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FIBER OPTICS WILL SOON CONNECT REMOTE ARCTIC COMMUNITIES

by http://www.fiber-mart.com

You might think your old DSL connection was slow, but it’s still probably a whole lot faster than the internet connections that reach many of the residents of the Alaskan North Slope and Bering Sea coastline. These folks are still stuck with near dial-up speeds from satellite providers that are prone to latency and connectivity issues. In recent years, this lack of reliable broadband access has hampered economic development, education and healthcare in the region.
Before too long, however, more than 26,500 Alaska residents will be connected to the rest of the world by a 1 Gbps fiber optic network. The project is called the “Quintillion Sub-Sea Cable System,” and it’s expected to reach 6 villages in Alaska by mid-2017.
The first phase of the project will focus on connecting northern Alaska with the country’s lower 48 states. Phase two and three will connect Japan and London to the network via 15,000 km of undersea cable. This will not only dramatically improve connectivity to the arctic, but also act as a backup connection to Europe and Asia in case undersea cables connected to the East Coast of North America are compromised.
The project has been delayed a number of times since it was first announced in 2013, but now it’s finally about to become a reality. Residents in Alaska are understandably excited about the new opportunities that will be afforded by Gigabit Internet speeds. Healthcare facilities in particular are looking forward to being able to communicate with doctors around the globe and provide improved care for patients.
Once this massive undertaking is complete, we’ll be one step closer to living in a connected, cooperative world.

CALIFORNIA GAS PIPELINES WILL GET FIBER OPTIC MONITORS

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In addition to bringing the Internet to people all over the world, optical signals have a host of other lesser-known uses as well. Recently, the Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) announced that it will use optical fibers to help monitor and maintain the subterranean gas lines that carry fuel throughout the state. The first phase of the fiber optic monitoring system will be installed on a seven-mile stretch of pipeline north of Los Angeles later this year.
The optical fibers will be buried 36 inches underground, and about 12 inches above the pipelines they’ll monitor. They will be connected to a remote station that will provide technicians with early warning alerts at the first sign of trouble. By interpreting changes in the optical signal, the monitoring system is able to identify and distinguish between different types of damage such as a leak or accidental dig-in by a third party contractor. It’s able to pinpoint the location of the damage to within 20 feet.
“The technology quickly detects when abnormal stress, movement or temperature conditions are present,” said a SoCalGas representative in a press release. “Continuous monitoring and measurement will help the company quickly identify threats to a pipeline from heavy equipment operation, unexpected earth movement or physical impact.”
SoCalGas plans to install the fiber optic monitors on all if its new and replacement pipelines in the future. The company is confident that the system will help to prevent leaks, and allow repair crews to respond quickly in the event of an emergency. Ultimately, this could make more than 100,000 miles of gas pipelines safer and more reliable for the communities they serve.

WATCH GOOGLE EMPLOYEES DISSECT AN UNDERSEA FIBER OPTIC CABLE

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Natalie Hammel and Lorraine Yurshansky are Google employees who host an educational web series called Nat and Lo that highlights the many different aspects of Google’s business. Recently Nat and Lo had the opportunity to visit a factory in New Hampshire where undersea fiber optic cables are manufactured, and they were able to take home a length of the cable to examine on their show.
Then they reached out to the father and son duo behind What’s Inside?, another educational web series that cuts things open to, well, see what’s inside. The two teams met up at the What’s Inside? studio to take a close-up look at the backbone of the Internet.
The first thing that struck the hosts about the cable was just how heavy it is. One host compares its weight to a dense shot put or meteorite. Upon cutting into the cable with a chop saw, the reason for all that weight becomes immediately clear. The inside of an undersea fiber optic cable is composed almost entirely of protective lines of galvanized steel.
In fact, the fiber optic strands that transmit data thousands of miles across the ocean occupy only a tiny portion of the cable’s core. These fibers are housed in a plastic sheath, which is then surrounded by more protective galvanized steel and copper wiring for power. Without all that protective cladding, the fiber optics would be vulnerable to damage from curious wildlife and ships dropping anchor on the ocean floor.
Check out the video below to see the cable dissection for yourself and learn a little more about how optical fibers keep the world connected.

