Abstract

Fiber Optical communication has

revolutionized the telecommunication
industry. It has also made its presence
widely felt within the data network
community as well. Using Fiber optical
cable optical communication have enabled
telecommunications links to be made over
much greater distances and much lower
level of loss. In this paper we review the
applications of optical fiber which has no
ends.
History of Fiber Optic
Technology
People have used light to transmit
information for hundreds of years.
However, it was not until the 1960s, with
the invention of the laser, that widespread
interest in optical (light) systems for data
communications began. The invention of
the laser prompted researchers to study the
potential of fiber optics for data
communications, sensing, and other
applications. Laser systems could send a
much larger amount of data than
telephone, microwave, and other electrical
systems. The first experiment with the laser
involved letting the laser beam transmit
freely through the air. Researchers also
conducted experiments letting the laser
beam transmit through different types of
waveguides. Glass fibers, gas-filled pipes,
and tubes with focusing lenses are
examples of optical waveguides. Glass
fibers soon became the preferred medium
for fiber optic research.
Initially, the very large losses in
the optical fibers prevented coaxial cables
from being replaced. Loss is the decrease in




the amount of light reaching the end of the
fiber. Early fibers had losses around 1,000
dB/km to make them impractical for
communications use. In 1969, several
scientists concluded that impurities in the
fiber material caused the signal loss in
optical fibers. The basic fiber material did
not prevent the light signal from reaching
the end of the fiber. These researchers
believed it was possible to reduce the losses
in optical fibers by removing the impurities.
By removing the impurities, construction of
low-loss optical fibers was possible.
In 1970, Corning Glass Works made a
multimode fiber with losses under 20
dB/km.
This same company, in 1972, made
a high silica-core multimode optical fiber
with 4dB/km minimum attenuation (loss).
Currently, multimode fibers can have losses
as low as 0.5 dB/km at wavelengths around
1300 nm.
Introduction:
Optical fiber has a number of advantages
over the copper wire used to make
connections electrically. For example,
optical fiber, being made of glass or plastic,
is immune to electromagnetic interference
which is caused by thunderstorms. Also,
because light has a much higher frequency
than any radio signal we can generate, fiber
has a wider bandwidth and can therefore
carry more information at one time.
Most telephone company long-
distance lines are now of optical fiber.
Transmission on optical fiber wire requires
repeaters at distance intervals. The glass
fiber requires more protection within an
outer cable than copper.




Applications of optical fiber
1.USE IN MEDICAL FIELD:
With a global population that's both growing
and living longer, the world's healthcare
providers are increasingly looking to
advanced biomedical instrumentation to
enable more efficient patient diagnosis,
monitoring, and treatment. In this
context,biomedical sensing applications of
optical fiber are of growing importance. At
the same time, recent advances in minimally
invasive surgery (MIS) demand smaller
disposable sensing catheters.
Endoscopic imaging applications of fiber-
optics are well established, but the intrinsic
physical characteristics of optical fibers also
make them extremely attractive for
biomedical sensing. Uncabled fibers
(typically less than 250 m diameter) can be
inserted directly into hypodermic needles
and catheters, so that their use can be both
minimally invasive and highly localized
and fiber-optic sensors (FOS) made with
them can perform remote multipoint and
multiparameter sensing. Optical fibers are
immune to electromagnetic interference
(EMI), chemically inert, nontoxic, and
intrinsically safe. Their use will not cause
interference with the conventional
electronics found in medical theaters. And,
most importantly, the immunity of fibers to
electromagnetic and radio frequency (RF)
signals makes them ideal for real-time use
during diagnostic imaging with MRI, CT,
PET, or SPECT systems, as well as during
thermal ablative treatments involving RF or
microwave radiation.


FIGURE 1. There are two basic types of
optical fiber sensors. Extrinsic devices (a)
relay on a transducer, whereas intrinsic
devices (b) do not.
Fiber-optic biomedical sensors
Optical fiber sensors comprise a light
source, optical fiber, external transducer,
and photodetector. They sense by detecting
the modulation of one or more of the
properties of light that is guided inside the
fiberintensity, wavelength, or
polarization, for instance. The modulation is
produced in a direct and repeatable fashion
by an external perturbation caused by the
physical parameter to be measured. The
measurand of interest is inferred from
changes detected in the light property.
Fiber-optic sensors can be intrinsic or
extrinsic (see Fig. 1). In an intrinsic sensor,
the light never leaves the fiber and the
parameter of interest affects a property of
the light propagating through the fiber by
acting directly on the fiber itself. In an
extrinsic sensor, the perturbation acts on a
transducer and the optical fiber simply
transmits light to and from the sensing
location.

