20 April 2020

Optical fiber advantages and disadvantages

Optical fiber is rising in both telecommunication and data communication due to its unsurpassed advantages like faster speed, less attenuation, less impervious to electromagnetic interference(EMI), smaller size and greater information-carrying capacity, etc. Here this also gives them information about the advantages and disadvantages of optical fiber to better understand this topic.

Advantages of optical fiber:

  • Optical fiber is well protected from external interference.
  • It has greater bandwidth. than copper cable.
  • The optical fiber has greater information-carrying capacities than metallic conductors.
  • Resistance to high temperature.
  • The optical fiber and fiber cables are very strong and flexible.
  • Optical fiber is lighter and smaller. Optical fiber cables are cheaper and easy to transport and easier to install than metal cables. The size of 4.5 times better than copper wire.
  • One of the most important advantages of fiber is that they can carry large amounts of information in either digital or analog form.
  • The optical fibers are so slender that and they do not break when wrapped around curves of only a few centimeter radius.
  • Radar and some other signals cannot introduce any interference in the fiber.
  • Several miles of optical cable be made cheaper than the equivalent length of copper wire. With numerous vendors swarm to compete for the market share, optical cable prices would sure to drop.
  • Fiber has been fabricated with losses is low as 0.2dB/km and this feature has become a major advantage of optical fiber communication.
  • Optical fiber is thinner and can e was drawn to a smaller diameter than copper wire. 
  • Optical fibers usually have a too long longer life cycle for over 100 years.
  • The loss of signal in optical fiber is less than compared to the copper wire.
  • Unlike the electrical signals transmitted in copper wires, light signals from one fiber do not interfere with those of other fiber in the same fiber cable. This means clearer phone conversation or TV reception.
  • The optical cable is resistant to electromagnetic interference.
  • The installation is very easy due to less weight.
  • These cable is thinner and occupies less area compare with metal wires.
  • A fiber optic cable is very flexible, easily bends and opposes most acidic elements that hit the copper wires.
  • The optical fiber cable is very hard to tap, just because they don't produce electromagnetic energy. These cables are very secure while carrying or transmitting the data.

Disadvantages of optical fiber:

  • It is a high investment cost and installation is too much costly.
  • This fiber cannot carry electrical power to operate terminal devices.
  • Optical fiber is a delicate structure.
  • At higher optical power, fiber has prone to fiber flux, so optical fiber may get damaged.
  • It needs a more expansive transmitter and receiver equipment.
  • Optical fiber is rather fragile and more vulnerable to damage compared to use of copper wires. You'd better not to twist or to bend fiber optic cables.
  • More difficult and expensive splice then wires.
  • It is slow to any short network.
  • Optical fiber can not transmit electricity.
  • Light-emitting sources are limited to lower power. Although higher power emitter is available to improve power supply, it would add extra cost.
  • Fiber optic cable can only be used on the ground, and it cannot leave the ground or It works with the mobile communication system.
  • The optical fiber cables are very difficult to merge and there will be loss of the beam within the cable while scattering.
  • The distance between transmitter and receive should keep short or reporters are needed to boost the signals.
  • These cables are more delicate than copper wires.
  • It is unidirectional light propagation.
  • Fiber optic cable is compact and highly vulnerable while fitting.
  • It needs more expensive optical transistors and receivers.
  • Some special devices are needed to check the transmission of fiber cable.
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