Advantages of optical fiber
The most important advantages that the use of fiber optics offers us are the following:
-High bandwidth: Huge bandwidth available.
-High Reliability: The bit error rate (BER), which is a clear indicator of the quality of the link, is of the order of 10 ^ (- 10)
-Low losses: Typical fiber attenuation of 0.2dB / Km, which allows terminals and repeaters are highly spaced.
-Resistant to fire: The melting point of Silicon fiber is approximately 1900ºC (against 1100ºC of Copper).
-Protective fire: Photons do not generate sparks and so it is safe to operate even in explosive environments.
- Light Weight: The fiber cable weighs 10% to 30% less than Copper.
- Oxidation free: The crystal is chemically stable and thus can prevail in adverse environments (such as ocean floors).
- High physical flexibility: The Fiber Optic cable can easily be folded, allowing its fast installation in conductors already in use. Despite this there is a maximum radius of curvature that should not be exceeded so that the fiber performance is optimal
-Abundance of resources: The cable internet companies, fiber optic cables can be built entirely with dielectric materials, the raw material used in the manufacture is silicon dioxide which is one of the most abundant resources on the earth's surface.
- Electrical isolation between terminals: As there are no metallic components, there is no current induction in the cable, so they can be installed in places where there is a danger of electric cuts.
- Absence of emitted radiation: The optical fibers transmit light so they do not suffer electromagnetic interferences, which is an advantage, but it is also an advantage that when transmitting light they do not produce radiation, so they do not affect the operation of other electronic devices. This makes fiber the safest way to transmit very high quality information without degradation.
-Transmission characteristics depending on the temperature: The transmission characteristics remain more or less unchanged due to temperature changes (-40-200ºC)