Physical sensors measure a variety of
physiological parameters, like body
temperature, blood pressure, and muscle
displacement. Imaging sensors encompass
both endoscopic devices for internal
observation and imaging, as well as more
advanced techniques such as optical
coherence tomography (OCT) and
photoacoustic imaging where internal scans
and visualization can be made
nonintrusively. Chemical sensors rely on
fluorescence, spectroscopic, and indicator
techniques to identify and measure the
presence of particular chemical compounds
and metabolic variables (such as pH, blood
oxygen, or glucose level). They detect
specific chemical species for diagnostic
purposes, as well as monitor the body's
chemical reactions and activity. Biological
sensors tend to be more complex and rely on
biologic recognition reactionssuch as
enzyme-substrate, antigen-antibody, or
ligand-receptorto identify and quantify
specific biochemical molecules of interest.
In terms of sensor development, the basic
imaging sensors are the most developed.
Fiber-optic sensors for measurement of
physical parameters are the next most
prevalent, and the least developed area in
terms of successful products is sensors for
biochemical sensing, even though many
FOS concepts have been demonstrated.

Requirements and applications
Biomedical sensors present unique design
challenges and particular problems related to
their interface with a biological organism.
Sensors must be safe, reliable, highly stable,
biocompatible, amenable to sterilization and
autoclaving, not prone to biologic rejection,
and not require calibration (or at least
maintain calibration for extended periods).
Sensor packaging is an especially critical
aspect since the devices must be very
smallparticularly those for implanting or
indwelling purposes (see Fig. 2). The
devices also must be as simple as possible.


FIGURE 2. Sensors intended for implanting or
indwelling applications must be very small such
as this micro-miniature fiber-optic pressure
sensor shown on a fingertip. (Courtesy of Samba
Sensors AB)

The use of fiber optics in security and
surveillance systems:
With a transition from analog to digital
video continuing, there remains a crucial
requirement for reliable transmission of the
video signal during today's period of
coexistence. With many legacy installations
it has been coaxial cable handling images
from a camera to monitoring, recording or
both. Coaxial has its limitations, including
restricted transmission distance, signal
degradation over long cable runs and
interference.

Networking, digital and Internet
Protocol (IP) have ushered in unshielded
twisted-pair (UTP) cable and high-speed
Ethernet, employing IP to carry the digitized
video images. In some installations wireless
transmissionradio-frequency, microwave,
WiFi and mesh netsplay a role. Most
enterprise security video designs are not
totally wireless. Instead, the technology is
applied to meet certain geographic or
operational challenges.

When to choose fiber
And then there is fiber-optic cabling, with its
interference immunity, better inherent
security, robust distances and huge
bandwidth capability. For the purposes of
this article, we will look over the shoulders
of a hypothetical chief security officer
(CSO) named Terry Jones as well as Terry's
second-in-command, Helena Smith. They
work for a mid-sized enterprise and face the
decisions and intricacies involved in
selecting fiber optics and better
understanding its advantages, installation
and bottom-line business benefits.

This N3790 series transmitter is part of
Infinova's fiber-optic transmission system
for video-surveillance systems.
Differences exist among video signal
transmission methods. Security end users,
their designers, integrators and installers
must consider and balance the methods with
the needed functionality of cameras in light
of the following characteristics.
Maximum cable-run distances
Power requirements
Installation issues
Installation time
Quality of video
Integration with other systems
Cost
When it comes to powering the camera,
many installations employ so-called
Siamese cablea single RG-59U wedded
to an attached 18/2 cable for both power
and video. Still, some distances will
increase voltage drop and it is necessary
to select a power supply and cabling that
match necessary voltage to distances.
Today, and especially when it comes to
new and upgraded installations
containing scores of cameras, a minority
have coaxial while the majority boast
UTP (Category 5 or better) and fiber
optics.In some ways the security shift
has been spurred by popularity of local
area networks (LANs) in most
enterprises. Information technology's
(IT's) means of transmission gravitated
to UTP wiring as well as fiber optics,
often as an overall communications
backbone. Cameras can be more easily
installed using existing UTP cabling or
fiber previously laid for enterprise

network use. Corporate and government
IP-based platforms have accelerated the
transition. That naturally has swung
security to such designs, especially when
it involves video surveillance.

This UTP-based camera from Infinova
complies with ONVIFOpen Network
Video Interface Forumspecifications.
Still, challenges remain when pushing
analog video signals through UTP cable.
It requires conversion of the camera's
unbalanced BNC output into a balanced
signal that can be carried on one pair of
the UTP. When reaching a head end or
recorder, the signal must be reconverted
to handle a standard BNC-type
connector. That often means the use of a
balun
.
Some other applications of
optical fiber
CATV(cable television) services are
supplied via a fiber optic network to
an optical node, which converts and
distributes the electrical signal to
subscribers via a coaxial cable
connection.
CATV applications utilizes both
single mode and multimode signals
within different areas of the network.
Single Mode fiber is used to
distribute signal from the central
office to optical nodes, where it can
be converted to multimode
Data transmission fiber optics,
simply put, is the sending and
receiving of data from point-to-point
via a network.It ranges from very
simple cables connecting servers or
storage arrays inside a network or
telecommunications system, to large
multi-fiber distribution cables
supporting intra-building
connectivity and beyond.