Category: Fiber Transceivers

Optical transceivers, Active Optic Cables, data center switches, and cable management in data centers.

OTHER FIBER OPTICS BENEFITS

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There is no quicker way to transmit data through the Internet than to connect your computer to a network using fiber optics cable technologies. The bursts of light sending data through this networking equipment offers rates of connectivity never before seen in the world of information technology, a benefit that we’re quick to point out here on the Connected Fiber blog.
There are plenty of other ways that fiber optics stacks up positively when compared to other forms of cabled Internet connections. As this article published by AL.com discusses, benefits range from cost savings to more durable and stable online connections for users.
Many people point out the incredible cost of installing fiber optics cable as a major obstacle, which often discourages people from choosing to convert to the technology. Once those cables are laid down, however, most subscribers are surprised at how long they can go between necessary maintenance sessions or even repairs.
As we’ve discussed before on this blog, many cities and other municipalities are taking tax dollars and investing them in fiber optics systems to be used by the entire community. This is providing a very useful market benefit in providing cost-effective competition to the for-profit cable companies that often monopolize a certain area. With two Internet providers, one of them publicly subsidized, private companies are forced to keep prices down to compete. And that’s a great thing, because when more people are connected to the Internet, a local or regional economy can truly thrive.
We could go on and on for days about the benefits of installing fiber optics systems for your residence or organization. The staff at fiber-mart offers the technical support for quick and painless installation and the courteous service required to take care of any maintenance or repairs quickly. When you want a quicker connection to the Internet, call North Carolina’s top provider of fiber optics solutions.

THE GREATEST PROBLEM HOLDING OPTIC FIBER BACK

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As much as the cost of laying down optic fiber can be, with all the digging up of roads and digging in trenches and creating the cable, it doesn’t even come close to the cost of Video for a company to afford. Surprisingly, TV programming is the biggest thing that is holding back optic fiber from spreading everywhere quickly.
It all has to do with most cable companies offering packages that provide both internet and TV and sometimes even phone all as one big payment. This means the average household actually takes advantage of these bundles and in turn we end up with people who won’t actually buy optic fiber internet because it doesn’t come with TV programming.
It’s a big drawback and one that Google in particular has been dealing with as they lay more and more Google Fiber. It makes it difficult for any optic fiber company to really get off the ground even though the internet they provide is always far superior than anything cable companies can offer in terms of net speed. People just like their simplicity and it’s causing problems for the fiber world.
If Google is having such a problem with it, and even had to resort to installing their own TV programming just so they could bundle it with their Google Fiber then what does that spell for other companies who aren’t nearly as powerful or as rich as the internet mega-giant? The cost of Optic Fiber is already expensive and it may be the future of the internet world, but if people aren’t jumping on board with it without their cable then where will it end up in only a few years?
Luckily there are plenty of people who are excited about having optic fiber internet. There may not be a ton, but that’s actually why we have been seeing Google Fiber in countries like Africa and South America before most of America. America just doesn’t want it, it seems.

FIBER OPTICS PREDICTING LANDSLIDES

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Over the years, there have been a number of ways developed in an attempt to figure out how it might be possible to predict landslides. One of the more recent to appear happens to utilize fiber optic cables to create something like a nervous system, or more accurately a spider web that can be monitored for vibrations to determine if a landslide is going to occur. Of course, it may not seem like much to learn to predict landslides, but actually thousands die every year because of rock falls and landslides and this is just one of many technologies that can help assist people in avoiding those problems all together.
The device that is currently used to determine problems with landslides is called an electronic inclinometer and is placed on slopes that are considered a major risk, but only notifies us when the slope’s angle is changed from what it was originally. This gives us little more than minutes to do anything about it, and that means anyone already there has no warning or time to react. This is what led to new methods being sought out.
Instead, this new system would be implanting modules of fiber optic cables all around slopes that are problematic, then as any of the soil shifts or any pressure is built into tensile strain the modules will catch it and relay it back to someone, which can give upwards of a few hours or more for action to be taken. These fiber optic modules are also far sturdier than the inclinometer, which means less damage done to them as well when a slide occurs.
This version with fiber optics was also developed after an idea about using acoustic sensors in the mountains could help determine when I slide might occur. So far, the fiber cables seem to be more effective, but scientists are still doing their best to determine what other kinds of options they have with predicting landslides to save more people.

