fiber-optic networks (original) (raw)

Definition: communication systems consisting of fiber-optic links

Categories: fiber optics and waveguides, lightwave communications

• optical data transmission
  • optical fiber communications
    * fiber to the home
    * fiber-optic links
    * fiber-optic networks

Related: optical fiber communicationsfiber-optic linkstelecom transmittersfiber optics

DOI: 10.61835/dra Cite the article: BibTex BibLaTex plain textHTML Link to this page! LinkedIn

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What is a Fiber-optic Network?

A fiber-optic network is a system for optical fiber communications which consists of a number of fiber-optic links and additional components which make it possible to send data from any node of the network to any other one. This technology heavily builds on fiber optics. It mostly works with glass fibers, but for short-distance transmission it may also contain plastic optical fibers. For routing signals, it can use fiber-optic switches.

Figure 1: Schematic of a fiber-optic link for a point-to-point connection. More complicated networks can be made, e.g. with a ring or star topology.

Optical networks are grouped according to the area covered:

• A local area network (LAN) links two or more points within a small area, e.g. within a building or between a few buildings.
• A metropolitan area network (MAN) covers a larger area, e.g. that of a city.
• A wide area network (WAN) extends over a larger area, e.g. a whole country or even more.

Typically, larger-scale networks are built by connecting smaller-scale networks. For example, metropolitan networks can be connected to form a wide area network.

Another distinction is that of active optical networks, containing active components such as fiber amplifiers, and passive optical networks (PON), using only passive components such as optical filters and splitters (apart from the always required transmitters and receivers). In practice, transmitters and receivers are almost always combined together with additional electronics into transceiver modules.

According to the data rate, additional attributes can be given. For example, GPON means gigabit PON, which is a passive optical network with a downstream data rate of 2.5 Gbit/s and an upstream rate of 1.25 Gbit/s. Far higher data rates are possible with advanced technology.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a fiber-optic network?

How are optical networks classified based on the area they cover?

They are classified as local area networks (LANs) for small areas like buildings, metropolitan area networks (MANs) for cities, and wide area networks (WANs) for larger regions like countries.

What is the difference between active and passive optical networks?

Active optical networks use active components such as fiber amplifiers to process signals. In contrast, passive optical networks (PONs) use only passive components like optical filters and splitters between the transmitter and receiver.

What does GPON stand for?

GPON stands for gigabit passive optical network. It is a PON standard with a downstream data rate of 2.5 Gbit/s and an upstream rate of 1.25 Gbit/s.

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