A fiber optic cable is a cable made up of one or more optical fibers that can transmit large
amounts of information at the speed of light. The optical fiber is coated with plastic layers and
contained in a protective tube suitable for the environment where the cable will be deployed.
Different types of cable are used for different applications, for example long distance
telecommunication, or providing a high-speed data connection between different parts of a
building or organization. Modern fiber cables can contain up to a thousand fibers in a single
cable, with potential bandwidth in the terabytes per second. In other cases, only a small fraction
of the fibers in a cable may be actually "lit". Organizations can lease or sell the unused fiber to
other providers who are looking for service in or through an area.
Optical fibers are known to be very strong, but the strength is drastically reduced by
unavoidable microscopic surface flaws inherent in the manufacturing process. The initial fiber
strength, as well as its change with time, must be considered relative to the stress imposed on the
fiber during handling, cabling, and installation for a given set of environmental conditions as
cited by the (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License)
Coaxial cables on the other hand are according to (Rouse 1) is the kind of copper cable
used by cable television. Coaxial cable at times is used by telephone companies from their
central office to the telephone poles near users. It is also widely installed for use in business and
corporation Ethernet and other types of local area network. Depending upon the carrier’s
technology and other factors, twisted pair, copper wire and optical fiber may be used instead of
coaxial cable.
The optical fiber is used as a medium for networking and telecommunication because it is
flexible and can be bundled as cables. According to Fiber optical detection information (Kingfisher Int
) fibers can be made out of either transparent plastic or glass, fibers used over long-distance
Especially in telecommunications applications is always glass, because of the low optical
absorption. Light transmitted through the fiber is confined due to internal reflection
within the material. This is an important property that eliminates signal crosstalk between fibers
within the cable and allows for the routing of the cable with twists and turns.
Some of the advantages of fiber optic over the coaxial cable is the low cost of maintaince
In the long run, also you can lease some cables that are not in use to other companies that are
Within the vicinity or local area network. It also has low loss of signal therefore transmission
Over long distance is made possible. Fiber optic has a capacity to carry large data and also the
Speeds are thousands of times greater reaching speeds of up to 1.6Tb/s (Lennie lightwave guide
to fiber optic). Since it has no electromagnetic radiation it is extremely difficult to eavesdrop or
place a tap or listening device on line using fiber optics, hence providing better physical network
security. It is one of the safest cables to use near high-voltage equipment or between areas
with different earth potentials because it has a high resistance to electricity.
Fibers are used as light guides especially in medical and other applications where bright light
needs to be brought to bear on a target without a clear line-of-sight path. Bundles of fibers are
used along with lenses for long, thin imaging devices called endoscopes, which are used to view
objects through a small hole. Medical endoscopes are used for minimally invasive exploratory or
surgical procedures (endoscope). Industrial endoscopes (see fiberscope or borescope ) are used
for inspecting anything hard to reach, such as jet engine interiors. Optical fibers also can
be used as sensors to measure strain, temperature, pressure and other parameters.
Optical fibers can also be used to bring light in some high-tech buildings, to route sunlight from
the roof to other parts of the building. It’s also has many decorative applications which may
include signs and art, lighting and Christmas speed.
Few home communities have Fiber to the home technology which provides subscribers with
Ultra High Speed to the internet, telephone and television services. The German company
(Sennheiser) developed a microphone working with a Laser and optical fibers. (German article
about the microphone).
Fiber optics also has its down side one of which is the high cost of investment that is slow
to make any sort of returns therefore making it out of reach for the ordinary citizens. Since it
uses glass or plastic over long distance there is need for expensive optical transmitters and
receivers. According to (how fiber optics work 2014) a fiber fuse can occur making it prone
to burnout hence destroying as much as 1.5 kilometers of wire at several meters per second
amounting to huge losses. These losses can be avoided by using a fiber fuse which is a protection
device at the transmitter which can break the circuit to prevent damage.
It cannot carry electrical power to operate terminal devices. However current
Telecommunication trends greatly counteract this hurdle by availability of cell phones and
wireless PDAs and also the inclusion of back up batteries in communication devices.
On the other hand the coaxial cable is found to be cheaper to make and install since the
infrastructure is already in place. It also has a good bandwith with speeds of upto 10Mb/s. The
coaxial cable is robust and as a result can be bent in half and still function. According to (Sandrav
2009) is easy to modify since it has sufficient frequency range and can therefore split the signal
And also support multiple channels. When using the coaxial cable very minimal error rates can
Be expected therefore better performance than twisted pair. Also greater spacing between
amplifiers is allowed since the inner conductor is in a Farady shield hence the ability to reduce
noise and crosstalk. Compared with optical fiber, coaxial cable enjoys the advantages of
relatively cheaper price and more convenient installment. As a result, in the monitor system
within a small scope, as the transmission distance is very close, transmitting the monitoring
image with coaxial cable cannot distort the image so that it can meet actual requirement.
Moreover, coaxial cable can compensate for different rate by doing balance adjustment in order
to distort as less video signal from receiving terminal.
However, coaxial amplifier cannot be cascaded with no limitation, usually at most 2 to 3
Coaxial amplifiers can be cascaded in one to one system, or the quality of video transmission can
not be ensured and adjustments seems very difficult. As a result, in the case of using coaxial cable
in monitoring system, in order to ensure relatively better image quality, it is common to limit the
transmission distance within about 400 or 500 meters.(Edinformatics 99).
The coaxial cable also has its downside especially in signal transmission and
Monitoring. System since the cable is greatly affected on climate change and therefore the image
Quality will be affected. Since the coaxial cable is thick it is not easy to install in intensive
Monitoring. The coaxial cable is only able to transmit video signal as a result other cables have to
be installed. If control data signal, audio signal and other signals have to be transmitted at the
same time. The Cable cannot be applied in high resistance situation since it has limited capability of resistance.
Another disadvantage of coaxial cables include their problem with the deployment architecture,
they have great noise, high installation costs and they are easily damaged by lighting. Coaxial
cables are the most common medium that are used for data transmission in short distances.
It is also expensive as compared to twisted pair.
References.
1. Margaret Rouse Tech Target 2009
2. www.stuff works/how fiber optics work/08
3.Edinformatics.com 1999
4.Sandrav 3110.blogspot.com/2009/09
5.http://wwehow.com/list 7585102
6.Lennie Lightwave guide to fiber optics