Fiber-Optic Communications System

As depicted in Figure 3-16, information (voice, data, and video) from the source is encoded into electrical signals that can drive the transmitter. The fiber acts as an optical waveguide for the photons as they travel down the optical path toward the receiver. At the detector, the signals undergo an optical-to-electrical (OE) conversion, are decoded, and are sent to their destination.

Figure 3-16. Fiber-Optic Communication System

Transmitter

The transmitter component of Figure 3-16 serves two functions. First, it must be a source of the light launched into the fiber-optic cable. Second, it ...

Get Optical Network Design and Implementation now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.