optical fiber :

  • Small size
  • Higher bandwidth
  • Less signal attenuation
  • Light weight
  • Immune to cross-talk
  • Fiber cable are more strength
  • Optical fiber have long life more than 100 or above years
  • Grater immune to tapping
  • Resistance to corrosive material
  • Long distance transmission is possible
  • Immunity to electromagnetic interference 
  • Low power loss so less signal degradation 
  • Much thinner and lighter than metal wires
  • Difficult to tap so they do not radiate electromagnetic energy and thus emission cannot be intercepted 
  • Long lifespan about 100 years

Disadvantages of optical fiber :

  • Unidirectional propagation
  • High initial cost
  • Optical fiber more tensile stress than copper cables
  • Installation and maintenance
  • Fiber joining process is very costly and require skilled menpower
  • Difficult to splice
  • Expensive to install 
  • Highly susceptible
  • It can only be used on ground mostly not used in mobile communication so limited applications