NEW MEDICAL APPLICATIONS FOR FIBER OPTIC TECHNOLOGY

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Most people think of fiber optics in relation to internet connectivity, but there are a wide range of fields where this technology can prove useful. In fact, new efforts have been made to take advantage of fiber optics in the medical community.
But just how is this technology useful to doctors? It turns out that it can enhance miniature microscopy, allowing healthcare professionals to see hard-to-reach tissue.
Optical fiber is extremely bendable, which means it could be used to reach almost any place inside the body. Combining fiber optic cables with miniature microscopes could allow doctors to detect problems in the body in ways they could never have dreamed of doing before. Fiber optics and microscopes? They do make a good pair!
According to this Bioopticsworld.com article, a professor at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville recently turned a simple microscope into one of these fiber optic devices. The device works by passing light through the lens, which can be carried along the fiber optic cable and over the sample. By using optical fiber as a medium, the professor was able to transmit an image from one end of the microscope to the other. But just how clear are these images? Well, the exact quality and resolution depends on a few factors, including the fiber diameter.
While we may still be in the early days of people figuring out all of the uses for optical fiber, especially in the medical field, these are exciting times. Inventions like this fiber optic microscope is just one of several advancements that we hope to see in the coming years. For more news about fiber optics keep checking back with our blog!

FIBER OPTICS HELPING WITH PREGNANCY TESTS

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In an earlier post, we discussed the virtue of “going optic” and how America should be rewired, so to speak, with fiber optics – and while we focused primarily on Internet speeds, we would do you a grave disservice if we didn’t talk about all the other exciting developments going on in the world of fiber optics, most notably regarding pregnancy and ailments.
10769396_SAccording to this Medical Daily article, fiber optics might make it possible for smartphones to detect pregnancy and monitor diabetes. We have come a long, long way from the Stone Age – that’s for sure – like we’re riding a train made of fiber optics and bulleting into the future. You see, smartphones are on their way to reading biomolecular tests, such as pregnancy tests, thanks to developing research from Hanover Centre for Optical Technologies in Germany.
The brains behind this project, Kort Bremer and Bernhard Roth, say, “We have the potential to develop small and robust lab-on-a-chip devices for smartphones. So, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors could become ubiquitous now. SPR is what affords “real-time, label-free detection of biomolecular interactions…when polarized light strikes an electrically conducting surface at the interface between two media.”
In other words, they are developing a self-contained sensor that will be able to operate within an app. If development takes off, this sensor will assist app users with blood, urine, saliva, sweat, breath, and more. This seems straight out of science fiction, doesn’t it? It’s happening though, which shows just how powerful fiber optics can be.
We have cool developments with fiber optics in terms of the medical industry. This all might be speeded up if this fiber optic evolution completes its course. An engineering breakthrough by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, has the potential to double the speed of fiber optic networks.
PowerlinesAs reported in this CIO Today article, “The discovery at UC San Diego would potentially allow optical signals to be transmitted with far greater energy without suffering from the same level of distortion. That, in turn, would mean fewer signal repeaters would be required. The researchers were able to transmit a signal 12,000 kilometers without using repeaters and successfully decode it – a new record. “
At Connected Fiber, we are more than thrilled with this discovery as it could change the face of fiber optics as we know it, but also all the industries that depend on fiber optics. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.

USING FIBER OPTICS TO COMMUNICATE IN OUTER SPACE

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Whew…much of what we talk about this blog seems to be the stuff of sci-fi poetry. Underwater cables spider webbing the world, bringing together our various voices and helping us to communicate. Additionally, a lot of what we talk about seems to be the stuff of sci-fi espionage or cosmic noir. All up and down the California coast, shadowy criminals cutting cords in the middle of the night. That is all fascinating, but there’s one thing we’ve haven’t brought up and that’s how fiber optics will help humanity take that next great leap: space. Yes, we’re talking about space travel. There has been much momentum of late regarding the technological capabilities of manmade space travel with the help of fiber optics. Or, at the very least, can help humanity better shoot their message into space as discussed in this Live Science article.
Stephanie Pappas of Live Science talks with Doug Vakoch, a researcher at the SETI Institute in charge of interstellar message composition, which means an organization dedicated to trying to make contact with aliens. We know, we know – a little farfetched, but it’s interesting to see how fiber optics plays a role in this (almost) Holy Grail quest.
HE SAYS, “IF ANOTHER CIVILIZATION WANTS TO CONCEAL ITS IDENTITY, IT DOESN’T EVEN HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT ENCRYPTION. IF YOU LOOK AT TELECOMMUNICATIONS AS IT IS DEVELOPING HERE ON EARTH, WE HAVE BEEN NOISY IN THE PAST. WE HAD A LOT OF TV AND RADIO GOING OUT INTO SPACE. NOW, AS WE SHIFT TO COMMUNICATION BY FIBER-OPTIC OR BY TELECOMMUNICATION SATELLITE, THERE IS LESS OF THIS LEAKAGE GOING OFF INTO SPACE.”
We understand what you must be thinking – That guy sounds crazy, and you might be right, but whether aliens exist or don’t exist isn’t really the point; what’s important to note is that more and more people see fiber optics as a way to branch off into space, into that great beyond. If we can spider web the world through undersea cables, wouldn’t it make sense if we can spider the skies above? It makes sense to us!