DARPA DEVELOPS TEMPORARY UNDERWATER FIBER OPTIC NETWORKS

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Modern naval fleets rely on radio frequency (RF) tactical data networks to facilitate communications between vessels while at sea. If these networks are knocked out during a combat operation, it can effectively cripple a fleet’s ability to coordinate strategic movements and respond to incoming threats.
That’s why the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)—an organization that played a vital role in the early history of the Internet—is developing portable fiber-optic networks that could be used to restore communications in contested areas. The cheekily-named Tactical Undersea Network Architecture (TUNA) program recently completed its first phase of research and development, and will soon enter the prototype testing phase on the open ocean.
TUNA networks consist of a series of buoys connected by a backbone of hair-thin optical fibers designed to survive harsh ocean conditions for at least 30 days. Each buoy contains a power generator and RF transmitter to wirelessly relay communications to nearby ships and planes. The buoys can be distributed either by ships or support aircraft in the area.
With a lifespan of approximately one month, a TUNA network could be deployed during combat operations to give engineers the necessary time to restore primary communications. Once primary networks are restored, the buoy nodes can be recovered and reused later with new fiber optic connections.
Among the many design challenges DARPA has faced in the development of TUNA, the most significant has been figuring out a way to provide reliable power to the network at sea. After considering a number of different design options, the team ultimately settled on a system that harnesses the movement of waves to generate electricity.
Although TUNA was designed for military applications, similar technology could be used by civilians to bring broadband Internet to remote regions of the world as well. Temporary fiber-optic networks could be very valuable in coordinating disaster relief efforts, for example.
To see how TUNA network nodes generate power with wave energy, check out the video below from the University of Washington’s applied physics laboratory!

CITY IN WASHINGTON USES WATER PIPES TO DEPLOY FIBER NETWORK

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In our last blog entry, we discussed a piece of proposed legislation that would encourage states to deploy fiber optic cables in conjunction with highway construction products. Now we’ve caught wind of another creative new avenue for fiber optic deployment—municipal water pipes.
In the remote coastal city of Anacortes, Washington, the city council recently approved a contract with an English company that has developed a way to feed fiber optic cables through existing water pipes. Initially, the new fiber network will be used to replace the city’s aging radio-based system which controls the local sewage and water systems. Once the installation is complete and everything is up and running, residents and businesses will be able to tap into the network as well. The city’s unconventional approach to fiber optic deployment will allow them to connect a distant water treatment station to the city limits with relative ease.
SO WHAT WILL THE “PIPE-IN-PIPE” INSTALLATION ENTAIL?
First, a length of narrow “micro-duct” will be fed through the city’s 36-inch-diameter water pipes, and held in place with special adapters. This micro-duct is made of the same materials as the city’s existing water pipes, so that it will resist environmental wear and tear. Once it’s in place, fiber optic cable will be fed through the micro-duct, allowing city officials to easily connect any two locations that are hooked up to the municipal water supply. The micro-duct installation is expected to take about 30 days. Installation of the fiber optic cable will be handled by a local nonprofit group.
This unique approach to fiber optic deployment is expected to save Anacortes a significant amount of time and money. It’s already been implemented successfully in the UK, Spain, New Zealand and South Africa. With demand for broadband access at an all-time high, we’re likely to see more creative solutions to fiber optic deployment in the future as well.

WHEN WAS FIBER OPTIC CABLE INVENTED?

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There are many people who believe fiber optics are the future of communication in this country. And for good reason. Fiber optic cables are currently being used to send voice messages, images, videos, and more at the speed of light. The fiber rods are made of glass or plastic and have the capability of sending data quicker and more effectively than the old metal wires that have been used to do the same thing for many years now. But when and where were fiber optics first invented?
THE HISTORY OF FIBER OPTIC CABLES
The history of fiber optic cables actually dates back to the mid-1800s. While the cables themselves weren’t invented back then, the technology behind them was first researched when scientists and inventors like John Tyndall, Alexander Graham Bell, and William Wheeler started toying around with the idea of using the speed of light to transmit information. Over the next 100 years or so, other researchers continued to push forward with the idea of using light to send data before a group of Corning Glass researchers, including Robert Maurer, Donald Keck, and Peter Schultz, first invented fiber optic wires—then called “Optical Waveguide Fibers”—that could carry about 65,000 times more data than copper wires. It was a huge development.
The U.S. government was one of the first big organizations to start using fiber optic cables when they utilized them to link a network of computers together in the NORAD headquarters in Colorado in 1975. Two years later, the first telephone communication system using fiber optic cables was created in Chicago. And fiber optics grew from there. By the end of the 1990s, about 80 percent of the globe’s long-distance data traffic was transmitted through fiber optic cables, according to ThoughtCo. And the fiber optics craze continues today with many companies using it to transmit data quickly both within their own walls and out in the world.